Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade?
I'm second from the right, and with his arm around me is Patrick, who is lovely and adorable. This was taken before the parade started, and I'm shamelessly stealing it from someone who took lots of photos. I wish I'd been able to take my camera! I saw so many amazing things - not only did we look fabulous, but the other floats and groups looked fantastic too. Not enough words to describe how awesome it was.
Being in the parade was just... incredible. I smiled so much my face ached. It rained just as we were rounding the corner to the town hall and where judging was taking place, but we didn't care - we danced on regardless. There were so many people watching, all cheering and whistling and waving and generally being a great and supportive audience.
(Of course, there was the usual group of religious protesters waving placards and shouting zealously, but in front of them was a very earnest group of Gay Christians who were desperately supporting us and looking adorable. We were given strict instructions to ignore the Bible bashers and not give them the satisfaction of noticing them, so my gaze slid over them and focused on the happy Christians instead.)
After the parade I had my orders to help unload the float and move the equipment to our usual pub, and then I spent a harrowing half hour looking for one of the showgirls because I had her clothes and she was probably freezing somewhere, and after that I was too worn out to battle the crowds of the Gay Village, so I went home and fell asleep on the couch instead. I think I'll go back this afternoon before we're due to dance and explore the stalls and the music sites.
But the parade will always be the best thing ever. What a buzz!
Edit: How did I forget to mention this? We saw Sir Ian McKellan! He was standing at the front of the crowd near the end of the parade route looking like he was really enjoying himself. Yes, I think Gandalf likes a good pride parade.