Canada Day - UK Style

If partying at Glastonbury was not enough, my friends and I conveniently timed our trip to be in London on July 1st, the national holiday of Canada. A full-day event was taking place in Trafalgar Square directly in front of the Canadian Consulate and I had heard rumours of a musical line-up to rival Canada's own celebrations. We had had a very early start in order to leave Glastonbury; a 4am rise to catch a 5:30am bus. With only a few hours of sleep I needed to get in the festive mood, so I donned the only red I had in my pack - a surprisingly suitable hippie bandana with moose print.

We arrived at Trafalgar in later afternoon in time to catch the finals of the street hockey tournament. In friendly Canadian fashion we had made plans to meet up with some of Deanna's relatives and three of my friends: Gillian, Geordie and Christine. We quickly settled in by picking up some traditional Canadian grub, pancakes for me and bison burgers for Jake and Deanna. Big surprise I immediately managed to spill maple syrup down my front; it's not like it was my only clean set of clothes after Glastonbury... I thought I'd remedy the situation by sipping a cold Canadian beer. I headed for the beer stand excitedly anticipating choosing from brands I haven't seen in 11 months like Keith's or Rickard's, only to find one option of Molson Canadian. Come on! Molson Canadian is one of the few Canadian beers I can buy in Ireland! I decided it was my national duty to drink one anyway. The sun was shining and Canadians were out, not much could dampen my mood.

Canadians in London do not mess around when celebrating their nationality. Everyone was decked in red and white and sported stick-on tattoos. Organizers even released giant red/white beach balls that were bounced above the crowd, somewhat treacherously if you were not paying attention. We were also celebrating with some of Canada's favourite personalities and performers. For instance George Stroumboulopoulos (had to look that spelling up) was busy schmoozing the crowd, and Canadian artists The Arkells, Jann Arden, The Sheepdogs and The Tragically Hip were gracing the stage.

 Hello Strombo! Seriously, as soon as he appeared the women flocked with cameras... but not me of course...

 The Arkells from Hamilton, Ontario

 Jann Arden from Calgary, Alberta.

 The Sheepdogs from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

The Tragically Hip, from Kingston Ontario, playing to a packed crowd.

 

The following day we spent some quality tourist time around London before we had to part ways on the 3rd. First we went around the iconic, and rather expensive, London Eye. With the help of interactive guides we were able to see some of London's most important landmarks from a birds-eye view. We had a good laugh when Deanna was the only person besides a small East Indian girl to enthusiastically prepare for the automatic picture being taken when our pod completed the full circle.

 

 

 Parliament and Big Ben!

Next we took a walk around the city centre, passed Buckingham Palace and then through Piccadilly Circus and Convent Garden. We snapped pictures of the Queen's Guard and picked up necessary souvenirs. We ended at the British Museum and were actively completing their one-hour must-see list when security personnel told us the museum was closing. At only 5:30?? We looked at each other, turned around and booked it to the Rosetta Stone as fast as we could. We arrived at the room in just enough time to sneak a glimpse of it before the exhibit door was closed. I'd say a job well done, if not well planned!

We may not have seen a lot of things at the museum, but we did get a good look at this Easter Island statue called "Hoa Hakananai'a." It originated in the South Pacific around 1400.

 

A lot of effort went into planning this Glastonbury/London trip. Everything began last October when after an hour and a half of website refreshing I shockingly found I had made it through to the festival booking page. And now the entire event is over and I am back in Ireland exhausted but happy. All the preparation is worth it when you can spend the time with two best friends. Many thanks to Jake and Deanna for putting in all the effort to get here, and best of luck to Jake who is continuing on his own backpacking adventure across Europe.

 

Hope everyone is enjoying summer,

Shannon