We have decided that we need to not forget to be tourists in our own city. London has so much to offer, it’s hard to get it all in so we figure little by little, we may get a little bit of everything. Thus, our Saturday outings . . .
A couple weeks ago, we drove out to Windsor Castle, where it is said the queen spends many weekends. However, one look at the flag on top of the tower and we were disappointed to once again see we had missed the Queen. Not to be deterred, we toured the grounds and had a great time.
We were each given free audio-tour headsets.
Cami thought she was pretty hot stuff with her earpiece and ‘necklace.’
As we went along and listened, Chris and I would point out certain items as they were mentioned on the recording so the kids could follow along. Each time we did, we noticed the kids were all looking in the opposite direction, looking quite intent on learning. We soon discovered the kids had their own recording catered to them . . in story form. They LOVED it! I think they would have gone through the castle again just to listen to the story again!
We got to watch a performance by the band and watch the soldiers march around the square.
We had an extensive tour of St. George’s Chapel. We saw the marker for the vault where Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour, were buried. There were many statues erected for different people that were quite interesting. In part of the chapel were seats for all the knights and ladies with their crests. It is amazing to see the many different crests to represent each one.
The Quadrangle is quite pretty, although blocked off from the public.
This is where many ceremonies take place, especially that of the changing of the guard when the Queen is there.
The inside of the apartments were amazing as well. It reminded me a lot of Versailles for some reason. Maybe once you see one castle, you feel like you’ve seen them all. More than anything I was impressed with the attention to detail. Look at the lampposts:
Cami pointed this out to me and said the king had thrown his crown down – until she realized there was a little crown on each and every lamppost.
Before leaving the castle, we made sure to get up close and personal with one of the guards. He reminded me a lot of the guards from “The Wizard of Oz”, don’t you think? Not sure if he liked having tourists get that close to him but he didn’t move so we figured we were good.
Before having to run Caleb to his gymnastics workout, we caught a quick bite to eat at Pizza Express, which was just across the street from the castle.
It was a little surreal to sit eating pizza while gazing out the window at the castle . . . a mixture of two worlds.
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