A day out in Windsor

I have quite a list of things I still need to do here in England....these are the things I have left for "better weather" which means now.  London has been having glorious weather this week...rain predicted for tomorrow however so it's a rest day.  If you can count a day of changing airbnb homes and doing laundry as a "rest day".  I do!

Anyway yesterday I ticked one more off the list...Windsor Castle.  I last toured Windsor Castle in 1975...the first time I ever came over to this side of the pond.  I revisited Windsor back in 1980 but for some reason I didn't visit the castle...well it had only been five years and that was the year of the pound being 2.80 Canadian or something crazy.  I remember shooting b/w film in my camera as well...and having a cream tea in a tea shop but not much else...visiting yesterday was like visiting for the very first time. 

Yesterday was a glorious day so off I went.  Let's not talk about the trip to Paddington station and back during rush hour and picking the wrong stations to transfer in...as in very busy ones..I know better...oh well.

I got a return rail journey for 10.80 so that seemed fair to me - very fair.  Then I got into the castle for 17 pounds.  Steep but it will be the last time I visit I am sure and so worth it - and yay for being over 60 and getting a couple of pounds off.

Windsor Castle is the longest occupied castle in Europe; it was built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century and used by every British monarch since King Henry I. 

My first stop was St George's Chapel where several monarchs and their families are buried or entombed...such as Henry VIII,  his third wife Jane Seymour and their infant son,  Charles I, George VI and Elizabeth (the Queen's parents)...well you name it and they are probably there.  No photography was allowed in the chapel or the state apartments...

 

 

Just as I was leaving the chapel I heard music and I realized it was the changing of the guard...

 

 

Then I toured the State apartments which were beautiful....of course some had been destroyed during the fire in 1992 so it had been refurbished but with an eye to preserving how it was..no photos allowed there either! 

 

 

The doll's house was exquisite...I had to cave and get a guidebook just so I could have pictures of the rooms and furniture....it wasn't expensive; it's just hauling it home.....anyway here are some more photos of the castle buildings...

 

From there I walked around the town and had a spot of lunch at a pub....then I wandered down to the river...oh my..I may have to reconsider my decision to end my Thames path walk at Hampton Court ....beautiful!  I then walked across the bridge to Eton.  Between looking in shops I kept busy until I got the 6 p.m. train back to London...what a fabulous day it was!!!