The Lord Mayor of London is the City of London’s mayor, not to be confused with the mayor of greater London. He’s an important figure and is only subordinate to the Queen. Each year, a new Lord Mayor is elected and inaugurated with a parade, the so-called Lord Mayor’s Show. This year, the 800th of these shows takes place and we’ve got tickets for the best seats on the grand stand opposite St Paul’s Cathedral.

It’s cold and raining slightly but we don’t care. We’re looking forward to the parade very much. It turns out to be absolutely amazing! During a whole hour, roughly 150 groups walk by: Army, navy, rescue teams, firefighters, police, guilds, our preferred hotel chain, Starbucks, the Jaguar from the new James Bond film ‘Spectre’, and even the Batmobile. There are floats with scenes and displays on it, a giant inflatable side of pork ribs, bands, oldtimer cars, horse-drawn carriages and much more. It reminded us a lot of the Basel Carnival or the Street Parade in Zurich.

At the tail of the parade, the new Lord Mayor arrives in a beautiful horse-drawn carriage that we’ve already admired in the Museum of London during a former trip. It’s over 250 years old and has been in use every year since. The new Lord Mayor and his wife receive the blessing by the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral right in front of our eyes.

Some minutes later, the parade continues to the Royal Courts where the new Lord Mayor gives his oath. We return to the hotel to dry, warm up and have some lunch. Luckily, it’s not far. The show was amazing and it was definitely worth getting wet and cold to watch it.