England, Day 7

I didn't sleep well again the night before but I enjoyed another healthy breakfast of hard boiled egg, cereal and banana. Martin picked us up a little before 10am and then we went by Hazel's house to pick her up for our day trip to Windsor! It wasn't a very long drive and we were dropped off just outside the entrance to the castle. The town and the castle walls are just across the street. This is the depot. We dropped by later for some lunch.
We purchased our tickets to Windsor Castle and learned that a good bit of the castle was closed to the public for renovations (or something like that). They kept saying, "hold on to your ticket and you can come back another day to see the rest." This would not happen for the Yanks so we simply smiled and accepted the unfortunate news. We walked around the grounds and the Queen's apartment.





This window slit is very narrow. I image a skilled soldier could do some damage with a bow and arrow to an unsuspecting enemy through this crack.
This is the Queen's apartments and the garden below.

Apparently there is usually a line to see the doll house but again, since we traveled in the winter there was no waiting. We could not take pictures of the doll house but let me tell you, it was amazing! Everything was so elaborate and regal. It was really beautiful to see.

This happy fellow was just outside the doll house entrance.

He marched back and forth from his post (it looked like a standing coffin) to the gate and back about every five minutes. We wondered if it was just for the tourists (all 10 of us). If a guard is at the castle and no one is there to see him, does he really march? He did not smile. Next we walked through the Drawings Gallery. Again, no photography but we saw drawings by Da Vinci and family portraits of the Kings and Queens of England. We also toured the china room which housed all the delicate (and often gaudy) china used by each King and Queen during their reign.

Another picture of the Queen's apartments. You'll notice the flag is up, indicating that she was at home that day. Neat!


This is St. George's Chapel which is part of Windsor Castle. This was probably the most interesting part for me. It is such a beautiful church and rich with history. They still hold services at the chapel. Hazel was able to tell us more about the church than the tour guide. Apparently, a guide was misinformed about the actual location of the body of King Henry VIII in the chapel. Hazel corrected him. Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, and Charles I are buried together below the chapel floor. In high school I was absolutely obsessed with Henry VIII and his six wives so this visit meant a lot to me. We visited a couple gift shops after our tour was done and walked around the town of Windsor.

This is the crooked house. When we got back to the States msn.com had a slide show of the world's most unique houses. This was one of them.

The crooked factor is part of its uniqueness but there was once a secret passage from the castle to this house and was used by royalty. Prince Charles used it to rendezvous with his mistress. The passage has since been closed and the house is currently a pub/cafe. To the right of the crooked house is where Prince Charles married Camilla. And where Elton John married his boyfriend. We stopped for lunch at the depot before we did more walking. After searching for a warm place (most of the cafe's had seating outside only and it was a little chilly for that). We finally decided on Cafe Rouge (French) and I ordered the quiche Loraine with fries. The quiche had bacon and greyer cheese and the fries looked like they came from McDonald's but it was a delicious meal--complete with a warm cup of tea. After lunch we walked around a little more and decided to visit Eton across the Thames.

Hazel told me that when my grandparents came to visit they toured Windsor as well. She has a picture of her granddaughter (Liza) and my grandpa standing at this site. I had to take a picture.
Look at all the swans!

They just glide along with the current. The boat is very long and most likely someone's home. I always notice them in movies and it was neat to see one in person.

This is a picture of the stocks. If you were bad you were chained up in one of these for days and all the towns people would witness your shame. I guess it's there now as a reminder. At the Atlanta airport I bought The Gatecrasher by Madeline Wickham (real name of Sophie Kinsella--author of the hilarious Shopaholic series). A character in the book attends Eton college which is where Prince William and Harry attended university.

Street in Eton.
This is apparently one of the oldest buildings/bookstores (can't remember what a local told us) in England. We took a look around (of course) but didn't buy anything.

Another picture of Eton (I think this is actually part of the university).

Here is a picture of a couple students (the two with their backs to the camera with coat tails). They wear suits as their uniform. They looked very smart and proper. Martin was going to pick us up at 3pm outside the depot so we made the walk back. I found a pay phone and called a friend. It was pretty surreal talking on a pay phone while I was looking at Windsor Castle.


This is me, Hazel and Mom outside the depot. On the way back to Hazel's house we stopped at the Windsor Farm Shop. Oh, the foods they had! So many pastries and soups and breads and meats and teas and produce. They even had a cafe but it was getting ready to close. They had minced pies for sale and candies to help with hangovers. Mom bought some tea and Martin bought some meat for dinner. Martin dropped us off at Hazel's and we had a lovely evening talking and eating sandwiches. I also tried a tea cake which is a thin biscuit (remember, biscuit means cookie) with a big fluffy marshmallow on top, all covered in milk chocolate. It was so yummy! I wish I had one right now. Hazel called a taxi to pick us up and take us back to the guest house. Mom and I had to talk with the proprietors to see if we could use their computer. We needed to know the correct terminal for our flight. Tony eventually had to call the airport to get the answer. This all took at least 30 minutes. Needless to say, I was ready for bed.