Windsor Castle

One of the things Emily wanted to do while she was here was to visit a castle with classic castle features (turrets, keep, suits of armour, etc) that was older than anything she could see in Canada. With this criteria in mind, she chose Windsor Castle for our last day together in London.

On Saturday morning, Emily and I took the tube to Waterloo station where we caught a South West train to Windsor and Eton Riverside, the nearest station. From there, it was a five-minute walk to the castle. The seemingly lengthy line actually moved pretty quickly once we queued up.

We're wearing free audio guides around our necks to give us information about the different buildings.

We got lots of pictures of the outside of the buildings; no pictures were allowed within any of the buildings. We visited St. George's chapel, the final resting place of Henry VIII as well as Charles VI, I believe.

For me, seeing Queen Mary's doll house was a highlight. Princess Marie Louise, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, wanted to give her gcousin Queen Mary a gift and since Mary collected lots of miniature things, she chose to give her this dollhouse--a mini-replica of Buckhingham Palace--complete with running water and electricity. In addition, it was to be a monument for posterity of how the royal family lived. Many different artisans came together to provide the different pieces of furniture, everything from a bathtub to a bicycle or a chandalier. It was completed in 1924.

Close-up of the castle wall.

Then we walked through the state apartments all beautifully furnished. The grand reception hall was especially impressive with its gold leaf decor. Some of the rooms had magnificent paintings covering the ceilings, and there was one room for the Queen to gather with her knights, and a number of rooms for various kinds of functions with important international guests. Emily got into an interesting discussion with one of the tour guides about the lead crystal in the chandaliers.

An old door at the exit gate.

We left around 4:30 and got home in time to make a quick supper and then get off to bed. Sunday morning we were up at 4:40 to catch four buses to Gatwick airport (no trains running before 7 on Sunday). After checking her in, we went to a sparsely attended Anglican service in the airport chapel, where we met a British woman travelling to Toronto on the same flight as Emily. We chatted with her for a bit, and then I said goodbye to both of them and left them at the security gate.

I managed to make it back in time for the end of the church lunch at the LMC...without even bringing a contribution this time. Good food as always. I love being part of a church that values potlucks!