Home again, home again, jiggety jig; pix 6/19; post #20

[Medusa]

Sorry the furbabies are a bit upset. Shows how much they love you.
So I have to ask, can you tell me your favorite part I know it's tough?
For me it was Westminster and The Tower.

Actually, that's easy. It's Hampton Court and Hever Castle. I cried at both places. There was a reenactment of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine Parr and ladies had to curtsy and men had to get down on one knee. Brought back memories of my childhood b/c we were taught to do that in school except that the boys bowed. The magnificence of that place is just overwhelming! I couldn't feel Henry at all there but I sure could feel Cardinal Wolsey. Such sadness, especially while walking through the gardens, which were so beautiful that you couldn't be anything but impressed.

My friend captured a pic of me looking out one of the windows at Hever Castle. It gave me chills to think that Anne Boleyn looked out that same window. I'm going to have the pic enlarged, matted and framed. This place was impressive as well. I mean, who lives in a castle w/a double sided moat and a draw bridge? C'mon!

At the Tower there was a reenactment of Anne Boleyn's farce of a trial and I snapped a pic of the swordsman just as he was about to behead her. That gave me chills as well. Westminster Abbey was huge and majestic but a priest was unbelievably rude to me and I was so shocked that it left a bad taste in my mouth. My friend was so outraged that she went back inside and chastised him. I blew it off b/c I didn't want it to color my entire trip; I figured that there are good and bad in every profession, even priests. Stone Henge was impressive, too, but it's unfortunate that we couldn't get close enough to be amongst the stones. Only during the summer solstice is it allowed if you are part of a worship group. That's b/c some idiots kept chipping off pieces of it, so they had to rope it off. Hard to believe that someone would be so disrespectful but there it is.

I promise to post some pix later. The boy leaves tomorrow, I have to give myself time to get over my depression (happens every time he leaves), then I'll post some.

[Marigold2]

I cried at Hampton as well. I am a big Anne Bolyne fan and her trial and the death of her brother George must have just broken her heart. Such pain. I did not get to go inside Hampton, did you? I did not get to go to Hever which I know is her childhood home but will on my next visit. So looking forward to your pictures.
I saw the reenactment of Anne's trail as well as I was there on May 19 2008 the day she was killed, it was also my mom's birth date. I said a prayer at Tower Green which I found much too modern.
So glad you had a great time with your son. Did you do any shopping at Harrods?
Sorry about the man at Westminsters, what a bummer.

[Medusa]

I cried at Hampton as well. I am a big Anne Bolyne fan and her trial and the death of her brother George must have just broken her heart. Such pain. I did not get to go inside Hampton, did you? I did not get to go to Hever which I know is her childhood home but will on my next visit. So looking forward to your pictures.
I saw the reenactment of Anne's trail as well as I was there on May 19 2008 the day she was killed, it was also my mom's birth date. I said a prayer at Tower Green which I found much too modern.
So glad you had a great time with your son. Did you do any shopping at Harrods?
Sorry about the man at Westminsters, what a bummer.

Oh yes, we went through all of the palace at Hampton Court. We were allowed to get amazingly close to everything; not a lot was roped off. And I felt the same way about Tower Green but it is what it is. We had afternoon tea at Harrods and that was really nice. We were going to go to the Ritz but Clare thought that Harrods was nicer. We did shop there afterwards but the store is laid out really weird and there was too much of a selection so we didn't buy anything. However, at Covent Gardens we did some damage. Lots of neat little shops there and we had a yummy lunch in the courtyard while a string trio played classical music. That was our last day there and it couldn't have been more perfect.

[anna_66]

Sounds like a very wonderful vacation and I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures

[Marigold2]

Was Hampton as beautiful inside as I imagine? Did you see Windsor? Sorry for all the questions but I am so excited about going again.

[Medusa]

Was Hampton as beautiful inside as I imagine? Did you see Windsor? Sorry for all the questions but I am so excited about going again.

It's incredibly beautiful inside Hampton Court. We didn't see Windsor. We saw Stone Henge, did the Jack the Ripper tour, the white cliffs of Dover, the Tower of London, Hever Castle, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, St. Peter ad vincula, Phantom of the Opera and Paris. We squeezed so much in that looking back, I don't know how we did it all.

When do you plan on returning?

[Medusa]

Here are a few pix of our trip. My son wrote the commentary in case you're wondering. My friend Clare took many more, too, and I'll post them later. More of mine to come.