A little visit to the Queen: Windsor Castle

Toward the end of our stay in London, Danielle, her mom Pat and I decided to make a trip to Windsor Castle. Windsor is one of the castles in which the royal family still actually resides just a few miles outside London - a brief National Rail ride gets you there. There is a small fee to enter, but like the Tower of London, I think it's worthwhile as a historically significant stop in the UK. The town has a lot of nice pubs and shops too. It's a pretty good spot to get those Union Jack-emblazoned mugs and socks you want to bring back. 

The queen was home, too. You know that when you see the flag raised in the round tower. We opted for the free audio tour, similar to what you got at Westminster Abbey and the Churchill War Rooms, so you can explore at your own pace. You could not take photos in the state apartments inside, but the opulence was impressive - even more so than the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. 

A very cool feature were the paintings in the Royal Collection that you could see there - like a mini-version of the National Gallery. The coolest part of all (for a miniature lover like me anyway) was Queen Mary's dollhouse, a massive miniature castle with a plethora of tiny, perfect replicas of bigger things - including a tiny record player that actually works. There is also a china museum...which I think my mom would have appreciated.

This is the guard that everyone wants a picture with...like them all, he marched to and fro with a very straight face from time to time.

The daffodils were really popping this time of year.

Magnificent garden outside the main castle.

Hey! It's me and Danielle! And Liz and Phil.

We did get a chance to see the old guard play and march by, which was fun. This statue of old Vic is in town.

The chapel was gorgeous and reminded me of King's College in Cambridge. The carvings of Tudor greyhounds and Welsh dragons are hard to see here but they were pretty breathtaking.