Aussie Flyer

As a fan of the bmi Diamond Club frequent flyer program and gold member with them, it was quite important to me to fly on the airline whilst I was in London. So I booked an overnight trip to Berlin and back to sample   bmi British Midland short haul international business class. With such an early departure I decided it made sense to stay at one of the many airport hotels so I got a room at the Crowne Plaza at a reasonable price. I ended up taking the Heathrow Express to Heathrow and then transferring onto one of the Hotel Hoppa buses to the hotel. In fact I was quite pleased with Crowne Plaza, the rooms were large and although the hotel looked pretty ordinary on the outside I found it quite comfortable. At 5am I woke up and had a quick shower before grabbing the 5.30am bus back to Terminal 1. Crowne Plaza Heathrow - Standard Room Crowne Plaza Heathrow - Bathroom LONDON HEATHROW TO BERLIN TEGEL AIRLINE: bmi ( British Midland International ) FLIGHT: BD841 AIRCRAFT:

April 29, 2011 finally arrived and I took the tube to Green Park at about 7am... bringing along a packed lunch in my bag. The crowds were already quite large and I positioned myself along the Mall quite close to Buckingham Palace at about 7.30am. I had a pretty ok view, about 4 or 5 rows back, not bad since I didn't have to camp out overnight for it! My position It was a very long wait and my feet were very tired but eventually things started happening  and various bands played along the procession route. Eventually guests started to arrive: Foreign Royals being bussed in I believe this is the Brides mother and brother Here we have the lovely bridesmaids Australia's Channel 7 doing a live broadcast - interviewing some Aussies. Apparently my face was visible behind!  I do apologise for not having pics of Her Majesty The Queen arriving, nor Kate Middleton, I was filming those arrivals instead. But it was a fabulous atmosphere as both of them passed by,

Here is a series of photos I took on April 28, 2011 around London. This was the afternoon before the big day! Media Facilities The Mall Looking up the mall towards Buckingham Palace Crowded footpaths around Buckingham Palace Television Studios set up facing the palace Media from around the world were absolutely everywhere doing live broadcasts I believe this is the Today show from the USA -  quite a few US visitors hanging around in the background cheering Buckingham Palace - HM Queen Elizabeth is in residence Bumped into these two - probably familiar with anyone who watched TV during the lead up to the wedding. Wills and Kate impersonators! They were very popular on the street Paparazzi outside Clarence House - I saw the New Zealand Prime Minister leaving after meeting HRH Prince Charles Great picnic along the procession route! Household Cavalry Australian Camp site near the Abbey People camping along the procession route-  right