We did decide to go to Windsor Castle today. It took us about 45 minutes longer than planned to get there because traffic was backed up so badly. We never figured out why it was backed up. The only thing that we thought was that it could be because of so many people going to LegoLand which is right along the path to the castle. Anyway, we got there and circled around looking for a parking lot and after going down several dead ends we found one.
Windsor is a nice little town dominated by the Castle, which is absolutely massive. Some 480,000 square feet. (Teri will have to put some pictures up I hope) It was nice that the audio guide was included in the entrance fee which was $60 US. I would have preferred Disney land, but eh, we were there and all. Actually, none of the maintenance of any of the Royal estates is covered by government or public funding, just entrance fees. Except I heard somewhere that the Queen still gets some stipend from the government, so I guess she just uses that for food and clothes and maybe postage or something. Anyway, for all the amazing art they have hanging in this Castle everything from Leonardo Da Vinci to Rembrandt to snapshots from the Queen herself of Charles as a baby she could probably sell one of those if she ever didn't have cash to keep the heat on.
The Castle was amazing though, very beautiful. The Chapel in there called the Chapel of St. George in the burial place of many kings including King Henry VIII, founding monarch of my Church. It's funny he has a stone plate in the floor in the center of the Church where he is interred along with one of his Queen's he didn't behead Jane Seymour (sorry if I
spelled that wrong). His burial place is only notable by its location, but others were quite a bit more stunning. The daughter of George IV who died in child birth (apparently one of the most mourned royal to pass before Dianna) had this amazing statue made in mourning of her passing. I wish we could have taken pictures in there because it was an utterly amazing carving out of solid marble. It had her lying on an alter covered with a sheet such that you could not see anything by a bit of her hand peaking out from under, there were several mourners around her covered in sheets as well and her soul rising out of the body with angels on either side with one holding her still born child. I found this snapshot. What is amazing about it is how well the artist carved the sheets and fabric, you would believe it was real and not carved of marble. Amazing.
It is quite a nice Chapel besides, really it was a mini-Cathedral in its layout and it wasn't that much smaller. It had some amazing architecture and stone carvings of the highest quality mounted in the ceiling at heights of 60+ feet. It is amazing that they could get massive stones up in the air before modern scaffolding and such.
We saw the royal apartments, but again were not able to take pictures. There was a giant doll house as well that was given to queen Mary I believe that was impressive for its detail, apparently many of the artist, authors, and sculptors of the time made miniature versions of their most famous art for the doll house. It was not something Makenna would be allowed to play with (nor did any child).
We saw the royal china collection which was sort of ho-hum for me, but the collection of weapons and armor was quite impressive with items captured from India, Napoleon, and various other conquered peoples and military victories. There was a massive hall that they do dinners in seating 160 people along this room that goes on forever with the various knights armor and breastplates mounted along the walls. There were rooms where they hold the meetings of the order of the Garter or some such thing, it is apparently the oldest Chivalric order and still meets today.
In the end it was well worth the money, the grounds are absolutely stunning as well, but they didn't let you really walk on the grass at all, which Makenna put up a fuss
about. The Queen actually lives there on weekends, but we weren't allowed around where she is. We really only saw a small part of the Castle. It is really a fortified town in its size.
Makenna enjoyed running away from us and falling down in the way of people inside the castle. She would just all of a sudden fake a fainting spell and splay herself out on the ornate carpet. I ended up throwing her up on my shoulders form most of the tour, she seems to enjoy messing up my hair and slapping my bald spot, so that keeps her calm. When we got home, we found she had a fever, not sure why. I was a bit nervous because she had managed to get a spit and snot covered hand into my mouth during one of her fits at the castle, so I'm not looking forward to this week if she is really sick.
Windsor is a nice little town dominated by the Castle, which is absolutely massive. Some 480,000 square feet. (Teri will have to put some pictures up I hope) It was nice that the audio guide was included in the entrance fee which was $60 US. I would have preferred Disney land, but eh, we were there and all. Actually, none of the maintenance of any of the Royal estates is covered by government or public funding, just entrance fees. Except I heard somewhere that the Queen still gets some stipend from the government, so I guess she just uses that for food and clothes and maybe postage or something. Anyway, for all the amazing art they have hanging in this Castle everything from Leonardo Da Vinci to Rembrandt to snapshots from the Queen herself of Charles as a baby she could probably sell one of those if she ever didn't have cash to keep the heat on.
The Castle was amazing though, very beautiful. The Chapel in there called the Chapel of St. George in the burial place of many kings including King Henry VIII, founding monarch of my Church. It's funny he has a stone plate in the floor in the center of the Church where he is interred along with one of his Queen's he didn't behead Jane Seymour (sorry if I
spelled that wrong). His burial place is only notable by its location, but others were quite a bit more stunning. The daughter of George IV who died in child birth (apparently one of the most mourned royal to pass before Dianna) had this amazing statue made in mourning of her passing. I wish we could have taken pictures in there because it was an utterly amazing carving out of solid marble. It had her lying on an alter covered with a sheet such that you could not see anything by a bit of her hand peaking out from under, there were several mourners around her covered in sheets as well and her soul rising out of the body with angels on either side with one holding her still born child. I found this snapshot. What is amazing about it is how well the artist carved the sheets and fabric, you would believe it was real and not carved of marble. Amazing.It is quite a nice Chapel besides, really it was a mini-Cathedral in its layout and it wasn't that much smaller. It had some amazing architecture and stone carvings of the highest quality mounted in the ceiling at heights of 60+ feet. It is amazing that they could get massive stones up in the air before modern scaffolding and such.
We saw the royal apartments, but again were not able to take pictures. There was a giant doll house as well that was given to queen Mary I believe that was impressive for its detail, apparently many of the artist, authors, and sculptors of the time made miniature versions of their most famous art for the doll house. It was not something Makenna would be allowed to play with (nor did any child).
We saw the royal china collection which was sort of ho-hum for me, but the collection of weapons and armor was quite impressive with items captured from India, Napoleon, and various other conquered peoples and military victories. There was a massive hall that they do dinners in seating 160 people along this room that goes on forever with the various knights armor and breastplates mounted along the walls. There were rooms where they hold the meetings of the order of the Garter or some such thing, it is apparently the oldest Chivalric order and still meets today.
In the end it was well worth the money, the grounds are absolutely stunning as well, but they didn't let you really walk on the grass at all, which Makenna put up a fuss
about. The Queen actually lives there on weekends, but we weren't allowed around where she is. We really only saw a small part of the Castle. It is really a fortified town in its size.Makenna enjoyed running away from us and falling down in the way of people inside the castle. She would just all of a sudden fake a fainting spell and splay herself out on the ornate carpet. I ended up throwing her up on my shoulders form most of the tour, she seems to enjoy messing up my hair and slapping my bald spot, so that keeps her calm. When we got home, we found she had a fever, not sure why. I was a bit nervous because she had managed to get a spit and snot covered hand into my mouth during one of her fits at the castle, so I'm not looking forward to this week if she is really sick.
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