Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Sister Holiday [The Final Installment!]

Hilary and I trained in from Paris to London early on a Saturday morning. After a quick bite to eat we caught the underground out to Heathrow, checked into our hotel, and caught a cab out to Windsor.
Windsor is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, and it was really incredible to visit this castle.

These pictures are of the exterior of the castle, as pictures were not allowed inside.
In addition to seeing the grounds and the exterior of the palace, we were able to see the following: the State Apartments, Queen Mary's Doll Houses, and the Drawing Galleries.
The Queens' Gardens


Hilary just taking it all in!




A real, live guard --- and he was really marching around. Splendid!

Pretty magnificent!






I'm sure no one else ever does this.  *Wink!*

How could we resist!?!?

The above building is St. George's Chapel, which unfortunately was closed when we were there due to someone getting married. Can you even imagine getting married there??? I did do some inquiring as to who was getting married at the Queens' residence. What we learned was: 1) it could be royalty of some kind, or 2) it could be an employee. If you work at the Queen's palace, you have the privilege of being able to get married there. Pretty incredible! Any future brides out there should plan ahead and get a job at Windsor Castle!

Hilary and I were also convinced that those hanging out in the background of the above photograph were the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. They looked like a dead ringer from 100 yards away.

After visiting the castle, we toured the small city of Windsor. The town had tons of cute shops and restaurants, and you could even have your photo made dressed up as someone from the wild, wild west. (Weird!)
Surely you can tell from the pictures that the town has charm! It was darling. I'd be happy to live there!

A tip on visiting Windsor: Windsor is only about 10 kilometers from Heathrow Airport (depending on what terminal you're at). Instead of catching a London cab out to Windsor, call a Windsor taxi ahead and they'll give you a much better rate! Hilary and I were transferred from the Sofitel at Heathrow to Windsor in high style for a much better rate than we would have been given from a London cabbie!

In other news: I totally miss my sister! I want her to live in Edinburgh with me!!!

1 comment:

mary caroline said...

Windsor is splendid! Heather Lane, Sister, and I were there back in 2002 and I remember it vividly!

 
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