After an arduous trip home-made doubly long due to bad weather in Chicago-leading us to get rerouted on Lufthansa. ( I got upgraded to Business-the SO did not. For the record, I offered the seat to her-but she knows how much the free booze means to me, God Bless Her). We were exhausted by the time we got back to Stuttgart.
Our bags, however, had an even longer journey not showing up till this morning. Which is just as well since the S.O was still asleep when they came-she slept till noon today.
So with the tiredness still resident, and bad weather looming on the horizon, we stayed in and watched the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Flotilla parade. ( If you have to ask "whose Queen"-you deserve to be beaten). The weather in London was not good-but thousands turned out to watch. And the British, proving to be the truly great people they are, pulled off the parade in great fashion, despite the rain. The Queen herself, 86, stood for 4 hours on the Royal Barge to watch the parade go by. Thanks to the wonder of our British Satellite System-we watched every moment of it.
Here's a note to all those folks watching Braveheart for the 15th time and thinking Scottish Independence would be a great thing: YOU ARE FUCKING WRONG! ( This could also be said to apply to Ireland-but they already fucked things up long ago). Only as a united nation with ENGLAND will you ever achieve great things.
Now, truth in advertising-I am a bonfide fan of the British Empire, if I had my way 1/4 of the earths population would still be under British rule. Get over it LKY, most of Africa, and you bastards in India and Pakistan. Sorry Gandhi, you never understood what would have been able to be accomplished had the colonies unified together to form a great power and economic block. Yes it was racist-but as Niall Ferguson has pointed out the forces of moderation were well underway before you guys went off the deep end.
ANYWAY.
As a bonafide Anglophile ( Americans take note-that still makes one an American, it simply means I recognize that America is an English country, descended from English tradition that needs to be assimilated into. That-by the way- is my view on immigration) I enjoyed the celebration immensely. Queen Elizabeth and the Commonwealth have been a stabilizing force among the world in many ways. Congratulations to her for 60 years on the throne and GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!