Today we visited Windsor Castle with Jane Taylor, a friend of ours who used to live down the street in Vienna but now lives outside London.
But first, we got all dressed up and headed out to Brompton Oratory, a Catholic Church just south of Hyde Park with a renowned boys' choir. Unfortunately, Daddy got turned around and was apparently too tired to read a map. After wandering for a good thirty minutes, and obviously missing most of the mass, we finally gave up and grabbed a snack before starting our journey to Windsor. As we waited in the South Kensington Station for the correct train, I realized that the Oratory was, in fact, northeast of the station, rather than southwest, and only about one hundred yards from where we finally gave up. (sigh)
To get to Windsor, we took the Tube to Paddington Station, where we switched to the First Great Western line. We had to change in Slough, but were to Windsor about forty minutes after we left South Kensington.
Jane met us at the station as we arrived, and took us to a great little Italian place for lunch. The excellent food and service in this very reasonably-priced establishment reminded me of one of the many reasons I love to travel to Europe and Japan in particular.
After lunch, we took the tour of the castle. The flag flying overhead indicated that the Queen was in residence, although there was no other sign of her presence. The castle itself is both huge and beautifully preserved/restored. The tour took us through the state apartments including various bedrooms, reception halls, antechambers, guard chambers and dining rooms. All were immaculately preserved from some period in history, but many are in use even today.
In the gift shop, we picked up a few trinkets and Jane bought Matthew a foam sword that he carried the rest of the day, and Erich a book of things to make and do about medieval English history which he read the entire train ride home. Thanks Jane!
Before we headed home, we stopped into a much larger grocery store than are found in Central London, a Waitrose, and picked up some ready made entrees for dinner. Chicken Tikki Masala, Chicken Curry and fried rice for all. The boys loved it and are now fans of Indian food as well.
Tomorrow is our last full day in London and will be focused on the Science Museum and Hyde Park. Hopefully, we will be also be able to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, but if not, we'll see it next time.
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