Today's schedule consisted of touring Stonehenge and Windsor Castle. After leaving Windsor we went to a traditional English Pub, The Jugged Hare Pub, for fish and chips. We followed dinner with a trip on the London Eye for a night time picturesque view of London.
Stonehenge was an amazing site because its a huge mystery as to why its there and how it was built. We were told that to the best of current knowledge, it was built as a thank you to whomever they were thanking for providing them with rain and sun and fertile soil. Standing in felony of this structure makes you just say, how. How did they build this. The individual stones are the size of large cars and some kind of tools were definitely used to lift the horizontal blocks up on top of the uprights. I guess we will never know.
Next stop was the Queen's favorite residence, Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle is actually located in the center of the town of Windsor and it took everyone's breath away and even some to tears...meaning Mrs. Beaumont while in the gardens. We were able to eat lunch in the town that is literally a stone's throw from the outer walls of Windsor and some had a little share time for shopping prior to entering the castle for the tours. As we were on the way to our first touring spot, St. George's Chapel, we had to take an unplanned picture stop for the amazing gardens located beneath the circular tower to our right. The gardens sprawled from below this large circular tower up the hillside to the tower base. It's obvious the Queen demands the most spectacular gardens possible.
We moved onto St. George's Chapel for our tour and were blown away by the architecture of the Chapel. Many members of previous Royal Family are burried in the Chapel either beneath the floors or in raised monuments. Some of the memorials and tombs we view were Queen Elizabeth, King George III-VI, King Charles I and King Henry VI and VIII not to mention an additional impressive list of Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses. The hand carving work of the woodwork is so great it's hard to believe even a modern tool could create such work.
Sorry, no pictures allowed in St. George's or the next spot, the State Apartment. This is where the Queen's doll house is housed, which we saw, and the original living and working quarters of the first Kings and Queens prior to the newer section being built. The newer section is the private apartments where the Queen stays now. The Queen was actually at the castle while we were there which is rare for a Monday as she's usually back at Buckingham by Monday. (The picture of the part of the castle behind the black iron gate is where the Queen was) The State Apartment was grand with exquisite paintings from floor to the ceiling and including ceiling and large rooms and more hand carved wood trim that no machine could replicate. This is also where Royal Family holds State Receptions in current times.
After dinner we ended the night by taking a "flight", as they say, on the London Eye. It was fun to see London from so high up although I will warn you, don't look down! London is such a huge city and when at the top of the Eye it was very visible just how large it is.
Some of us ended the night by making some last minute runs around the city via the Tube in order to see some sights each one of us wanted to see. Abbey Road, Picadilly Circus and some Harry Lotteries sights to name a few.
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