To think you came here for the treasure?/ But nobody ever came here for the weather*

Yesterday was interesting. Awesome, but cold.

I took the 11.15 into Central, and it's a good thing I did. I got a pasty and got down to the Embankment, by the Eye, by noon and a half hour later, they closed the barricades. And then they opened them again because of the angry mob of people who had just left to get food and whose parents and children and friends were right there. And then they closed them again. And then opened them again.

As for me, I just chilled there for the next 3.5 hours, watching the insanity. It was not terribly well-organized, and it made a lot of people angry. But I had a spot just at the back of a crush of people, directly to the left of the Eye, with a wonderful view of Westminster Bridge and Parliament. A prime spot, actually.

But, when it came time to actually see the flotilla, I couldn't see but for all the people and cameras and umbrellas in the way. It was fine, I didn't really care much about the flotilla itself; I caught a couple glimpses and I cheered with the rest and that was enough. What I really liked was being a part of it all. We were cold and damp (not wet; it didn't start downpouring until I was on the train back home, thankfully) and the people in the front were being jerkfaces and it was a slightly antagonistic feeling the whole way through, but I was part of the crowd for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The second one to happen in the whole of British monarchical history. (The first was Queen Victoria, and now QEII, and when told that, the girl from Hong Kong I was hanging out with said, "Ah, so the women last longer!" I enjoyed that.)

I was there, in the crowd, in an iconic place, at an historical time. And that was all I really cared about. I was there. In fact, I went onto a website I frequent last night to find a number of pictures of the Jubilee pageant and the only comment I added was "I was there. It was cold. But awesome."

It was actually not as packed as I had assumed it would be. I'd thought it would be packed front-to-back with bodies, no way to move around, no flow, just everyone waiting. It wasn't all that bad. Well, on the Embankment where I was. Waterloo Station itself and what I could see of Westminster Bridge (and later, on the tv footage, Tower and London Bridges) was thick with people. As I put on Facebook, London was absolutely mad and it was glorious. Really, a lot of fun. Dodging people, this way and that, slipping through spaces as I walked confidently down to where I needed to be, where I knew the streets and a back way to get there.

Speaking of my city, since my time is rapidly ticking down, I want to share my city with you. So here it is, from the top of the tallest building in the EU, the Shard: London. Go explore it.

Today, I've been packing. And thinking about going home. And thinking about a lot of things. And later tonight, I will be meeting up with Bella to see them light the Kingston Beacon as part of the Jubilee ceremony. (Think, LotR or 101 Dalmations.)

Until then, I think I'll do some writing and some more thinking.

* City of Gold, Professor Green. Rap. A different side of London than I've ever seen, which reminds me just how little I actually know about my city.