Two Gators Crossing the Pond - Our Life in the UK: A Royal Visit in Bury St. Edmunds

Last week Bury St. Edmunds received a very special visitor - Prince Charles, son of Queen Elizabeth II. He was in town to honor and present Operational Service Medals to 110 British troops for their bravery while deployed in Afghanistan (click here for a full news article about the event) . I was lucky enough to attend the ceremony in our town center - it was so special to see the families and the troops and the pride they had for what they do.

It was also a really special event because the Apache helicopter was heavily featured. Brian works with the Apaches in his current job, so I've learned a bit about them recently. They actually landed one right in front of the Angel Hotel in the center of town (the hotel where Brian and I lived for 6 weeks when we first moved here). They also shut down the gardens across from our house so the Prince's helicopter could land there. In the evening after the ceremonies, the Apache took off from town center - it was such an incredible sight to see it up close and personal. We even took Lilo to see her first helicopter take-off. =) She did pretty well until it started moving into the air - then she panicked and sat right in my lap until it was safely gone!

Here are some of the pictures we were able to get that day. They don't do justice to the event or to the feeling you had being there that day, but hopefully it'll at least give you an idea of what was going on in Bury. And for those who are interested, here are links to videos of the Apache landing and taking off in town. Hope you enjoy!