Windsor

Up bright and early (with a struggle) we took off for Windsor Castle. It was one of those misty days, so photos didn't turn out too well and we spent much of our time under umbrellas and glad when we needed to go inside as it is still quite cold. We didn't realise that Windsor was infact a little suburb of London - probably initially a village in its own right - built over time to home the 1000 or so employees of Windsor Castle and those that float up and down the Thames. We met a few of them while touring around the castle (and Caramello said hello as well). The Queen was in residence on Saturday, her flag was flying but we didn't see her. (I did email her to let her know we were coming but politely refused having afternoon tea with her as we would have missed doing some of the other things we had planned). I must admit seeing her weekend retreat thought that it probably wasn't very relaxing unless there was a hidden courtyard where she could enjoy some spring flowers and the birds! I felt quite sorry for her really as my idea of a weekend retreat would be a little cottage, with a barbeque and outside seating to read a book or snooze in the sun. Outside her rooms are the guards in all their splendour. It rained so the changing of the guard was a minimal affair with no band - we learnt that the hats they wear are still made of bear skin. Nylon was experimented with but didn't stand up to all the weather conditions - actually I don't think that is much of an excuse. The tour guide when asked 'What is the difference between changing the guard at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Palace' politely answered 'Well, its the location really'. Anyway, we wandered around wondering why Edward built his castle on the flight path to Heathrow (and had to get a photo of a plane above the castle - it wasn't hard as they land one every minute). We enjoyed going into the Staterooms to see Queen Mary's dolls house (a magnificent mansion with garages and cars to match the indoor splendour), seeing some wonderful paintings of royal families and scenery (some more Van Dyks and a Rembrandt) and through the rooms that were ruined in the 1992 fire. The ceilings had been renovated beautifully, the parquet floors were lifted and the wood turned over and resealed, and the main room was restored with English oak designed to crack and age quickly to get back to the old 'feel' - all the wood crafted using tools of the earlier age (around 1200 I think). Initially, the castle was made of wood but one hundred years later was rebuilt in stone. The chapel has the coffin of King George, the Queen Mother and Princess Margarets ashes and a wonderful marble statue of Princess Charlotte who died in childbirth. She is covered by a marble blanket with angels sitting above her - one of the best statues we have seen - you could see the imprint of her face under the blanket. I think seeing movies like the 'Other Boleyn Girl' brought the paintings of Edward, Mary and Elizabeth to life. (How television and videos have changed our ability to learn!!) After the castle we wandered through the station - now a boutique shopping mall, and took a short trip up the Thames (or down?). It is the slow way to London - by road probably 30 minutes if traffic allows - but 18 hours by boat - partly due to the number of locks on the way and also the 5 miles per hour speed limit. We saw Royal Windsor Race course (built on an island and it is only one of two race courses where you can hook up your boat at the marina and go to a days racing). Ascot Race Course down the road however looks far more impressive with a modern grandstand and 6 carparks for race goers. Went under another of Brunel's iron railway bridges where red squares of metal are secured to the railings. (Swans used to fly into the bridge as they can't easily distinguish grey so these red squares help them to realise that something is in the way and they have to fly over or under). Also saw a salmon ladder which is designed to try and encourage salmon to return to the Thames. The ladder is designed to enable the fish to travel upstream when trying to find breeding grounds. A number of boats were moored along the river, amongst them the Mimosa apparently made 3 trips to Dunkirk and rescued 150 men duringt the retreat at Dunkirk during WWII.

If anyone had asked us last weekend to tell them where Eton was we would have not been able too. We didn't realise that it was only a hop, skip and a jump from Windsor Castle and also that Sandhurst Military Academy was also within easy driving distance. I guess that is why so many Royal boys go there. There haven't been that many places that we have been disappointed in but Eton College was one of them. We were allowed around the historic chapel, courtyard and cloisters but it was not evident where the boys studied. We were taken aback when we walked into the courtyard and saw stone (one sketch in the museum showed that it had been grassed about 150 years ago). The chapel was old and dark, with the stairways reminding us that we were in a school with the deep etches made by boys obviously bored with the thought of going to chapel. The cloisters were covered in stone memorials to young men (usually 19-22) who had been killed in either the Boer war, or the two World Wars and now the Iraqi war (will we ever learn?). The museum told a tale of a young boy who was birched for not smoking. Apparently, drinking alcohol and leaving the grounds were not allowed but smoking was compulsory as a deterrent to the plague. Probably they didn't live long enough to recognise the effects of lung cancer. We drove back through the A roads looking at some new sights (the funniest was seeing a military academy alongside an Moslem centre) stopping at a nice pub for an evening meal. Sunday, we picnic'd (not in the rain!!) out at Cleveland Beach before having a short wander along the hills above the rocks covered by seaweed and the mud revealed by low tide. Friends for tea on Sunday night which is rather nice and then another week begins.