the Dalaverse

So I'm not one of the people who've been freaking out about The Royal Wedding; I left that to my mother. But I figured I'd get up early this morning anyway to go to the gym and flip the TV on. Actually I woke up at 5:51, rolled over and went right back to sleep. When I finally got up at 7:15, I was just in time to catch the procession from Westminster to Buckingham Palace. It makes me miss London something fierce. The bus from Oxford (and from Southampton if I wasn't going to the airport) always dropped us off near Victoria Station, so the traditional route was walking up to gawk at Buckingham Palace, through St. James, and over to Westminster. A reverse of the wedding procession. It's one of my favorite walks in a very walkable city (the touristy parts, anyway) and I probably made it six or seven times in all. Kind of neat to see it being used for what it was built. I geeked out over seeing a brief shot of the Women of WWII memorial.

Oooh, now they're in Trafalgar Square. That was generally where we ended up next, walking up Whitehall. I miss my favorite painting in the Gallery (The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, and my print STILL needs framing). Then we would wander over to the British Museum. You can do all that in one day if you get an early start. I bet I could still walk it without a map.

I guess the wedding itself interested me less than the city? The commentators are inane as expected. Somebody (an actual British somebody) remarked that it's good for the politicians to attend so they can see where the real power lies. I snickered. Kate's dress was beautiful, though I thought she looked a bit frail in it. Maybe it'll start a trend so you can actually walk into a shop and find something with sleeves (I am aware that I watch too much "Say Yes To the Dress," but it really only takes once for that Pnina Tornai stripper fairy dress to stick in your mind). I guess I'll watch the ceremony later because I do love Westminster Abbey. Just not as much as St. Paul's, because St. Paul's is my favorite building in the world.

In conclusion: I miss London. And Oxford. Southampton, not so much.