Buckingham Palace is only open to the public for two months of the year and was very interesting to see. I've frequently passed it on runs this summer, but went inside for the first time Monday with my mom. The palace was incredibly building, with the majority of the design dating from the Georgian period and with remodeling done under Queen Victoria. The palace is the Queen's official residence in London and we went through the nineteen States Rooms which are used to welcome and entertain royal guests. Its one of the only remaining working palaces in the world. Admission included a free audio guide tour which was really interesting. The tour took about two hours and at the end of our journey, my mom and I decided to have tea and cakes at the Garden Cafe in Buckingham gardens! A very fun morning.
Windsor Castle is about 30 minutes outside of London and we went for a half day trip on Thursday to see the Castle. Unlike Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle is still a medieval castle, with buildings dating almost 1000 years. It is the oldest castle in the world and remains a weekend getaway for the royal family. One of my favorite sights in the castle was Queen Mary's dollhouse, a miniature complete with plumbing, paintings donated by famous artists of the day and actual china. St. George's Chapel, circa 14th century, serves as a burial ground for ten past monarchs and was incredibly beautiful. From Windsor Castle, we ventured a short way across the Thames to Eton, the home of Henry VI's Eton College. The all boys college (what we'd call High School in American) is one of the--if not the--most famous schools in England and has many notable alums, including multiple prime ministers and Princes William and Harry.
The Tower of London is located in central London along the River Thames and is a completely medieval fortress. Surprisingly, efforts to open the Tower to the public only began during the past ten years and the Tower of London just become open to the public in 2006. The earliest parts of the tower date back to the 1066 but majority of the fortress was built during the 12th and 13th centuries under Richard the Lionheart, Henry III and Edward I. The grounds have been the sight of many executions over the years, including Henry VIII's wife Anne Boleyn. Many of the towers contained grafitti from prisoners that were held captive within the palace walls over the centuries. One specific tower showcased medieval torture devices used at the tower: the rack, which stretched the victims body; the Scavengers Daughter, which smushed the victims body; and the manacles, which handcuffed the victim hanging just off the floor. One of the main highlights within the Tower of London is the Crown Jewels. Most of the jewels are from the period of the 1660s onward because Oliver Cromwell destroyed much of the earlier works, but the collection is still amazing to see.
Sadly I had to visit Hampton Court Palace with the Dartmouth group after my mom left, but the palace of Henry VIII, William and Mary and the many George's of the 18th century was very cool to see. About 40 minutes from central London, the palace was very beautiful with most buildings dating back to the 16th century and remodeling occurring up through the Victorian age. Unfortunately, the audio guide tour was quite corny and left a lot to be desired. However, the palace had some of the most impressive gardens that I've seen in all of London. The gardens at Hampton Court included a full maze made of 6 ft tall bushes, extensive private gardens with beautiful fountains and flowers as well as a large area of gardens open to the public. The gardens at Hampton were definitely the highlight of the journey!
Each of these ventures cost between £10 and £18, but if you check back later I'm working on an upcoming entry about "How to do things for free."
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