Windsor Castle
The favored home of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, Windsor Castle is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. It's a popular tourist attraction and hosts many state visits on its 13 acres, as well. We learned that the Castle is perched on top of steep grounds and is a combination of a fortification, a palace, and a small town. It boasts Georgian, Victorian and Gothic features in its architecture. The carvings, stonework, tapestries and details like the royal roses are beautiful! It's elaborate, but somehow inviting. I can see why it's a favorite residence!
Queen Mary's Doll House is a particular item of interest there. It has many miniature items that really work ". . . shotguns that 'break and load' 'electricity and lifts, a garage of cars with engines that run.' It even has running water through its tiny pipes. It was created as a gift to Queen Mary from the people, and to serve as an historical document on how a royal family might have lived during that period in England. . . . The carpets, curtains and furnishings are all copies of the real thing, and even the light fittings are working." Also, ". . . well-known writers wrote special books for the house's library, which were bound in scale (1:12) size." (Wikipedia) The detail was positively incredible!
St George's Chapel is Windsor's place of worship and is the Chapel of the Order of the Garter (the senior order of British Chivalry established in 1348 by Edward III). King Henry the VIII is buried there, as are 9 other monarchs. Built in the 16th century, it has beautiful stonework, fan vaulted ceilings, intricate carved wood, dedicated stalls for knights, flags, turrets, flying buttresses and a 309 pipe organ.
Windsor's grounds were fun to amble through and the Royal Guards staccato and precision marches and subsequent changing of the Guard ceremony were captivating. England's sense of ceremony and pageantry intrigue me and I love it.
Tea-time at a local restaurant on the River Thames was a tasty conclusion to our "Royal" day!
Sky High and What a View!
The Walkie Talkie building's Sky Garden still has some of the most spectacular views of London in town. I never tire of taking in the massive sprawl of the city punctuated with its iconic landmarks, the serpentine Thames and energetic vibe.
The Walkie Talkie building's Sky Garden still has some of the most spectacular views of London in town. I never tire of taking in the massive sprawl of the city punctuated with its iconic landmarks, the serpentine Thames and energetic vibe.
The viewing area covers 3 stories from the 35th floor of the 20 Fenchurch Street building and offers 360 degree views across the city. Its landscaped gardens and seating areas are a delightful space to take it all in from so many vantage points!
Many say that the oddly-shaped building (think space-aged hand-set) is not the most popular addition to the skyline, but gives the best view in the whole city (mostly because you can't see the building itself in the skyline when you're up there! haha!).
Greenwich is home to lots of cool things to visit! Justin, Elise, Mike and I took in some of the cool places:
* the 1700's-established Greenwich Market bustling with stalls overflowing with art, antiques, crafts and delicious food. We especially like the toasties (toasted cheese sandwiches with onions & leeks), berry smoothies (smoothies aren't really a popular here, so these are a real treat), the sausages and pot stickers from the guys with a booth that includes a noodle-shaving robot!
* the Royal Observatory, home to THE Prime Meridian. This place played a major role in the history of time and navigation and includes a great museum which delineates the history of how longitude calculations and an accurate standard of time came to be. It includes the actual clocks and various instruments developed over years in order to solve the dilemma of how sailors could determine their East-West location while at sea and how time determination could be standardized.
Interestingly enough, they found the answer to the longitude question not to be a scaled-down version of a clock, but a scaled-up version of a watch! . . . Various comets were also discovered by astronomers here and it's still where time starts. Heady stuff!
* the Planetarium where "Asteroid: Mission Extreme" made us feel "spacey" ;) and was a great field trip from the comfort of our reclined chairs!
On a different visit, Mike and I explored the National Royal Maritime Museum. It features full-sized and small ship models, wooden figureheads, and exhibits about war-time battles, immigration, trade, and art by Turner about the Battle of Trafalgar, among other interesting sea-related pieces. A huge ship-in-a-bottle welcomes visitors!
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