Windsor Castle is HUGE, and is separated into the "public" side that tourists and other visitors can see, and the Queen's side. Literally an entire mile of the castle, that she resides in. Some odd 200+ rooms for her leisure (that's pronounced lehhhzure, NOT leeezure), and when she needs service, she simply rings a little bell ! The outside of the castle is beautiful, but the inside made me kind of sick, not only due to the intense lavishness of the rooms we visited (pictures were NOT allowed due to security risks...), but the strong stench of the tapestries and carpets really did a number on my stomach. Either way, the outside of Windsor Castle, and the surrounding little village of Windsor were just lovely. As our tour guide put it, Windsor Castle is "WACKING GREAT!!"
To start we walked by the river Thames, to Eton, the most prestigious boy's school in all of Great Britain. The Queen apparently owns all the swans in this country, and if you maim/kill one, it is a serious offense. But there's no rule against paparazzziiiii.....
Crossing Rive Thames: On this side of the country, the river is much more calm...
Our tour guide Liz showing us the stocks that were once at Eton, that were used rather frequently for naughty children.
Short hiatus by a beautiful royal cake shop!
Eton's Cathedral and graveyard.
ETON Dormitories.
The prestigious ETON! And now on to WINDSOR CASTLE!
Above is a little preview, but first we had a true English breakfast, at one of the oldest buildings in the entire area, being built in 1645. The restaurant is called The Drury House, and apparently in the time of King Charles II, the King of fifty mistresses, this building was used to host one particular mistress, named Nell Gwyn, who would use the underground tunnels connecting to the house, to get to the King's bed at night! Scandalous! The story goes that she became pregnant, and since the child was illegitimate, the King refused to recognize it as his, so Gwyn, in motherly fashion, pulls a Michael Jackson and holds the baby over the balcony to force King Charles II to action! Thankfully he did, but only to avoid bad publicity and a scandal, and their son was given an official title! Talk about a tough lady.
Breakfast table.
Tea, but of course!
Traditional English Breakfast. (Brought to us through the use of an old school wooden pully/elevator!!)
Outside the Drury House.
The Nell Gwyn chinese restaurant next door to the Drury House... ?
And lastly, Windsor Castle!
And this monstrous section of the castle is the queen's quarters...
St. George's Chapel, where King Henry VIII is buried!
It's hard to tell just how BIG this castle is so here are some aerial shots:
Some other fun vocabulary differences:
to have something be 'take away' = to have something 'to go'
to pull = to find someone to pick up
motorway = highway
gobsmacked = in shock, flustered
and lastly, H.M.Q.= Her Majesty, the Queen.
-xox-
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