Two important things I have learned this weekend: 1. Royals aren't just rich, they are in a class completely their own (and I wish I was part of it LOL!), and 2. If you don't mind being cold and wet, sightseeing when it is rainy is great because there aren't many people that do it! (notice the wonderful lack of people in the above photo :o)

Friday night I decided to look at my list of things I still want to do and compare that to a calendar only to realize I have 5 weekends left here (including this one that just passed!). So instead of spending a nice relaxing weekend in my pjs like I was leaning towards doing I decided to seize the day and get stuff done LOL.

I woke up yesterday to rain so I stayed in bed a little later than I was planning to, however when I finally woke up, the rain seemed to have gotten worse so I gave up and decided to go sightseeing anyway! On the way to the train station in the pouring rain my jeans got soaked from the knees down and basically remained that way for the rest of the day... not fun. Luckily, early afternoon the rain stopped. I took the train to Windsor to check out Windsor Castle. Apparently the Queen calls Buckingham Palace her office, whereas Windsor Castle is her home (one can only dream...). She goes there practically every weekend, but not this one haha, and spends I think all of April there.

My photos are of the outside of the castle because, like so many places here, you are not allowed to take pictures inside. So needless to say my photos don't do the place justice - you NEED to see inside the rooms to fully understand how amazingly gorgeous this place is!! It was unbelievable.

I saw Queen Mary's Dolls' House which sadly I could not photograph. It's not actually a doll's house per se but a miniature house built to show the skill of the craftsmen back then - the house has fully functioning electricity and plumbing (the toilets even flush!!). It also has miniature versions of novels and paintings by famous authors and artists... very cool.

After exploring all of the State Apartments and other places around the castle with the aid of my audio guide haha I went into St. George's Chapel - I WISH I could've taken photos in here! So pretty. Wow is all I can say. I definitely recommend coming here if you are in the area LOL. Too bad when Wendy and Kyle were here we ended up in Carlshalton Beeches instead! From the North Terrace there was a fairly nice view of the surrounding town as the castle is up on a hill - from there you could see Eton College (where William and Harry went).

Then last night after returning to London I went to my local video store to rent "Miracle on 34th Street" because I have been craving to watch it, only to find out that they don't have it!! The girl working there looked at me like I was crazy when I asked her - like she hadn't ever heard of the movie before! Weird.... So I had to settle for "The Break-Up" which had an unsatisfying ending.... oh well.

This morning I woke up to more rain but sadly this time it didn't stop. It basically rained all day long, off and on. Oh well, like I said at the beginning of this post - WAY less people around! Makes for much nicer photos when there aren't random strangers in them (except for the cloudy skies...)! Today I decided to visit Hampton Court Palace, so I went back to the train station for a slightly shorter trip this time. This palace was also fabulous but also included magnificent gardens all around it as well!

Yet again I grabbed a trusty audio guide and started exploring! I visited Henry VIII's State Apartments, The Tudor Kitchens (basically the only place you could take photos besides outside), The Wolsey Rooms, The King's Apartments, The Queen's State Apartments, The Georgian Rooms... Part of my exploring lead me through the Haunted Gallery, so named because Henry VIII's 5th wife is said to still run down the length of the gallery shrieking for his mercy (she cheated on him and this was seen as treason and she was beheaded at the Tower of London). Unfortunately, or fortunately, I didn't see or hear any ghosts!

The palace is huge and took a long time to see everything - luckily most of it is inside so I wasn't in the rain ALL day. Since it is Sunday I had to time going into the Chapel Royal as it was only open for a brief period to the public today - but this was totally worth it! Yet again I couldn't take photos which was depressing but the ceiling and everything about this chapel was amazing!

Finally I decided to bust out the umbrella and explore the 60 acres of gardens out back. First I went through the Privy Garden (the king's private gardens), very gorgeous. If you look closely at my photos though you will notice that some of the statues are covered in white plastic, this is to protect them over winter but made them look a little creepy if you ask me. I took a photo of myself in this garden using my timer but it didn't turn out very well considering how reflective my face is LOL. You'd think I was Elizabeth I or something my face is so pale!!

From there I walked to the Great Fountain Garden, and as you probably have already guessed - there is a large fountain in the middle! It was full of swans and Canadian geese (who knew there were so many of them living here in England?). Making my way through more gardens, I eventually got to the only remaining part of The Wilderness - in the 17th century this area was laid out with tall hedges in geometric patterns.

The Maze is the only remaining part of this layout. Upon going inside the maze I started to second guess my great idea because I really felt that I was just going in circles and started to wonder what would happen if you actually couldn't find your way out! But luckily a little while later I found the centre!! Sadly the sign says "We found the maze centre at Hampton Court Palace" so it is a depressing photo of only me with the sign LOL.

By then I had spent a few hours at the palace and it was time to leave. I grabbed some food to take on the train with me and made my way back to London. I have been trying to upload my photos basically ever since but my internet is being ridiculously slow so I've given up and will try again later this week...

Question for someone smart - How come the Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh is not called the King considering he is married to the Queen?? He is apparently her consort... Haha I just answered my own question by looking it up on Wikipedia: "Unlike the wife of a British King, there is no corresponding role for the husband of a reigning Queen. In compensation, the Queen allowed Philip a free hand in the upbringing of their children, allowing Philip to decide on their education and future careers." Who knew?!

Well it is now time for me to go to bed as I have to work in the morning!! I hope everyone had a good weekend and I will see you in just over a month :o) YAY

Later days