because it literally takes hours to reduce all the photos to an appropriate size and write the blogs and post it, we're going to be a little bit behind. First of all though, we'd like to thank everyone for their Christmas wishes and for the presents (and the thoughts that count) We had a nice Christmas eve calling everyone - we stayed up until 2am calling people, so on Christmas day we ended up sleeping in until 12:30pm!
We'll write another post about Christmas, but first we wanted to show you what we saw at Hampton court palace. we took nearly 200 photos but have had to select the best ones for here. it is still the largest post we have made so far. We hope you like it :D
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I'm sitting here on the futon, warm and snug with the central heating on a mug of mulled wine beside me and a contented smile on my face.
Today was one of the best days since coming to London. Today we went to Hampton Court Palace. sounds like the normal touristy thing to do? well, yes, but what a day:
Debbie writes
We got up at 7am and put our new merino thermals on as well as socks, skivvy's, jumpers, scarfs, gloves, hats/beanies, shoes/boots hankies and lip balm. We ate some toast and bundled out the door, looking forward to seeing King Henry VIII's Palace.
As soon as we stepped outside our front door, we were enveloped with a thick and eery yet strangely peaceful mist. It was cold, but our newly purchased merino wool thermals didn't let the mist creep in one bit. We were toasty warm! After strolling down our misty street, we jumped on the overland train to Hampton Court. Andrew was so excited that I was on the national rail with him as he travels on it all the time for work, and this was my first time on it! Normally you are able to see for miles over the tops of houses, but because of the fog it we couldn't see past the first row. Also unfortunately, there was no frost on the roof tops like there normally is, but it was still exciting to see parks and the different houses compared to those closer in the city. They have much larger backyards and the houses aren't joined. It felt like a real treat to actually see something on the train, other than just the people boarding and squeezing in, like they do on the tube.
So we arrive at Hampton Court station and see that we need to walk across a bridge to get to Hampton Court Palace. The mist was still so thick that we couldn't see the Thames at all! We arrived early and had a bit of a sticky beak, before we needed to line up to collect our tickets.
It was so peaceful and serene here and with the all the mist around. It felt like we were in a bit of a fairy tale. I could imagine a dragon coming out of the swamp at any moment and breathing his fire on us, but then in a blink of an eye, my knight in shining armour rescues me but cutting off the dragon's head with his grandfather's sword....shing......
Swamp (Thames):
knight in shining armor (Andrew):
eery swamp monster tree thing:
Anyway, it was time to line up for our tickets and to go ice skating! We had booked ourselves in for the very first session at 10am-11am. We were given these fluro orange ice skating boots which were not as heavy as I thought ice skating boots were (8 years ago). We then waited in line and Andrew was trying to calm my fears by telling how great i was doing for standing up in them! He wasn't helping. Finally after about 10mins we were let onto the ice. We were the first group on for the day, so at least I was looking forward to a smoothish ride. We stepped out onto the ice and I Clung to the side rail for dear life. "I don't remember ice skating to be this slippery!" Andrew stayed with me for the first, very long lap and then he was off to find his feet of also not skating for 8 or so years. He lapped me many times until I was ready to hold both his hand, and the railing. After a few circuits, I stepped off to have a rest.
I've never left the side rail and I really didn't want to leave the rink for the day without having skated by myself. So I was psyching myself up for another go and then I notice Andrew zooming past, so effortlessly. He's got the side step footwork going and even maneuvers round other skaters, like he's always skated all of his life. I was stunned! I was proud! I thought, I can't let him down! He's been wanting to skate together since December's open air skate rinks started. So I called him over and said that I'm ready to go out again, but this time without the side rail and just his hand. Well, this was getting a bit easier and my balance was improving and we were having fun and laughing. We weren't going fast but it was fast enough. I was starting to get the same feet technique and then something amazing happened, I didn't need to hold Andrew's hand anymore. In fact, It felt worse to hold his hand. I was doing it on my own. I was officially...SKATING :-D Yipee!!! I did a few more laps and then had to have a break as this was so mentally challenging for me. Andrew stayed on the ice going a million miles an hour. After feeling more confident and ready to do it again, I got back on and yes, I could still skate by myself. We formed a train and Andrew was giving me a taste of real speed, until he lost control and we both fell over! It was hilarious! Even more so watching us trying to get up! We had a wonderful time skating and after getting off the ice, we rewarded ourselves with a hot chocolate with whipped cream!
Andrew writes
Wow! Debbie was skating! I can't begin to describe how happy I was and how proud! Not so much the fact that she can skate now (sort of) but that she got a second time to give it another go rather than giving up after a short time. the determination that she showed certainly paid off and now we can skate together! Next stop: Rollerblading! The whole experience was picturesque, ice skating with a magnificent castle emerging from the mist in the background.
Well, after warming ourselves with a Hot Chocolate and a hot dog, we made our way to the Royal residence of "King Henry, Eighth of that name".
Debbie of course started to go crazy with the camera, there were quite a few shots she took here all of the same thing so I haven't included them all.
here I'm thinking: come on, enough with the photos, let's actually go inside...
so after one last shot with the warder:
We finally went inside the palace.
It is almost certainly the most magnificent palace we've visited and by far the largest. the shear number of halls and public drawing rooms and private (privy) drawing rooms and bed rooms (also both public like the french and private like all other normal people) and presence rooms and watching (guard) rooms and grand staircases and kitchens and wine cellars and courtyards and more staircases and chapels and great halls was staggering. to tell the truth, by the end of the day we got a bit blase about it: "oh, yet another kings gallery... great. oh look, yet another hall lined with 5 hundred year old tapestries woven with real silver and gold thread depicting the biblical story of Abraham that cost as much to make at the time as building a fully armed battleship...." don't get us wrong though - it was absolutely magnificent. it was however the little mundane things that got our attention like the original oak staircase that the servants walked up, carrying food for the king and the secret passages behind the tapestries, and the cool bedside operated locks on the doors to the queen's bedroom, and the King's velvet lined toilet seat.
One room that we were particularly impressed with was the guard room for King William the somthingth. when the King was in residence, 40 Yeoman guards lined the walls of this room and above them the walls were lined with weapons arrayed in beautiful patterns, artistic, yet militarily functional.
We weren't allowed to take photos inside unfortunately but we did take a few shots at the entrance and in some of the courtyards.
While walking around inside, We were absolutely stunned, by the gardens visible through the windows. The view out of every room was amazing. At about 2:00pm we finally got out of the palaces and into the gardens. These were beautiful, but the were made even more so because of the mist! trees carried on for literally as far as the eye could see, ponds of water appeared out of the mist as we walked towards them. Statues lining the pavement materialised from thin air. it's impossible to convey what it was like, but here are some shots to help:
We almost certainly didn't see all the gardens, but one thing we had to do was see the Maze, originally laid out by the big King H himself. I had read that for this particular one, actually being a labyrinth rather than a maze, one merely has to keep one's hand on one wall and it will lead you to the centre and back out again.
so off we went, right hand on the wall:
Me, pretending to be lost:
Success!!
And then back out again:
After the maze, we wandered aimlessly, hopelessly lost in the dense fog... (not really, but it sounded good).
Found this cool paved path which debbie immediately ran down with excitement:
so we took some artsy shots:
Saw a red robin:
took some artsy shots of some holly:
found some cool drooping trees:
and when debbie bent down:
she found some real frozen water!
and a bridge:
We think these seagulls were stuck to the ice...
spotted the less glamerous end of a swan:
admired the cool bark of this tree:
Were stunned by the rows of manacured garden trees:
some cool gold plated gates with hereldric symbols
the tudor coat of arms:
thistle of some sort:
a really cool vine archway commissioned by QEII:
(AKA the TUNNEL OF DEATH!!!)
Debbie steps fearlessly into the Tunnel Of Death!!
Some really beautiful sunken gardens with sculptured plants:
an orangery:
This statue was just oozing symbolism. we named him "Vincent":
This statue was a bit more layed back. we named him "Og".
above all the windows on the outside were heraldric symbals, to many to take photos of, but here's one from William the somethingth:
one more shot of the palace in the mist:
and back out to the front courtyard (from the inside facing out):
this brought us to 4:00 in the afternoon. time to go home for some hot roast pork and a long blog-writing session :-D
