Our week in London was such fun.  The two of us are fairly familiar with the Underground, the Tube.  We had a mental list of maps and places to visit.  We knew our kids would be around the perimeters of Hyde Park, just like us.  Truly, it was a breeze.

Well.  The untraditional summer heat wave was NOT a breeze, but I won't go on about it.  Suffice to say that when I made hotel reservations back in February, I ticked the box that stated "Air Conditioning" in my search.  July is July, and I am well aware of my heat-coping capabilities (nil!), and so there ya go.

We two met up with whatever family party was near and available for whatever it was we were doing, or what they were doing.  We met for breakfasts at sidewalk cafes, coffees mid-morning, also somewhere on the sidewalk, dinners at great Asian and Lebanese spots.  Picnics at playgrounds in Hyde Park!  (We loved traveling with three under the age of six, and were tickled that they were so easy-going the entire ten days.)

One highlight, early-on, was our second day in London.  We two had moved up to Trafalgar Square, and I HEARD BROADWAY MUSIC. 

Omigoodness.  Real live, really good live BROADWAY MUSIC.  I moved as if in a trance to the source.  That Spouse o' Mine followed.  He knows me well.  There they were!  Real artists, singing really nice Broadway hits, on a concert stage in Trafalgar Square!  Wowza!  I kept moving in closer, (there were HOARDES OF PEOPLE), and finally I found someone who looked to be in charge.  I asked where one could purchase tickets. 

"Oh," he replied.  "Go on in!  It's free  for everyone!" 

What???  But we did as he suggested.  Yay, free Broadway performers!!

Come to find out from folks handing out flyers, we were the audience to the Pride of London Day.  I have to say, we were happy to have stumbled upon it.

And so we enjoyed quite a few songs by some really incredible Broadway artists, and then there was a brief intermission.  After the intermission, a group of entertainers entered the stage and began a bit of Moulin Rouge entertainment.  It was OK.  We two moved on to what we thought was the direction of Hyde Park.  But then...

I heard more music!  Omigoodness!  What a fun city this was proving to be!  

Lo and behold, it was a parade!  

I do so love me a parade!!!!   I was all atwitter when I heard the parade music!!

Our walk back to anywhere near our Hyde Park haunt - that being any Underground anywhere - was blocked by the Pride of London Parade.

And so we enjoyed it.  So many floats, music, and something we will never experience in the US:  The military of the UK: Army, Navy, and Air Force all had formations marching in the Pride of London Parade.  Including Chaplains.  

Say what you will.   

I say:
What a Day!

More to come.