Ahhh Friday. Usually, the only thing I have is my dreadfully boring "Climate Variability and Change" class at 2pm. However, by some grace of God, my professor had to be at a conference in France on Friday, so he cancelled class. Obviously, this meant that I had to go exploring.
I set my sights on Windsor Castle, the weekend and summer home of the Queen. Hey, might as well see what my future home will look like, seeing as the Royal Wedding is a mere 2 months away! (Yes, I am still going to kick Kate Middleton out of the way... just you wait!)
For a mere £5 for round trip tickets, a few friends and I headed out to Windsor on the train. Less than an hour later, we were there! When we were in the train station we tried to find a map so we could see how to get to the castle. Turns out it wasn't needed. The castle was directly outside the station atop a huge hill, looking over the towns of Windsor and Eton. Well, at least that was easy!
As we walked to the castle through the town of Windsor, we marveled at the quaint, village-like feel. Inside colorful little cottages were shops selling a variety of goods, including Scottish wool and kilts. SO tempting...
Once we got to the castle, all feelings of "quaint" and "cute" were abandoned. This castle was HUGE! Then we discovered that there was a line. A long line. Of people waiting to get in. O well. We passed the time solving a riddle Matt gave us, and before you knew it, we were going through security in order to get to the castle.
Once inside, we received audio guides to help us navigate our way through the Lower, Middle, and Upper Wards, the North Terrace, Queen Mary's Doll House (Yes, that's right, the Queen had a MASSIVE doll house and collected items for it until her death), the Drawing Room (which had a collection of drawings by Leonardo di Vinci), and finally, the State and Semi-State Rooms. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed. However, I did sneak in a few... when I thought a guard wasn't looking. Turns out that even though the guards might not be looking, security cameras are. Oops! O well, apart from a mild scolding, no harm came to me. Imagine if they threatened to deport me?! HA!
Standing in front of Windsor Castle, aka my future weekend/summer home
The group poses for a shot in front of the Castle gates
Here are the pictures I got in trouble for... The Crimson and Green rooms, which are part of the Semi-State Rooms. How lovely!
After we were done touring the Castle, we headed back down to the Lower Ward in order to see St. George's Chapel. Which is more like a cathedral. Whatever- royalty gets what royalty wants. St. George's is the home of the tombs of many well known monarchs. Charles I is here, severed head and all. Henry VIII is also here. I may have stomped on the marble slab over his tomb while thinking, "Take THAT, Wife-Killer!". Also, George VI and Elizabeth the Queen Mother (Queen Elizabeth's parents) are buried here. There are a bunch of others too, but those are the big names.
On the side of the chapel, there was a little glass case with some drawings inside of it. Curious, I looked in, and ended up reading the story of how Henry VIII got screwed over in death. It is quite comical- read on.
So most people know the story of Cardinal Wolsey. Once a Roman Catholic Cardinal, he befriended Henry VIII and soon became the Archbishop of York. However, he soon fell from favor with Henry VIII when he could not get an annulment for Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon's marriage. Because of this, Henry had him disgraced, and took the Cardinal's house, Hampton Court, for himself. Rude, right?
Well, apparently, Henry could not stop there. Upon Cardinal Wolsey's death, Henry also took the tomb/monument that was to house the remains of the Cardinal for himself. The Cardinal was given a plain grave, and Henry hired people to make what was to be a grand tomb even grander. Henry wished for his tomb to be to most ornate tomb in England.
However, the tomb was not finished at the time of Henry's death. So one would think work would continue, and the remains of the King would be put in upon it's completion, right? WRONG! Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, Henry's children, decided it was not worth the money to have the tomb completed, and instead buried their father under the Quire of St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The only thing marking the grave was a marble slab built into the floor. HA! Isn't that the greatest, "EFF YOU, DAD!" you have ever heard of?
The story, however, continues. Obviously, the craftsmen working on the tomb didn't just throw it out. They kept it. And continued working on it. Once completed, it stayed empty for some time. However, upon Admiral Nelson's death, the hero was granted the honor of the tomb. And it was put in St. Paul's Cathedral. Guess who wins? TAKE THAT HENRY!
I got a laugh out of that story...
View of St. George's Chapel from the Lower Ward
After we finished touring the Castle and all it contained, my friends and I ventured out into Windsor, grabbed a quick sandwich at Rachel's of Windsor (and met Rachel herself... we had a connection, even if our names are spelt differently), and then walked over the Windsor Bridge to Eton. Our goal was to see Eton College, one of the most famous private schools in the world. This school was founded by Henry VI in 1440, and has taught the Duke of Wellington, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Ian Fleming, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and 20 future Prime Ministers. The school basically took over Eton. It was so pretty, and we even had sightings of some of the students! Lesson learned? If you have a lot of money, a noble name, and the connections, you too can go to Eton College and wear a funny looking uniform. HA!
By this time, we had toured two towns and were exhausted. So we hopped back on the train back to London. During this time, I had some time to reflect. And you know what is interesting? Although the Queen has been coming to Windsor her whole life, she probably never walked the paths I did today. I mean, how do you allow a Queen to walk in crowded streets full of little trinket shops? Even though she is right there, she probably isn't even aware of what life is like in the town that her castle looks down upon. How sad is that?
...maybe I don't want to marry into the Royal Family after all.
Cheers!
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