An afternoon with the Queen

The Queen was in residence at Windsor Castle today. At least that what her royal standard flag indicated when we dropped by this afternoon - along with several thousand other tourists. Sadly she wasn't receiving guests so Garry, Rachael and I spent several hours touring the castle grounds and State Apartments alone.

We started our day with a coffee at Paddington station. As we sat sipping cappuccinos was I finally able to locate the famous Paddington Bear statue. It's located just outside Krispy Creme Donuts. Where else would you find a chubby little bear?

The train to Windsor took about 45 minutes via Slough, a town made famous in the television show, "The Office". Windsor station itself is a delightful Victorian precinct, faithfully restored in 1999. We stopped here for a traditional lunch of fish and chips and then made our way to the castle. A short walk up gentle hill takes you to one of the most wonderful castle vistas you're ever likely to experience. The roadway itself is guarded by a rather imposing statue of Queen Victoria, sternly watching over the town below.

Windsor Castle is said to be the largest inhabited castle in the world and the oldest in continuous occupation. It was originally built by William the Conqueror who reigned from 1066 until his death in 1087. His original wooden castle stood on the site of the present Round Tower (shown below).

Our entrance ticket included a free audio tour which gave a crisp and nifty commentary on every sight we saw. Queen Mary’s four-story high doll house was a real highlight, along with the recently restored St George’s Hall (it was destroyed by fire in 1992, but rebuilt and opened again in 1996). We also enjoyed the suit of armour worn by Henry the Eighth in his later years. As he aged, Henry became a rather rotund man, very much evidenced by his noticably bulging belly amour.


Unfortunately St George’s Chapel was closed today. However, our entry ticket provides unlimited access to the castle and grounds for 12-months. We’ll use it to tour the chapel some other time. While we were unable to see inside, the grounds surrounding the chapel were simply radiant in the late afternoon sun.