Friday, May 28, 2010

28 May 2010





Since today is Friday, it was a slightly shorter day and a very nice, breezy day at that. We took a trip from Waterloo station to Hampton Court which was colossal. There was so much to look at and a lot of garden to cover. When we walked in there was a huge court which lead to other areas, like different apartments from different kings/queens of England. Most notably the castle was used for King Henry VIII and that was also the place where Catherine Howard was beheaded. In the castle there was so much to look at, and no one wanted to miss any of it. There were apartments from the time of William and Mary's reign, including very decorated rooms like the bedrooms, closets, and presence rooms they would use. The presence rooms in which William and Mary still had the chair in which they sat to greet people into the castle. Their bedrooms were immense and had intricate details on the walls, and the ceilings. In most parts of the castle where the kings/queens would be there were tapestries that covered the walls, and murals that had a message in them. There were quite a few religious murals from the time of William and Mary. There was also a large tapestry which caught my eye, and it was made from the time of Henry VII and took two years to complete. (1543-1545). Within the castle there was also contained the apartments used by Henry VIII, the chapel he used to marry Kateryn Parr, and also the extensive kitchen that was used to satisfy the cravings of the king. Just next to the kitchen was the large wine cellar which still had barrels in it. The castle was such an impressive size and had such intricate carvings in the stone and the murals were absolutely impressive. Everyone enjoyed looking around the castle. After our excursion through the castle, we all adjourned to the cafe for lunch which was yummy. The last thing we did today was go through a maze which was actually designed for children. There were two exits out of the maze but we had to re-trace our steps and go out the way we came in. First prize was ten pounds. So we all went in our different ways, and our group did not end up coming out first, but it was fun. Today was a fun day. It was a true joy to see the castle and see the rooms which were used in the past by royalty.

Until Monday, we shall see whats in store.....

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