Lord Mayor's Parade

Everyone knows the Lord Mayor's Parade is on the second saturday in November, every year. But not everyone knows someone who is going to be IN the parade, right near the beginning of the parade, wearing a purple costume with a big gigantic head.

Having managed to drag myself out of bed at the horrible hour of 9am on a Saturday, I got to St Paul's Cathedral tube station at about 11am, just as the parade was about to start.




The bottom right-hand photo is of a float with someone I knew on it! Second from left is Frank, wearing a big bobbly head. Fourth from left is Olly, who had just heard me yell out hello and was trying to get bobbly-head's attention.




Most of the parade is military groups in fancy uniforms playing very nice songs such as the theme from Jag. Hmm, is it possible that the theme song from Jag has some actual military significance?

There was a really festive atmosphere with heaps of people blowing whistles, cheering the floats as they went past and wearing poppies for Remembrance Month. The crowd looked very different from the Notting Hill Festival crowd - more older people and families with kids. There were lots of kids waving British flags. Oh, and everyone was totally rugged up in their big black coats, gloves and scarves.

After the parade, Lauch, Andrew and I had lunch in the Oxo Tower and then went to watch the fireworks that were launched from a barge in the Thames. They were gorgeous. There were sparks everywhere and the smell of gunpowder in the air.