Windsor Castle

Today is 24th Friday.
  We had bought tickets to visit Windsor Castle.  We had planned earlier and had the tickets ready with us .   We had to take a train from Paddington Station  to Windsor Castle.   We reached Paddington station from Glucestor  station  and bought an one way ticket (we had to buy ticket because the Castle was outside Zone 1 and 2)   to Windsor Castle, as we were going to Reading  to  hubby's nieces's son's house from Windsor.

We were at the Castle gates well before it opened.    We were looking at the Magnificent Castle  which was really out of this world.  This is one of the World's working Palaces, where the Queen lives in the week ends and we were told that it is her favourite Palace.

We had booked tickets for going up one of the tower of Windsor which is called   'Conquering the Tower of Windsor.'   We had booked for the first batch and promptly went and waited near the entrance.   We were taken on a guided tour up the Castle.  It was an easy winding way around  the tower which is squarish on one side.  We could see from the top the living quarters of the Royalty.

There is a flag post on top of the Tower.  There  will be a Great Britain flag on the days Queen  not staying there . Otherwise the other Gold Colour flag of the Monarchy.    Naturally the flag that day was Blue Stripes as they do not allow the climb on the days, when  Queen lives there.
Wonderful view from atop.  A big road  in the garden opens up to a Road lined with trees on both sides.  It is outside the Castle but belongs to the Royalty and public are allowed to go there  for walks.  We decided to take that walk after we  finish seeing the inside of the Castle.

View from the Top.

                                                                          Road partly visible.

Quadrangle where people waiting to watch the change of Guard .

Thames 

We went and saw the State Rooms which were  magnificent. 

We saw the World Famous Queen Mary's Doll House.   This is a miniature living quarters of the Royalty , which is  a replica made in 1922.  It is very cute and  there were electrical fittings inside the doll house which were on .  Even the tiny pipes  have running hot and cold water and  has a proper working plumbing system including the flush!  It is made to 12:1 scale to the original size.  It was truly amazing.

There was a Change of Guards at 11 a.m.(yes here also)  in the quadrangle  next to the Chapel which we saw from the Tower Top.  

 Here we could see the Change of Guards from Close quarters and it was real fun to watch them.  I (almost) laughed seeing the guards with covered head gears which covered their eyes and  when their leader shouted "eyes front" almost every body laughed.    I took pictures with the Guard. 

In the Chapel I saw where Henry VIII and his wife (one of his wives) Jane Seymour  laid to rest.  It was eerie  as I had seen the place where his other wife Anne Boleyn was executed just two days before in London Tower.

There is a Moat surrounding the Castle and it has been converted into a garden.   In a year it is open  to Public on just four Fridays and the day visited happened  to be one of them.  We were very lucky as we were able to go there just paying 50 s (half pound)  each (what a great advantage in becoming a senior citizen) (the money collected goes for some charity).  The garden was wonderful.

 We had our  packed food ( I had prepared the ready to eat item in the room and packed it ) in the Castle and came out at around 2 p.m. 

 There is  a market place  just outside the Castle and  lots of charming  shops are there. It was so nice to walk there and we had our Coffee there.  I saw some Begonia plants there.  I have never seen Begonias flowering so big and healthy.  In Kerala I had  tried growing lots of Begonia plants but the flowers used to be very tiny and some plants never flowered also.

We proceeded to the place where the Loong Road which we saw from the top of the tower starts just outside another gate of the  Castle.  We just walked some distance and sat in the beautiful  grass there for some time savouring the moment and trying to behold that specific time. 

We walked in leisurely pace to the Thames river Boat Ride.  We had some time till our nephew was to come and pick us up .  So we went on the boat ride  and watched  the  castle from the waters and wondering how it would have been in olden times when Royalty used to reach here by boat from London.

My Hubby's grand Nephew and his dad picked us up in his car and we reached his home in Reading   in an hour or so.  It was a 3 level house with kitchen and drawing room down stairs and bedrooms in the 2 upper floors.  His own house.  My husband's niece was visiting her son  who had just recently been blessed with a baby boy and we were happy to see the  baby there. 

  After a nice dinner we were dropped  in Reading Station.

 I was kind of upset that the station ticket counter person  did not recognize the Oyster card and charged us both for the full journey one way  which was exorbitant.  (Here one way ticket is costly and two way tickets are cheap and you just pay some few dollars more  for return ticket.)  I decided that I should do something about it the next day when we  go to Hampton court and while coming we are returning from different station as we were to meet some friends for dinner.

In all the  whole day trip was wonderful.