Story behind the photo - London (New Years Day Parade)

Before moving to the UK, I had never heard of the annual parade in London on New Year's Day. When I was planning what I should do for my first New Year's here, I thought going to the parade sounded like a good idea. And it was. Except for a couple of factors: wanting to get a good position, I arrived about an hour before the parade started. What I didn't know, was that the parade was the best part of 3 hours long. Three hours standing in the same position, with buildings all around (therefore not much sun got in) = one cold girlfromoz by the time the parade was over. Secondly: being at the parade by myself meant I couldn't go and get food/drink/go to the toilet without losing my place. Thirdly: at the time, I only had one battery for my camera, and ran out of charge about three quarters of the way through. (I bought another battery not long after, but I still haven't learnt my lesson ). Despite all this, the parade was an interesting experience, and very colourful. This photo is of one of the many marching bands that took part. As someone who has played a musical instrument, I admire this band playing without any music - certainly not a skill I've ever managed to master.