England – "El Camino Thru My Lens"

“Keep Calm and Carry On” is a message that the British are familiar with, especially during World War II. The British government promoted this slogan to encourage their citizens that they needed to persist in the face of challenge. And persist they did. But now that phrase has taken on a new life since it’s rediscovery in the 2000’s and it still rings true today for many Brits, hence why the phrase has been embraced so much.

Spending time in London has been active, insightful and broaden my perspective. This city is a melting pot of many people and cultures with many moving parts. To watch cyclist ride their bikes so fluidly along with traffic, see others jumping on and off the red double decker buses with easy, or utilizing the underground (aka: subway for us non-natives) like nothing, while walking briskly without colliding with one another person impressed me. And the fact they did it “calmly and just carried on” without skipping a beat took my admiration to another level.

The energy in this city is vibrant and infectious. I would find myself watching these fellow Brits to learn and embrace how they managed this so effortlessly. Most importantly, I had to remind myself not to go down the wrong side of the street as the rules of the road are opposite than those back home. But aside from these observations that I’ve mentioned, I became aware of how the Brits take time to enjoy themselves.

The British like to get together with their friends or family and what better way than to do it than go to the local pub and have a pint. Wherever we went in the city, we would find pubs or restaurants around late afternoon buzzing with people, talking, laughing and having their preferred libation. And somewhere in between all of this, they would be watching a soccer game on the telly and cheering their favorite team on or perhaps giving their own “perspective” on what that player should of done to not have missed that goal.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, London has some of the most beautiful parks and the British don’t waste anytime enjoying them. From early in the morning until closing time, the citizens of London were on the move in these parks, walking dogs, jogging, talking with a friend or family member or just taking a nap. And I can’t blame them as these parks are just beautiful and so welcoming and easily accessible. Perhaps it was the fact that people were taking a moment to slow down, socialize and make time for one another that left a good impression on me. It was good to see that feeling of community visible again on a larger scale.

So if you have the opportunity to visit this lovely city, do it. Come see and feel the pulse of London and learn about it’s great history, see it landmarks and experience it’s lifestyle. And should something not be going your way or you’ve had a day like no other, remember to take some advice from our friends across the pond and take a deep breath and just “Keep Calm and Carry On”.

Until next time, we’ll see what comes our way via El Camino Thru My Lens

Bags are packed, passport in hand and now it’s time to go! That’s right..it’s time to go on another adventure and see some new sights as well as to visit some favorites. Like a kid at Christmas, my excitement to go and travel AGAIN was something that I’ve been looking forward to for the past few months and now it has finally arrived. So your wondering, “Where are you going? “ Good question!

Well, I’ll first say that we’ve already gotten on the plane and now are in the beautiful city of London. What a great place to start our trip. It’s a cosmopolitan city with so much history, places to explore, and cultures living collectively together. After a 10 hour flight over the pond, we were welcomed with beautiful weather and felt ready to go out and explore. Jet lag? What’s that?! Yes, I hear you laughing but not to worry as half a day was spent in the sunshine and a good night sleep got us up and running up to speed the next day.

First off, London has some of the most beautiful parks. The Royal Park system encompasses ten parks throughout the city which covers a total of over 5,000 acres. These historic parklands are just amazing and provide beautiful green landscapes throughout the city, but I’ll touch on that more in depth in my next post. With a list of things to see and do, it seemed like a good idea to start off with a visit to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard

This traditional ceremony dates back to the reign of King Henry VII and has been performed at the palace since Queen Victoria began her residence there in 1837. The exchange occurs behind the gates of the palace and the Royal Air Force and Queen’s Guardsmen bands performed for the crowd after the exchange took place. Once they completed their setlist, their procession took them along The Mall,which is the primary ceremonial road located in front of the palace. Watching the Royal Air Force march in their attractive uniforms as well as seeing the Queen’s Guardsmen in their bright red and black uniforms with their large bearskin hats on was a nice showing of their traditional and contemporary military rituals coming together as one.

And with that, the adventures of El Camino Thru My Lens on the road starts. Below are some photos of this event and I’ll be posting more very soon to keep you posted and bring you along with me. If you have a minute, please subscribe to the blog site and stay up to date. You will get an email notifying you whenever I post a blog and you can follow and see where my lens will take me.

Glad you are coming along on this adventure and look forward to sharing some more photos and observations with you. And as always, feel free to comment and or let me know if you have any questions or thoughts.

So until next time, be well and we’ll see what comes our way via El Camino Thur My lens.

Cheers!