Trooping the Colour

Last weekend, Fi & I had tickets to go watch a practice-run of a ceremony called Trooping the Colour, which is a parade of sorts performed every year to commemorate the Queen's official birthday.  The practice-run takes place on the weekend before & includes all the pomp & circumstance of the real deal, save the royal family, who only attend the actual Trooping. It's a good way for those of us in the general public to get a peek at all the stuff.  We had to apply for tickets months in advance & dress up in formal wear; it's a very big deal.

The ceremony itself consists various British Military regiments marching on a ground called the Horse Guards Parade.

 

 
The regiments are foot guards from the Household Division, the Household Cavalry, & Royal Artillery, each fully accoutred & spit-shined to a gleam.

There's a horse-mounted band, which plays during all the routines, so the marches are coordinated with appropriate tunes for the occasion.

 
The trooping's definitely a great spectacle.  I did my best to take a lot of photographs, though I don't really have a camera setup appropriate for such an event, so I've had to do quite a bit of cropping.  In any case, you'll get the general idea.

It was lots of fun to see.  I'd def go back next year.  If you're interested in coming along, I'm given to understand it's held at the same time every year.  Let us know far in advance, so we can try to get tickets.

Devon, pt. IV

We awoke to heavy rain & gale-force winds on day 4, so there wasn't much we could do besides go out to lunch.  Louisa had booked a table at a renowned seafood place called the Oyster Shack, so we headed that way.  Luckily, the proprietors didn't seem to mind too much when we arrived 1.5 hrs early for our reservation.

Our table faced a window to the kitchen, so we got a first-class view of all the dishes coming out.

After an hour or so of drinks, appetizers, & deliberation, we finally put in our order, which amounted to three separate waves of various seafood dishes.  Fi & I ordered as follows:

1. Crevettes

2. Spider crab claws & legs

3. Cuttlefish

4. Scallops (note the parma ham crisp.. amazing)

5. A pint of prawns with sweet potatoe fries.

The meal was a glorious mess, excessive in the best possible way.  Everything was cooked to perfection, & the variety was a real treat.  I love seafood.  So does Adam.

After 3 hours of hammering back shellfish, garlic aioli, & white wine, Anya suggested trekking out to the pub on Burgh Island for a drink.

By then, the rain had stopped, but the winds were blowing very, very strong onshore.

Represent.

When we reached the pub, the tide had already started coming back in.  Fearing for our ability to get back ashore, we turned back without stopping for a pint.

I was a bit disappointed, but it was the right decision.  See for yourself.

The waves that day were real big, like 10-15 ft.

Fi's unmistakable march.

Back on the beach in front of our house, here's Fi again, facing the wind, bundled up like Kenny from South Park.

I wanted to hike down there to see the big waves up close.  The size is not really apparent from the picture, but they were remarkable.

Devon, pt. III

Day 3 began with blue skies & sunshine, so we all decided to walk the cliffs down to Bantham beach & have lunch at a nearby pub.

 
The tide was out, so the shape of the coastline was dramatically different from what we'd yet seen, yielding some pretty incredible rock formations.

Here's the same bench from my post on day 2.  Quite a change.

Fi, undertaking some natural photography.

As you can see, we're still wearing hoodies & jackets.  Despite the sunshine & clear skies, the breeze was strong & air-temps were low-ish for summertime, so ne'er a clout was cast.

More of the path.  It's pretty cool that such a thing's been established along the coastal cliffs.  The English do love their walking.

The path turns down toward Bantham beach here.  In the distance, you can see the isthmus leading to Burgh Island, which is only accessible by foot at low tide. 

I want one of these.

Another bench, this one looking out onto the river Avon.
 

Just off Bantham beach is the village, where we found our lunch pub, the Sloop Inn.

The sun kept shining, so we ate in the garden.

After another delicious crab sandwich (can't get enough) & a couple of Proper Jobs, we made our way back up the cliffs toward the house.