New York

At the end of May I went to New York for the first time in about 6 years.  It was with some trepidation I went  - I have been on my own before but it was such a long time since I had been it felt quite scary!  However once I got there I need not have worried.  The worst bit was no escalators/lifts in the subway making  it hard to carry my bag up/down stairs.
The main reasons to go?  To see the Charles James Beyond Fashion exhibition at The Met and to see American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet.  I had a great time....so lets have a look at some photos:-

Up above the clouds on the way to The Big Apple!

New York City from the roof top of the Met Museum.

Another vista from the roof garden.

It was "Fleet Week" when I arrived - the 
sailors were dressed just like Frank Sinatra
and Gene Kelly in "On The Town"!!!

Times Square looms up!

Bright lights even in the day time.

A mini version of the Statue of Liberty
 - much easier to see than taking a 
boat ride!

 

More Fleet Week sailors - in the 
wet streets.

A typical New York steam vent!

A lovely fountain on 5th or 6th.

An unusual sculpture in a window - I rather 
liked this winged angel.

The Metropolitan Museum - I went 3 
times...more of that later!

Memorial Day weekend flags adorned the 
Rockefeller Centre.

The Prometheus at the Rockefeller Centre.

Pretty hydrangeas at the RC.

Dusk starts to fall on NYC and the 
Empire State Building is lit for the 
Memorial Day weekend in the national 
colours.

The beautiful Chrysler Building - this 
has to be one of my most favourite 
buildings on the planet!

Stunningly beautiful.

Some crazy vintage cars were parked up 
at Bryant Park

Note the number plate - LUNATIC3!  The cars 
were polished to within an inch of their lives
 both outside and under the bonnet (hood).

The ESB looked fabulous at night!

The real ESB on the left, a reflection on 
buildings on the right.

NYPD Mounted Division takes a morning 
stroll "right down the middle" of 5th!

A daytime ESB seen from Union Square.

As you know I adore outdoor markets and 
Union Square obliged albeit on a Monday 
it is smaller than the weekend market.

Lovely plants for sale at the market.

Trump tower - I would love to meet "The Donald"  one day!!

Next time we'll have a look at some of the 
things you can buy in NYC!

Ducklings Update

Well my sister's ducklings are now fully grown ducks and have learned how to fly!  We call them the Super 6.

Lazing by the pond.

Swimming off lead by mum.

Looking for food watched by mum at the back!

My how you have grown!

Toddling off back towards the pond.

Testing out one's flying instruments - ready for the eventual departure!

Blog emails

Just a quick note - the emails sent to followers registering for emails do not seem to be keeping pace with my posts, no idea why but Blogger has done this before.  IF it carries on I will have to see if I can find another way as I know other blogs have suffered similar issues.  So my apologies for this!

A Royal Day Out - Trooping The Colour

My sister wanted to see the Queen so I set about trying to get tickets for Trooping the Colour - seeing as it was a good opportunity to see several royals at one time too.  You have to apply early in the year to the Army for tickets and your name goes in a lucky dip draw.  I was astounded to strike lucky first time!  2 tickets were allocated to us - woohoo!  So we set off to London the day before the event (Saturday 14 June 2014) as you have to be seated by 10am so we could not travel and be there in time on the day.  We were seated quite high up which gave a good view of proceedings and in reality the royals were a long way off, but I have blown up the photos so you can see the royals better.  It is much more interesting to be there in person than watching on TV, because you get to see the whole picture and whilst sometimes the time drags watching it on TV, the time flew by in person!  Thankfully the day was overcast and there was a cool wind so we did not over-heat as we had done the day before in London!  It even rained just after the Queen left the event!  Sadly we missed seeing the fly past as we were caught up in the mayhem of a people jam leaving the event!

The Grenadier Guards were Trooping the Colour for 2014 and here are some pics:-

The day before - we went to suss out the venue!  It was really hot.

Admiralty Arch.

Super flags adorned The Mall.

As well as Admiralty Arch.

On the day we asked this lovely 
Grenadier Guard Sergeant about 
his fabulous row of medals!  He was 
very happy to explain them all to us.

One of the more senior officers 
of the Welsh Guards with 
buzby hat and another impressive
row of medals.

The bands arrived first and played 
some great music!

4 bands attended in total - you can see 2 here.

Then the foot guards arrived.  Quite a sight 
in their bright tunics.

Forming one of the many line ups.

The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery arrived 
behind us and took up position on the grass 
verges opposite the parade ground.  Later 
they would go off to Hyde Park to perform the 
Gun Salute which is quite a spectacle in itself 
as I reported on in 2012 here.

The Officer in charge do the whole event 
can be seen here on his grey horse.

First royals to arrive were the 
Duchess of Cornwall,  Camilla, 
the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate 
and Prince Harry.

Here you can see a bit closer - sorry the pics 
are not very sharp as I have blown them up 
so they have pixilated a bit.

Next the Countess of Wessex, Sophie, 
Princess Eugenie,
the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward 
and the Duke of York, Andrew.

You can just make them out.

And lastly Princess Alexandra and 
the Duke of Kent (her brother)

Princess Alexandra and 
the Duke of Kent.

A closer look at Prince Harry.

A closer look at Prince Edward 
and Prince Andrew.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II arrives 
with the Duke of Edinburgh.

And takes the stand at the top 
of the parade ground.

Her Majesty commences her inspection 
of the Guard alone.

Here looking rather serious.  Apparently she has a very keen eye for detail and can spot anything that is not quite right a mile off!

Here if you can somehow zoom in you will see a 
couple of people taking a selfie just behind the 
Queen's carriage - they had their backs to 
The Queen - I mean come on HM is right in front 
of you, you do not turn your back on her for a selfie 
or anything else!!!  I was truly amazed when I saw 
this photo at some people's bad manners!

Right in front of us we could see The Queen, 
with left to right - Prince Charles, Prince William 
and Princess Anne behind her saluting the 
Household Cavalry Guards who were to the 
left out of shot.

The Queen.

The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William.

The Princess Royal, Princess Anne 
(dressed like a man LOL!)

The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles.

Some more of the proceedings.

The Colour (the red flag on the right) that was 
being trooped passes in front of us - you have 
to stand up when the Colour passes by as a 
mark of respect, and also when the Queen 
and other royals pass, and the Standard.  
It is quite involved and there was a quite a 
bit of standing up/sitting down!

Here the Household Cavalry set off on 
their turn of the Parade Ground

Passing by Her Majesty to salute her.

All back in place after their turn around the ground.

Then Her Majesty and the Duke prepare to leave.

Another Parade for another year over, 
Happy Birthday ma'am!