Aside from being the first official "castle" we have been to (the rest have been palaces...and the Tower), Windsor is also the secondary residence of Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
We once again met up at Waterloo and inquired at an information desk about tickets. We were also once again fortunate to save about 4 pounds each per ticket by doing this. Erika and I grabbed some delicious Caffe Nero mochas, and we hopped on the train (right before it was departing, talk about cutting it close).
The train ride took a little over an hour, and before we knew it, we were in Windsor.
The entire walk up to the castle entrance was charming.
The castle sits upon a hill overlooking the town.
Once we got to the castle, we waited in line to get in. It did not take too long, but sadly I realized that I had forgotten to bring my student ID. I pleaded with the man who I was buying tickets from, and after thinking it over a while (and hardcore studying my MTV University credit card, which was the only form of proof I had that I was a student), he decided to just give me the discount. I was a little surprised, but very grateful.
Our goal was to see the changing of the guards that was due to happen at 11 am, so we quickly walked into position and waited.
Though we did stop a few times to take pictures...
About ten minutes passed before some guards began assembling where we were, then another few minutes and we could hear marching and drumming coming from outside the castle walls.
The whole ceremony took over half an hour, and I was yearning for my marching band days as I watched them go through the various commands given to get them into position.
After the changing of the guards, we explored St George's Cathedral, which we couldn't take pictures of inside, but we did have an audio guide to teach us all kinds of things.
The cathedral is where King Henry VIII is buried, along with Queen Elizabeth's mother and father. The architecture was stunning, and I was actually a little bit sad when the tour/walkthrough was over.
After the Cathedral, we headed up a pathway and decided to visit Mary's Dollhouse and some of the State Rooms at Windsor...
But not before taking a quick picture with this diligent guard.
We couldn't take pictures inside of the rooms, but believe me when I say the dollhouse was amazingly gigantic and detailed. We learned that the miniature books were actual books, and even the tiny bottles of wine in the tiny wine cellar had tiny amounts of whatever the tiny label on the bottle said. That is crazy, right? It also has working electricity AND plumbing, you know, the usual dollhouse fare.
The state rooms had a beautiful collection of artwork that went along with the extravagant furniture and other belongings that are often found in these types of places.
We took some more pictures around the castle
Got an idea of what kind of views the castle offered.
This is the Queen's private entrance.
We then decided to check out the Queen's gardens
and learned that the Queen is green!
We wandered around a bit more before we left the castle to get lunch and see more of Windsor.
Ryan and I opted for an interesting little restaurant, and Erika decided to go to McDonald's.
I got pizza and chips
Not only is there corn on this pizza...but it is served with chips...why? I don't know.
We did some shopping, bought some souvineers, and hopped on the next train home.
Goodbye Windsor Castle!
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