It isn’t every day that you walk out of your house to find 10,000 people on your lawn. But on Saturday, for EU Embassy Open House day, that is what happened to me.
From the time gates opened at 10:00—with quite a queue already formed—until they closed at 4:00, a steady stream of visitors turned the grounds of the Embassy and the Ambassador’s Residence into a buzzing hub of activity. There were Rolls Royce, Bentley and Jaguar automobiles on display; a putting green to celebrate Northern Ireland hosting the Irish Open next month; cricket and football displays; even roving thespians bringing Shakespeare into the crowd. (No donkey’s heads, so I guess they weren’t doing Midsummer Night’s Dream.) Our cake auction raised $850 in support of Help for Heroes—a British charity similar to Wounded Warriors here in the US. With the amazing weather, free Scotch whisky tastings, a “Buckingham Palace” photo booth, and a tour of what I firmly believe to be one of the finest gardens in DC, it’s no wonder the day turned out to be such a success.
All our booths and displays linked to the many exciting events taking place in the UK this year. At the Diamond Jubilee tent, literally thousands of visitors signed a banner congratulating Her Majesty The Queen on the sixtieth year of her accession. There were life-size pictures of Queen Elizabeth with American presidents going back to Harry Truman. And of course plenty of emphasis on the London Olympics that start in July, with our friends from the US Olympic Committee also manning a stand.
We are glad that our best Open House day yet came in 2012—a great year for the United Kingdom. Come back next year, and if you want one of our famous bags, come early!
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