Tues, 9 March 2016, 9:10 am: Her Majesty was there to greet me when I deplaned at Gatwick Airport.
The giant twin portraits of Queen Elizabeth depict her on the left early in her reign and on the right at the time of her Diamond Jubilee, celebrating the 60th anniversary of her accession.
This astonishing double mosaic— composed of thousands of photos of regular British citizens— had me fumbling for my camera before I even made it to baggage claim. It’s been on this wall since May of 2013, so how did I not notice it upon arrival at Gatwick in 2014? That’s what lack of sleep on an all-night flight can do to your brain, people.
I would’ve stood there taking more photos, but walking past me was every other passenger from my Virgin Atlantic flight. I was among the rear half making it off the plane as it was; I didn’t want to end up the absolute last person to clear passport control and finally get out of the airport.
Turns out I was the second to last person from my plane to get out of Gatwick and get on with my first day in London. I’ll tell that full story in an upcoming blog post.