So for London, we decided to go to Windsor Castle, less than an hour train ride from Vauxhall Station. Carol had not been to Windsor Castle, Rick and Sandy liked the idea of getting out of London and seeing a bona fide castle, and I had not been since one day in 1984.
We definitely took the local, as there were many stops between London and the Windsor and Eton Riverside station. But when there are no problems, trains are always a great way to get around Europe. (I don't think there is an express -- and the train is pleasant.)
We walked up to the Castle through the quaint/touristic town of Windsor from the train station. The way up includes many fine views of the outer castle walls. The way up includes many fine views of the outer castle. Our tickets were for 10:30 am and we got there a bit after 10:30. Security allowed us to cut the line ahead of the 11:00 am ticketed people they were having queue up.
There was a ceremony going on in the Quadrangle. The star attraction was someone named King Charles III, but we did not get to see him. Now, it would have been neat to see him, but it wasn't a disappointment.
William the Conqueror began having this motte (artificial mound) and bailey (the fortified stockade surrounding the mound) around 1070, making it one of his first castles in England, and even older than the Tower of London. Edward III added to it in the 1300s, Charles II in the 1660s, and George IV in the 1820s also added to the Castle.
Mick advised us to take the extra time to wait in the slightly longer line for Queen Mary's Dolls' House before going to the State Apartments. It was worth the wait -- the line for the Dolls' House entrance wasn't overly long, moved well, and, most importantly, was pretty cool.
I had never heard of it, but that's not shocking. There's lots of I've never heard of, and a dollhouse is not something I would think important to check out. But it was built in 1924 to 1:12 scale and is known as "the most famous dollhouse in the world." It was a gift for an adult, Queen Mary (hence the name), who was grandmother to none other than QE II.
The large dollhouse, modeled on the outside of the center part of Buckingham Palace. Photos are not allowed, so MI5, the handful of photos here were NOT taken by me on my iPhone -- they just fell into my photo app.
Give a sense of the three
stories of the dollhouse.
The dining room. The forks, knife,
and spoon are made of real silver.
The sitting room.
There's a lot more than the photos someone else, not me, took (in case the British guards are reading this!). One side has a garage full of impressive sports cars. All in all, if you are going to Windsor Castle and the line isn't overly long, Mick is right -- go check out Queen Mary's Dollhouse. I would bet when she showed it off, she lived to her name of Proud Mary.
(Editor: "Proud Mary" has nothing to do with the Queen or the Dollhouse. Instead it was a song from 1969 by "the best damn band in the whole damn land," Creedence Clearwater Revival, before Ike and Tina Turner covered it and had the bigger hit in 1970. Writer: Oh. By the way, in 1969 and 1970, CCR outsold the Beatles in the States, so they truly were "the best damn band in the whole damn land." Editor: Oh I know.)
From there we went seamlessly into the State Apartments where, understandably this time, we are not allowed to take photos. Henry VIII and Charles I once lived here, and Queen Elizabeth brought visiting dignitaries.
The state apartments are pretty neat, with chandeliers, incredible furniture, and art curated for a long line of kings and queens, and a king once again. One of my favorite rooms was St. George's Hall, decorated with coats of arms of knights of the Order of the Garter, including many names even I recognized.
Then we passed through a series of bedrooms, dressing rooms, and drawing rooms of the kings and queens, who, by tradition, live in separate rooms. There are paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Hobein. We finished in the China Museum, which feature crystal and china that are regularly used during royal state dinners.
Whenever I leave these palace state apartments, whether it is Madrid, Versailles, etc., I'm a bit staggered by the amount of wealth represented by the furniture, art, chandeliers, china, and more. So I always need a minute to gather myself.
After that we headed down to St. George's Chapel. Well, actually we headed to the line that snaked down from the Chapel, did a "V" and went back up towards one of the multiple gift shops.
The Chapel was closing by 1pm, likely for another event involving the King, so it was uncertain if we would make it. But the line moved quickly. Again, no photographs are allowed because you would not want terrorists to know that the church has a nave, a choir, and an altar like every other church.
It's interesting, but only moderately so because we had to walk in a strictly defined line with no chance to slow down, stop, or deviate from the path. Preference for deviating from the path is one reason I didn't join the military.
The Chapel is quite pretty inside, but it felt more like a race to finish rather than a walk to savor (very un-British-esque). Look to the left as you pass by a simple chapel to see the tombs of Queen Elizabeth II, her husband Prince Philips, and her parents, including the beloved Queen Mum. The ashes of Princess Margaret are also behind a marble slab on the wall. You can't tarry long, as I learned after being barked at by staff to "keep moving." I suppose I get it, but I don't like it!
Further on are tombs of Edward IV, King George III, Henry VIII, and Jane Seymour (Henry VIII's favorite wife, which is impressive because oddsmakers gave her just a 1 in 6 chance of not being beheaded.
Yup, that's King George III.
From there, we gawked at the guard posted at a pillbox, then shuffled off to town, where we had a fine British lunch at the Ivy. We had time to kill before our 2:53 train back to London's Vauxhall Station, so we wandered past the Windsor & Eton lawn bowling club, a pretty fountain, and then walked along the Thames, where we disappointed a significant number of swans, geese, and ducks, because we didn't have anything to feed them with.
It was definitely a fine visit to a royal castle -- the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. William the Conqueror could also be called William the Builder, but he's not called that, is he?
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