When we got in, they were doing the big changing of the guard parade down the street. Lots of guards marching, people playing music, it was interesting. We didn't get to see too much though.
So we waited in line for the castle, which took about 45 minutes. From the outside, the castle looked amazing, like you would expect a medieval castle to look. And it looks incredibly nice and not that old, which we learned was from the types of stones they used back when it was building in the 11th century.
Inside the castle, it still looked really cool, although since it was a working castle there were lots of cars and people working around there, sort of took away from the atmosphere. There were tons of people there as well, I have no idea why, this must be people's Easter break because there were lots of little kids there.
There was a guided tour at 1, so we went through Queen Mary's Dollhouse, which was really incredible, although I don't think she was allowed to play with it.
We went over to wait for the tour and stopped in the gift shop. They had a really awesome crown ornament, which I got on the way out.
The tour was cool, led by some guy in fancy dress, not really sure what his role was there, but he looked cool. He showed us around the castle grounds, which was really interested. He also went over the fire in 1992 which burned a number of important rooms, which he was at, running and saving important things from inside. He also said that the castle was attacked twice in the 13th century, but it was so well defended that no one actually ever made it into the castle grounds.
The tour was only about a half hour, so we went around the state apartments. They were very ornate, lots of old master art, decorated ceilings, armor, what you'd expect in a castle. You weren't allowed to take pictures in there, so I put my camera around my neck, turned it on, and I would accidentally hit the button every now and then. A lot actually. I took pictures of every room. I thought I was pretty sneaky (I did this for the dollhouse and chapel too).
After the apartments, we went into St. George's Chapel. It was way too bright inside for a medieval chapel. There are a number of famous people buried there, notable Henry VII, Jane Seymour, and Charles I. Unfortunately, you can't see their tombs because they're under the floor, so they just have a little plaque to make the spot. Lame.
The chapel's ceiling was pretty incredible, but I was just thrown off because of the light inside. It was still well worth the walk around.
We left the castle and wandered around town. We passed houses were Charles I's mistress lived and where Shakespeare stayed when he wrote The Merry Women of Windsor. Much of the town had a medieval feel to it. We walked into Eton, where Eton College is. We couldn't really go in anything, but it was still cool.
We ate at The Crooked House, built in 1718, and yes, it's crooked because it was built with unseasoned green oak. It also had a tunnel connecting it to the castle, supposedly for Charles I to sneak out through, always cool.
I had a goat cheese and grilled vegetable sandwich and the house tea. I loved it.
After we walked around for a while, going into this church that made this huge deal about its 'treasure' of some old Last Supper painting. Not that impressive. We ended up in a park that led right up to the castle. It was a nice day out, sunny and 60s, so the walk was good. We wanted to find some ice cream but the place we were going to was closed, so we around around the corner to where they had a Starbucks, Pizza Hut, fudge shop, and pastry shop all right next to each other. I got mint chocolate chip from the pastry store, it was good, something different about it.
We took the train back and I walked back from the station to my dorm. On the way, I passed the place where Alexander Fleming invented penicillin. Pretty cool.
I got back and worked on how I'll get back from Paris. I extended my stay at the Paris hostel through Sunday now I just need to figure out what I'll do next. It's sorta expensive to fly back Monday, so I might fly to Milan and come back from there for the same price. Or I could go to Geneva and see Dylan, but that'll end up pretty expensive I think. I'm going to try to get that done today.
I also looked at football tickets. I think I'm going to go see Crystal Palace play tomorrow, I'm excited. The seats are cheap, they have student discounts. I just have no idea what a game will be like so I'm a little nervous.
I went to bed early and woke up around 2 and put on the Tigers and MSU. I saw the Tigers score four runs in the 7th, and MSU go down by 10 by the first commecial break. I had a feeling I knew how the games would end up. On the bright side, I had a solid fantasy day, a homer from Posada and Snider (on my bench) a save from Fuentes, some RBIs and runs, it went well. I just need my pitching to hold up for a little. I have Buehrle going tomorrow, should be interesting.
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