London: Parks and Palaces, Part Two

The next day we went a little way out of London to see Windsor, an incredibly cute town with one major claim to fame: it's the location of Windsor Castle- the oldest castle still used by the British monarch as a regular residence. We took a train from Paddington Station to Slough, where we hopped on a train to Windsor. We again used our London Passes to get into the castle, which was incredibly quiet- it was REALLY not tourist season yet! First we wandered around outside and got some pictures of the castle and its decorations.

It's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but the Queen was in residence while we were there! They fly her personal standard when she's there and the Union Jack when she isn't.

Elizabeth I's mark!

...and a crowned Tudor rose!

Elizabeth Regina, 1583. How cool is that?!?!

We then went inside the castle, where you unfortunately aren't allowed to take pictures. Queen Mary's massive and incredibly intricate dollhouse, an exhibit honoring Prince Philip's 90th birthday, and a collection of the royal dishes (I'm completely serious) precede the royal apartments, which are absolutely amazing- both very elaborate and full of art, including my personal favorite portraits of Elizabeth I and her younger brother Edward VI. We were definitely able to see more than we had seen the last time we were at Windsor- more rooms are open to the public on the off season, apparently. It was definitely worth chancing the English weather in March!

The gardens around the Round Tower are beautiful, and they were starting to bloom while we were there!

St. George's Chapel

Next we left the castle and headed over to St. George's Chapel, where Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, Charles I, and the current Queen's grandparents, parents, and sister are buried. It's a beautiful church, and we were fortunate (or nerdy) enough to spend quite a bit of time talking to one of the docents about its architecture and various heraldic emblems. Windsor is the seat of the Knights of the Garter, an important order for servants to the monarch, and St. George's Chapel has seats for each one (including his or her personal coat of arms) in the quire. It was so interesting to see all of the different badges of the knights and ladies, including Prince Charles, Prince William, Princess Anne, and Margaret Thatcher. Within the castle, there was also a hall with all of the coats of arms for all of the knights of the garter from the beginning of the order to present, which was incredible- I had a good time picking out the ones I recognized and the names I knew from various history classes and personal reading. Yes, yes...I am overly interested in British history. :)

Once we were done at the chapel, we were feeling hungry (it was at least mid-afternoon at this point), so we exited through the Henry VIII gate and headed out into the town...

The Henry VIII gate

...where we found a crooked house with a cute cafe in it! It was quite the thing. AND we found the shortest street in Britain. What a day!

We came back to London and ended up going to Harrod's, where we got some macaroons from the Laduree store in the food area and some lovely scones- nothing better. Yum!!! On the way home from the Tube station, we picked up some fish and chips- a "small" order, which ended up being a huge piece of fish and a pile of chips. It was actually pretty wonderful, even though I really tend to not care for fish.

The next morning we got another wonderful breakfast at the hotel and headed out to the Royal Mews, where they keep the Queen's carriages and cars and have the royal riding school. Mom was pretty pumped!

Note the English rose, Scottish thistle, and Irish shamrock in the trim- they represent the three countries of the United Kingdom!

Next we walked down the street a bit to Buckingham Palace and grabbed a few pictures...

...before walking through St. James's Park and eating our scones on a bench by the barracks of the royal guards- where we got an impromptu concert from their marching band!

Once we were done snacking we headed over to Westminster Abbey, which has to be one of my favorite places in London. There's just so much history, and it's such a beautiful building! I especially like the Henry VII chapel, which has an amazing vaulted ceiling, and I would be remiss not to mention that I find seeing all the tombs of all those famous dead people really, really interesting.

After Westminster Abbey, we headed over to see Churchill's War Rooms, which we hadn't seen the last time we were in London. I had heard they were awesome, and that's definitely true! I had no idea that there was also a museum dedicated specifically to Churchill and kind of wish that we had had some more time to spend there, but it was really, really interesting to see the rooms where he ran the war for several years. It's definitely worth a visit.

We had tickets for a concert at Royal Albert Hall that night, so we headed over to Kensington where we found a little Asian restaurant for dinner, which was delicious. Then we made our way to the RAH and got our tickets from Will Call. When we got to the right entrance, however, we were met with a lovely surprise- our seats got upgraded from just regular seats to a private box!!! It was absolutely incredible. The opening act that night was The Feeling, who I had never heard before- but they were great! I honestly went back to the hotel that night and bought their album "Twelve Stops and Home" from iTunes, and I very much recommend it. It's fantastic, happy, alternative pop- I particularly enjoy "Love It When You Call," "Never Be Lonely," and "Fill My Little World." They've definitely become a staple in my top-played music. The big act, however, was Squeeze, one of Mom's favorite 1970s British bands- and I happen to love them too. Nothing like the opening bars of "Black Coffee in Bed" or "Tempted" to put a smile on your face!

Us in our box!

Glenn Tilbrook rocks out.

After the show we had a little issue involving a bag with a dog book, which we had purchased earlier in the day and accidentally left at the Asian restaurant- but we didn't know that at the time. The "lost items" people (they don't say "lost and found," apparently...) were quite bemused by our descriptions of it (and use of the word "bathroom" instead of "loo") and may have though we were a bit crazy, but they ended up not having it. We stopped back at the restaurant right as they were closing and thankfully found it. Ohhh the lengths to which we'll go for souvenir dog books! :)