After 6 1/2 hours on quite literally the worst megabus ride I have EVER taken, I arrived in to London Victoria excited for the wave event yesterday morning.Michael had travelled all the way from Glasgow and our first thought at 07:30am was BREAKFAST!
After a plate of fried joy served by the nicest cockney I ever did meet, we rambled around London killing time until the 12 'o'clock kick off.
With hindsight, walking around half of London before the march began (having had only 30minutes sleep on a cramped night bus) was not a good plan.
But we saw Buckingham Palace and meandered around Mayfair ogling the architecture and chattering excitedly about how the day was going to go.
Nothing like a walk to feed your excitement and by the time we got to Grosvenor Square, we were suitably buzzing!
We were two of the first to arrive and watching the thousands flood into the square as noon approached was quite something. Groups such as RSPB, Christian Aid, Transition and Friends of the Earth all gathered and painted each other blue. It was so cold, I think we probably could have managed the blue hands without the paint but they slapped it on us and the rest of the day was spent not trying to cover everything we touched in blue (failed).
It took some time for the march to get going - Esther was impatient and we snuck our way over and under barriers until we reached the front of the pack...and we were off!
Dancing through Berkley Square to a Bollywood brass band was pretty damn surreal but they were so funky it was hard to do anything else. The vibe was happy, excited and very very friendly - old people, young people, parents with pushchairs and toddlers all came along to show that climate change is a real worry to the ordinary soul. This was not just about a few environmentalists getting on their high horse, this was a true representation of the people that care what happens in Copenhagen because they understand the importance of protecting our planet for the (very near) future.
The Preston Lushies arrived after the march had set off and finding them really did take all day - but our reunion on the Embankment was emotional ;-) Claire from Kingston Lush had also managed to miss us but we caught up with her snapping away with her camera near parliament.
It was lovely to be together in time for the 3pm wave - 50,000 blue palms waving at Big Ben as the chimes rang out...bet it looked amazing from above!
You can read all about the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition right here and make sure you look through the pictures of the day to see just how incredible it all was.
Look out for more pictures of our day out soon....
