The Royal Wedding

Being in London, I thought it would be wise to go out and check out Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding. In my candid opinion, the celebrations are a bit over the top. I've heard some people exclaim, "This is the biggest event of the decade!" or "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity; the last time we've had a royal wedding was in 1981!" Now let's be realistic, a wedding shouldn't be that big of a deal...but it was.

Having heard that people have been camping out in Trafalgar Square for the past 48 hours and that people have been flying in from every corner of the world to join in these celebrations, I thought it would be wise to leave the dorm early. I thought 7am would be early enough, but apparently it wasn't. I had friends out since 5am.

When I got to Trafalgar Square, it was packed! It almost reminded me of my visit to Tahrir Square earlier this month, but I have to admit that the Brits were much more orderly. It was quite delightful seeing people from all over the world take part in these celebrations. I didn't quite understand what all the hype was about, but apparently this is a national celebration and a tradition that has been taking place since the founding of the British monarchy.

From what I gathered, about 2 billion people would be watching this wedding from all over the world, i.e. one in every three people alive would be tuned in. That must be quite a humbling experience for the bride and groom. The other significant fact about this wedding was that this was the first time a member of the British royal family would marry someone who wasn't of royal lineage since the 1600s. In my personal opinion, I don't buy into this whole royalty/nobility idea, but on a more humane level I wish the couple all the best in the future.

The real take away from the whole experience was that the Brits really cherish their traditions. Today, one could see the remanents of the British Empire in all its glory. Not only was the imperial guard and members of the royal family impecably dressed, but tourists from all the former British colonies flew in to celebrate. Its this grandeur of nations like Great Britain that really gives it its flavour, reputation, and soft power.

London's Metropolitan Police

Tourists in front of Westminister Abbey

Westminister Abbey & Big Ben

The Mall with ambassadors' vehicles driving by

The Mall

Orchestra Procession

Orchestra Procession

Westminister Abbey

"Thanks for the day off"

The Mall

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

Wedding commerce

Trafalgar Square

Screen in Trafalgar broadcasting the wedding

Meeting the Managing Director of the Guardian

I just left my Strategy seminar awed by an inspirational talk by the Managing Director of the Guardian, Tim Brooks. Recently, with the unfolding of the Arab Revolutions, I have held independent media in high esteem for its ability to shape world events. The Guardian always offered an insightful perspective on what takes place behind the scenes. As a professional news agency, its journalists seemed committed to the truth.

Although the class discussion was about the Guardian's business model and how the news agency is coping with the inevitable shift from print to digital media, I was fortunate enough to approach Brooks at the end of the talk to ask him a question that boggled my mind for sometime, " How did the Guardian get a hold of a true estimate of Mubarak's fortune?"

The reason meeting Brooks meant a lot to me was because of how the Guardian's article about Mubarak's $70 bn fortune tipped the scale in favor of the Egyptian revolution's success. At a time when my nation was at an inflection point, and Egypt's destiny stood on a thin line between revolution and counter-revolution, it was this news about the abhorent corruption that had plagued our governing system that drove the final nail in the Mubarak regime's coffin.

I was curious to find out how the Guardian had obtained exclusive access to this piece of information. According to Brooks, Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, got hold of 200,000 diplomatic cable leaks. Instead of releasing them all, he collaborated with news agencies, such as the Guardian and the New York Times, to filter through them and release ones that would have a strategic impact. It was during the climax of the Egyptian revolution that the Guardian decided to release the news of Mubarak's fortune and expose the a secret that the U.S. and Egyptian governments had withheld thus far.

It was amazing how a single piece of information could shape a nation's history. I personally thanked Brooks as an Egyptian for his agency's decision to commit itself the truth. Athough a lecture by the head of a news agency that has been around since 1821 was a treat in and of itself, a conversation up close and in person with Mr. Brooks about how his agency contributed to my nation's history was more than I could ever ask for!

London in the Summertime

Georges Seurat's impressionist painting in London's National Art Gallery

Before I step outside of Lain House, cross Cresent Road, and enter the paradise of Regent's park, I wanted to record on this blog a notion that's been going on in my mind for sometime since returning to London from Cairo a week ago.

My father asked me, as we sat in Egypt's unparalled sun, "Do you miss London?" I instinctively blurted out, "No!" London, up to that point, had been a dull city... grey, gloomy, and cold. At times, I felt like it had taken my away from the comforting warmth of my mother Egypt.

Never could I thought that a city so frigid become so gorgeous. This time, my return to London was quite surreal. The notion of a "sunny London" almost seemed oxymoronic to me, and yet...here it was before my eyes. London was blossoming in Spring with all its beauty.

Since the sun used to set around 3:30pm in the winter, it had become a habit for me to wake up before sunrise to make the most of the city's daylight. Now the days feel twice as long with the sun setting at 8:30pm, and what excites me even more is that everyday the sunset keeps getting later and later.

I've never appreciated sunlight and nature so much until I experienced winter in London. Despite its plethora of parks, the bitter cold made any outdoor activity uncomfortably unpleasant. But now, all of the city's treasures have unvieled their magnificence.

I had planned on visiting Tate Britain last Friday, but after walking through several Southbank parks, I couldn't help but continue strolling outdoors. Musuems are only sufficient on rainy days...

London's Royal Parks are superior to all! Sprinkled with the most exotic botany from around the world, these parks offer some of the most eclectic wildlife a city can offer. Swans, ducks, storks, geese swim over the most peculiar fish in the ponds enveloped plants that must have been sent down from the Garden of Eden.

My first exposure to the English garden was during a visit to the British Consulate's palace in Istanbul. I was highly impressed by the orderly, well-groomed, meticulous nature of the palace's garden. Never would I thought that the Kingdom's capital would offer more of this beauty than one could possible fathom.

What's absolutely brilliant is that these man-made parks each have their own charm. St-James' is perfect for sitting on a recliner and reading, Regent's is sitting on a bench and watching rowboats go by followed by ducks, and Green Park is great for a quick stroll.

Enough said. Time to shun technology for the rest of the day and enjoy nature's beauty.