the Queen!!!

I drug myself out of bed for my walk around the botanic gardens this morning and when I got round to the western side the road leading up from the main street to the gardens was all barricaded and there were police standing round.  I recalled that the Queen and Prince Philip were visiting Australia and hoped that the barricades were for them.  Got back to the apartment and looked it up and I was right!  They were to visit Melbourne today.  I don't usually check the local news so would have completely missed this if I had not drug myself out of bed for a walk.  See how good exercise can be for one's frame of mind.
Anyway, here are some pretty bad photos.  We had a very clear view of the Queen but the windows of the tram are pretty bad for photos.  This is the closest I've ever come to royalty.  Pretty fun!

A tram was outfitted especially for the short ride from Federation Square to Government House near the Botanic Gardens.  When it first pulled up we thought the Queen would surely have to walk right by us to get on board but then it moved off down the street so we did not get to see her until she was inside the tram.

Crowds gathered at Federation Square.

 

Crowds on the bridge across the Yarra.  Poor folks on the other side probably did not get to see much as we got lucky and the Queen and Prince Philip sat on our side of the tram. 

Here it comes! So exciting!

 

Can you see her in the middle window?

 

I think in this shot she is looking right at me!  I'm sure of it!  Well maybe it was the cute little girls standing in front of me. 

There she goes.  That is about 2 hours and 10 seconds of my life that I will never have back.  Well spent in my opinion.