Princely Luck in the City

Someone get me down on the floor
What's the point of living in the city?
(Clap Clap by The Waking Eyes)

I had quite a bit of luck this morning, well in some ways.

I planned to go to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair where Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall would be officially opening the fair.

I almost didn't go. I woke up late. I had kids to get off to school and a dog to take care of. But then, the song Clap Clap came into my head...

"what's the point of living in the city?"

One of the advantages of living in the city is that I am potentially close to events that I would not otherwise be able to enjoy. So with Prince Charles visiting Toronto, I thought, why not go and experience royalty first hand? It doesn't happen every day, every year or every decade.

Traffic was horrendous though as I weaved my way southwest from home to get to Ricoh Coliseum trying to avoid the rush of cars heading downtown and the construction that seems to be everywhere.

So, traffic wise, I was not very lucky (it took at least double the normal time to get there)...but I managed to get into the stadium at least half an hour before their arrival.

The couple arrived to my surprise in a horse-drawn carriage that went around the arena a couple of times.




There was a short presentation on the stage and then Prince Charles declared the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair "officially open":




Then they left the arena and were walking towards the exhibition hall. The crowd was quite large at this point. I managed to capture this photo and was quite satisfied.



I thought about leaving, but then figured that since I was there, I may as well go around and see the exhibitions to determine if I would return with my daughter.

Half an hour later, I am now heading towards the exit when I came upon the Duchess of Cornwall's entourage. I first capture this photo:



then move to the next aisle where it looks like she is heading. She stopped at a booth that was selling and sampling jams. She tasted some and asked the exhibitor some questions about them. She then walked towards where I was lined up and she stopped and shook my hand.

The diamond maple leaf-shaped broach that she is wearing was borrowed from the Royal Collection. In 1939, it was given to the Duchess of York (Queen Mother) by the people of Canada in 1939.

At this point, the morning has exceeded my expectations. As I start walking towards the exit again, I notice an obsessive monarchy fan asking multiple questions to a photographer about where the Prince was. He had a schedule of Prince Charles' walkabout, so I find out where he was at that precise moment. I thought that perhaps the crowd would be smaller now, so head that way....the crowd is not smaller, but I happen to be at the right place at the right time as Prince Charles walks by.



So as I leave thinking about the great luck I had of being at the right place at the right time, twice...and figure I would leave before the Prince (and the crowd), I have to laugh as I walk around the parking lot trying to remember where I left the car. I don't believe I have ever forgotten where I parked the car before. I tried to lock the car (to get the beep of the alarm)...to no avail. Five minutes later, I find the car and leave the parking lot, but that 5 minutes was enough to get stopped on Lakeshore as they close it, awaiting for the royal motorcade to go by. I turned off my car knowing it would still be 5 or 10 minutes (from the photographer's schedule) and relaxed enjoying my music and knowing that I would take the luck of seeing the royal couple versus the luck of traffic. The drive home would take longer than the drive down...but it was all worth the effort.

I love living in the city!