G3988

I  am a woman in my twenties who lives in London. I am a PA who works in the public sector.

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The following was written on the actual days with a very few tweaks when typing up: Saturday 2 June So today is the first day of the Diamond Jubilee weekend. I have spent it no where near the UK as I have been on holiday for the past week (overseas!) with my family. We planned it ages ago (about a year) and we knew it would be the Jubilee weekend as it meant we’d get a bit longer off work without having to take as much leave. It meant having a nice long holiday! While I’m a bit disappointed to be missing out on such a historic occasion, it couldn’t really compete with a cheap holiday particularly after a very tiring and busy few months at work. I went on the BBC mobile site (free WiFi in our accommodation!) and read that the Queen had started the weekend at the races but that was as much as I have heard. I briefly mentioned it to my family and none of them are at all disappointed to be missing the festivities. Instead of taking part in Jubilee events, I have done a bit of shopping in the town we are staying in and have had a lovely evening meal but have mostly been relaxing. Sunday 3 June Again, we’ve had very little to do with the Jubilee. I mentioned to my family that it was the day of the flotilla but there wasn’t much discussion. I saw on the BBC mobile site that the final preparations were being made but have yet to check up on how it all went. I genuinely hope it went well for everyone involved as I bet there has been a hell of a lot of work behind the scenes. I may look up some reports before I got to bed! As with yesterday, it has been a very relaxing day of eating and drinking and also packing and saying goodbye to friends as we head home tomorrow. Monday 4 June Today was spent travelling. I got back home at about 8.40pm so could’ve watched a lot of the concert but my flatmate isn’t really interested in the whole Jubilee thing and I didn’t want to force her to watch anything so we watched Quantum of Solace instead. I hope to catch some of the highlights. I didn’t read anything about the flotilla yesterday as our free WiFi had run out. But I heard today that Prince Philip is ill and would therefore miss the concert. Part of me is a bit cynical and thinks that he wouldn’t have enjoyed it and therefore feigned illness but I’m sure that’s not the case!! The following was written retrospectively: Tuesday 5 June This was a typical post-holiday day. I spent most of it unpacking, watching TV (the French Open tennis mainly!) and checking up on e-mails. It was another relaxing day. Again, I caught very little of the Jubilee. I saw a bit of David Cameron doing a reading at the service but that was it. However, I did record the highlights of the concert and highlights of the whole weekend on the BBC and I am genuinely looking forward to watching it all – it might be a while until I do though as I have lots of TV to catch up on from while I was away! Overall, I had such a lovely holiday that I can't be too sad to have missed everything. However, I think if I had been in the UK I would've got caught up in it all, maybe tried to watch the flotilla and I would definitely have tried to get tickets for the concert when the ballot was announced. From what I have heard, even where people weren't able to join in the festivities (they went down to the Thames to see the flotilla but couldn't actually see anything because of the numbers of people!) or didn't choose to join in, no one complained about having a long weekend!