As we were eating breakfast, in walks our friends Abe and Gretchen! Hooray, friends to enjoy London with! They were on their way back from Africa and needed a little civilization. No really, Abe has been doing some consulting for Hans' company and Hans needed him to help out with a sales structure in Britian. So of course we played the few days that we had!
Before coming Gretch and I both read a historical novel called The Lady Elizabeth by Allison Weir. Although it is by a different author, it continues on right where The Other Boelyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory finishes off. (I loved both of these books, but just beware, they are a bit scandalous and are at least a PG-13....that's for you Mom, and Mom, if you read them, give me your copies and I'll rip out the unnecessary pages! I think The Lady Elizabeth is not near as questionable as The Other Boelyn Girl.) With all that being said, I am very intrigued by the Tudors and their history. Allison Weir is a historian and has written several history books before she wrote a novel. I loved her historical detail....I couldn't wait to get to Hampton Court to see if the painting she described in detail was truly there..... IT WAS!
So we walked from our hotel down to Gloucester Road tube stop looking for our friend Dirk who was an hour behind them on a different flight. There he was, looking around wondering which way to go, it couldn't have been better timing. We had a little trouble finding him a hotel (fashion week), but finally did and then we were on our way. Tube to Waterloo and train to Hampton Court.
The train ride took about a half hour, through a bit of the city and a bit of countryside.
We had to catch Dirk with the Wimbledon sign behind him....it was just for about 30 seconds, but now he's been there!
Here we are right outside the front entrance to Hampton Court, most famous for being King Henry VIII's home during his rule. The archway entrance is right behind us.
They try to keep Hampton Court in "period," (mid 1500's) and today they were celebrating (as I think they do everyday) the King's wedding to his 6th and last wife Catherine Parr. So this guard asked us if we were part of the wedding party, they are all quite sarcastic and funny.
This is the grand hall in Henry VIII's apartments (other parts were added on and other parts were redone during other rulers...William and Mary....I'm going to learn more about them!) At any given time, Henry had 600 courtiers living at the palace. This is where they were fed and with the King and Queen at their head.
In Henry's youth he was an avid hunter....there were horns everywhere!
On the linens, there were "eating rules at court." This one made us laugh so hard.
This is a room that the courtiers would spend their day, chatting, working deals, and basically wasting time. There were cushions and game tables, but pretty empty.
Here he is, King Henry VIII. This is apparently in his later years when he's a but heavier.
This is the King's council room, where he would get advice and command his leaders to action. While I was in here taking pictures, I heard some commotion and low and behold, here comes the King....
Pretty good resemblance huh? He said he was on his way to his wedding. He even walked with his cane and a limp. Henry was known to have a long time leg infection and limp.
Here it is....I got one photo before the guard told me to turn off my flash..... so the rest are blurry. In the book, this painting was described because Henry wanted his children painted with his "real" wife (because she was the only one to give him a male heir, but she was already dead when this painting was done....creepy). In the book, Lady Elizabeth had been given a necklace of her mother's that had an "A" on it. She snuck it on when she sat for the artist and was so worried her dad would be furious, but luckily his eye sight was bad enough that he didn't notice.
So here is Henry with Prince Edward and Jane Seymour who died shortly after Edward was born.
This is Lady Mary, the daughter of Henry's first wife of 20 years, Catherine of Aragon....she became know as Bloody Queen Mary as she burned hundreds at the stake for not accepting the true Catholic faith.
This is Elizabeth, Anne Boelyn's daughter. Anne was beheaded for treason when Elizabeth was just 3. And it's hard to tell, but it really is an "A" on her necklace.
When Elizabeth was Queen she was known to have said that she was "married" to England.
This is one of the internal courtyards at the palace.
As we came out of the palace heading to the gardens and some lunch, we ran into Catherine Parr's sister who was waiting for the wedding party.
Dirk tried to put his arm around her and she reminded him that her husband would be very jealous. You also can see the scaffolding behind...it seems like they are always restoring and maintaining, but that's why it looks so amazing even though it's over 500 years old.
This topiary garden was my favorite. I can just vision the Lady Elizabeth walking here.
It's just incredible! And it helped that it was beautiful weather for England! I truly think Fall is the best season for England.
This is a different view of Hampton Court.... look at all those chimneys! Insane.... kitchens, bedrooms, grand halls, I guess that's how they kept warm! It is a huge place!
Here we are headed into the famous Hampton Court Maze. I take a different turn than Hans just after this picture, convinced I can beat him..... Gretchen and I end up running into each other and loose by a good 4 minutes to all the guys....Abe even had time to go to the bathroom and come back, we're such losers!
Headed back to town for dinner and a show!
Gretchen reminding herself of London and trying to figure out where we want to go to dinner. We ended up getting off at Sloan Square and walking the famous King's Road and eating at ....you guessed it, My Old Dutch. Gretchen loves nutella and banana crepes more than me, so it was a must!
Then over to Victoria on the bus to see Billy Elliot.
Such an awesome day! Sorry it was a bit of a history lesson, but I want to remember the information and I know I'll forget! Each day I go to bed more tired, but I can't stop, I just want to fit as much as I can in! Having the time of my life!
No comments:
Post a Comment