What a Weekend!

We were pretty busy and we didn't even leave greater London!

It started on Friday night with a  show in the west end.  We went to go see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and it was great!  I remember doing this show when I was in elementary school, so it was fun to hear the music and see it again!  It was interesting because the lead in the production was selected from a BBC show called Any Dream Will Do.  It was an "America Idol" type of show that was on TV before we moved here where people voted and the winner, Lee Mead, was awarded the role of Joseph in the musical.  So, Chad and I didn't really know about all of that and did not realize how hard it was to get tickets!  He bought them for me for Valentines Day and this Friday was the first weekend evening when he could get in!  Anyway, it was a good time and here I am with the Joesph sign in the background!

Then on Saturday morning, we had to get up early and get all dressed up for the Royal Ascot.  For those of you who don't know about the Royal Ascot (I  never heard about it until I moved here!) it is THE English horse racing event, which dates back to 1711.  The Royal Family attends the event each year, which is held over 5 days.  Anyway, it is a reason for the English to get all dressed up, bet on horses and drink Pimm's and Lemonade!  Many men wear tops and tails and all the ladies have hats or "fasinators", which are essentially feathers and trim that are fastened to your hair with clips or a comb.  So here are the pics!

On the train to the Ascot - which took about 45 minutes from London.  Chad did not rent a tux, but looked pretty dapper in his suit and tie!

Here we are when we arrived at the train station.  Of course it was raining when we arrived, but it cleared up by the time the races started.

We arrived nice and early to avoid the crowds making their way to the racecourse and secure a seat.  Here I am with our friends Lindsay and Harriet in our hats!  You can see that it's pretty empty in the background!

Another one of Chad and I!

This is a photo of the Royal Procession, which was right before the races started.  If you look very close, the 2 people sitting in the back of the carrige are the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen!  The Queen is wearing a bright blue hat and you can't see her very well, but it still was fun to witness!

So this is what it looked like when the races finally began!  

And here is a shot with some of the racing horses.  We made a few bets but didn't have much luck!  All in all it was a very fun day a good English experience!

So ironically enough yesterday felt like the longest day of the year, and it was! It was also my Dad's birthday!!  Happy b-day Pops!!  Hope you had a good one!!  And I took the following photos for you - it's a house that we walked by near Oxford Street.  Any building that has a blue circle plaque on it means that something important probably happened there or someone famous lived or stayed there.  This one was cool because it said that Simon Bolivar, the main historical figure of Venezuela stayed here.  Pretty neat!

jj

And I'll finish off with some pretty British peonies I bought this week!

xoxox, Kari