Sunday, July 8, 2012

Savor Seattle (part 2 of 2)

Since I've spent the day nursing my back (yes I've thrown it out again), it's given me this chance to finish my Seattle review. On day two it was time to celebrate Queen Elizabeth. For regular people like you and me, celebrating a diamond anniversary marks 75 years. For the queen of England, it marks 60 years of her coronation. To ring in the 60th year, the royal family threw a Diamond Jubilee, and since we would be in Seattle visiting Andrew’s English sister-in-law she suggested we throw a party that would make them proud. I think we succeeded. To get us in the mood, she sent us a few BBC links. For example, here are a few notes on the event, but you can click herehere, or here for more complete BBC jubilee coverage: 
  • The celebration was a series of events running from June 2nd to the 5th. 
  • On Sunday, June 3, a flotilla of 1,000 vessels traveled on the Thames River from Battlesea to Tower Bridge (the largest since 1662 for Charles II). The banks were packed with approximately 1.2 million people despite the gray weather. 
  • A star-studded concert was put on for the Queen, the Royal family, and  12,000 ticket holders outside Buckingham Palace with performances by Robbie Williams, Kylie Monogue, Elton John, Paul McCartney, The Black Eyed Peas, Gary Barlow, Cheryl Crow, Grace Jones,  Chinese pianist Lang Lang, US soprano Renee Fleming, English tenor Alfie Boe,  Annie Lennox, Ed Sheeran and Sir Tom Jones.
  • The Queen marked the final day of the Diamond Jubilee weekend by attending a service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral, followed by a reception, lunch, and carriage procession.
  • 10,000 people packed the palace for a jubilee picnic
There is no way to mention all the official events, but here is a calendar of all Royal jubilee events for the year in case you want to study up on royal whereabouts. 


Back in Seattle, a week after official celebrations, we spent the afternoon making tea sandwiches, including cucumber sandwiches and coronation chicken, with flavors from many of the British colonies. For sweets we made a cake, well, salvaged the cake after some of the batter leaked from the pan creating a sinking look to the cake. With homemade whipped cream and fruit on top, we saved the cake and made it the perfect mini union jack. It felt like finally all my Food Network watching paid off. 
After all the prep work, we went back to the hotel to put on our jubilee best. Donned in diamonds, dresses and tuxedo t-shirts, we posed in front of the union jack on the balcony lined with bunting that overlooks the space needle. It was nice to sit with good company, sip tea and eat all the delicious food we worked hard to make earlier in the day. As the jubilee party was winding down, and since we were all dressed up us ladies decided to hit the town for a bit.


Since we were all dressed up, the ladies decided to go out for a drink while the brothers bonded. The first place was a little too crowded, which I think was partly due to graduations, so we went to a newer place close by. It was another charming Seattle bar that will keep me coming back to this city to see what else is around. After having time with the girls, we went back to the apartment for an impromptu dance party. Andrew's mom had brought glow sticks, and we hadn't brought them out during the jubilee celebrations, so we put them to good use. Old school techno beats, lights off and my camera set to a slow shutter speed to capture the sober rave-like dance party made for a good, old-fashioned family fun. 
As the night came to an end, we planned to meet up the next morning to go to the Olympic Sculpture Park and our last brunch in Seattle. This new green space was once an is a refurbished industrial area near the waterfront. The park is packed with a variety of sculptures, including an Alexander Calder who in Chicago is known for the "flamingo" in federal plaza. Wandering Rocks is one of my favorite sculptures there, as is the artist's comment. 


This park manages to do something that I love, which is to bring together natural and man-made beauty. It's like seeing a flower growing from a crack in a city sidewalk. It has a way of making you smile noting the hope and strength it represents. 

And with that, I'll say goodbye to Seattle, for now...



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