Thursday, April 30, 2009

Queen's day.


Well, that turned out to be a very sad Queen's day. A man in a car drove through a crowd of people at high speed and through barriers and tried to drive it into the open bus that carried the royal family. Luckily, he veered of course and came to rest at a monument which he hit with high impact. Bodies flew through the air and people laid wounded in the street. Four people died, eight are wounded critically and six are wounded mildly. All festivities of the day in that town they were visiting were canceled. It was a deliberate attempt at assassinating the royal family. Before they cut the suspect out of the car, he admitted as much.

I didn't hear this news until I met Von downtown and she told me about it and I was shocked, because such things just don't happen here. Well, now they do, I guess. Now Queen's Day will never be the same again.

When I came home at six, I watched the news immediately and saw the whole debacle on film and the consequent horror. It's very sad and it surely left its mark on my afternoon. Suddenly I didn't feel like celebrating so much anymore, and I was subdued the whole time. Von and I had a cappuccino and then went to the park to listen to a blues band that was pretty good. The park was packed with people, young and old, and there were refreshment stands all over the place.

After listening to the band we walked around a bit, but it was almost impossible because of the crowd and then decided to go to a Greek restaurant to eat Tzatziki, which is a very thick creamy Greek yogurt with gralic and cucumbers in it. My portion was just enough to eat for me, it was very filling, but it tasted delicious.

I had to wait 50 minutes for my bus to take me home, apparently a bus had a break down somewhere down the line. I made it home 5 minutes before six PM, just in time for the news and enough time left to cuddle the Überhund.

I am sorry, I feel exhausted and completely deflated because of the news. I think I will put on my pajamas and call it an early night. A little bit of sleep puts everything back into perspective. I just heard the news that another heavily injured person died.



Have a good evening, everyone.

Ciao...

14 comments:

Lane Mathias said...

I've just seen it on the evening news. Very sad indeed:-(

Take care Irene.

Anonymous said...

Hi Irene, yes, I've just seen it on the news also. What a sham.

CJ xx

Maggie May said...

Blimey! I am shocked. Haven't seen the news tonight yet. That is terrible.A great pity that a small minority spoil everything for the majority.
Hope you sleep well Irene. X

aims said...

What is wrong with the world today?

I understand how you feel dear friend. Hope tomorrow is a bit brighter and less painful.

Jeannette StG said...

Irene,
Yes, I saw it on-line news, just before I got to blogger. It would be normal to feel deflated, and some other feelings- even though I'm not there it had the same impact on me, because I have good memories of Queens day. You made a good decision to call it an early day. Thanks for the photos!

VioletSky said...

How terrible, and sad. And still makes no sense. This should be such a happy day for everyone. You are right, Queen's Day will never be the same.

Swearing Mother said...

Saw this on the news, Irene, very very sad indeed.

Milo said...

i am just so sorry... i heard it over here too. it really sucks.
love you Irene, from me and my little dogie

Breakfast in California said...

How sad for everyone. It was on our news too. Hugs to you. I hope tomorrow is better.

Babaloo said...

What an awful thing to happen.

But, tzatziki? Oh, yumm! Haven't had any in ages. I don't think there are any Greek people in Ireland, at least I've never met any. I've never seen a Greek restaurant either. There may be one in Dublin but definitely not in Cork.

(Trust me to focus on the food in your post. Of all things. I'm sorry. But everything else is just too horrible to think about.)

lebanesa said...

sorry the day was blighted by some horrible person - how awful for people along to have a happy day out.
hugs

laurie said...

that's terrible. i am so sorry for the people who went out for a day of festivity and were killed. it's awful.

i can well imagine that you are exhasted. but .... you had pleasure in your day, too. the tzatziki sauce sounds lovely. we eat it with pita bread.

Tessa said...

Good grief - what is up with the world, I wonder? Your Queen is not a political figure, she merely goes about her business in the most refined and decent way - a perfect diplomat...why in the name of fortune should anyone wish to harm her?

Maureen said...

Yes, I read about this and thought immediately of you... what a horrible tragedy. I don't know why someone would do such a thing.