The Time I Couldn't Take Pictures at Windsor Castle

After taking a train out of London to see a palace on Friday, I took another train out of London to see a castle. Windsor Castle, to be precise; I think you may have heard of it. This train ride, however, was neither as fast nor as empty as the one to Hampton Court. We were lucky to get seats at all as we journeyed from Paddington Station to Slough to Windsor/Eton Central. The theme of crowds continued as we arrived in Windsor, a cute, cobblestoned town full of shops and pubs, standing ever in the shadow of the enormous Windsor Castle. Maybe it's because the Olympics are next week. Maybe it's because it was a Saturday in the summer. No matter what the reason, I have never seen such a quaint little town juxtaposed by so many massive crowds of people. I'm not sure if cars aren't allowed to drive through town, or if they are too afraid to try, because the streets and all the sidewalks for a good two blocks were filled with people waiting to get in to see the castle. One of the police officers, whose sole job was to direct visitors into the correct queue, exasperatedly informed me that on that particular day, 586 language students were taking a field trip to see Windsor Castle. After almost an hour in the queue, we finally made it into the castle, where I made my next mistake: after seeing the daunting line for the free audio guides, I decided to be my own tour guide throughout the Castle. I really regret this, as there are few plaques or signs to tell you exactly what you are looking at once inside. Not much of Windsor Castle is open to the public, as it is still used as a place of residence for Her Majesty, the Queen. In fact, it is her favorite residence. According to the flag bearing Queen Elizabeth's coat of arms, the Queen was actually in residence while we were there, no doubt enjoying the relative solitude of her private apartments. What we were able to see inside Windsor Castle were: the beautiful flowered and waterfall-ed garden built where a moat once stood, the grenadier standing guard in the Lower Ward, St. George's Chapel, the State Apartments, and Queen Mary's Dollhouse. The State Apartments were, as with all the castles and palaces we have seen in the past few weeks, quite lavish and stunning. My favorite areas: the Waterloo room, a giant dining room featuring a massive wooden dining table watched by the portraits of famous men involved in the Battle of Waterloo; Queen Victoria's "nick room," full of exotic treasures, crowns and swords that were "presented to" (read: taken by) Her Majesty; and, my favorite, St. George's Hall. The ceiling of St. George's Hall features the coat of arms of every Knight of the Garter in English history. Since the shields are numbered and associated with names, we had fun picking out Sir Charles Brandon's (a friend of Henry VIII and a main character on the Tudors), Sir Thomas Boleyn's, and - of course - Prince William's coats of arms. Queen Mary's dollhouse was also a fun exhibit; the mansion of a dollhouse featured working electricity and plumbing, exquisite to-scale furniture, and more rooms than I have in my real house. The most exciting place we visited at Windsor, however, was St. George's Chapel. More a royal mausoleum/mini cathedral than a chapel, St. George's is the resting place of many Georgian Kings, as well as the Queen Mother and King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II's father. Probably the best part of the day was when I discovered I was inadvertently standing on King Henry VIII - and his beloved third wife, Queen Jane's - grave. Unfortunately for my camera-addicted self, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside any building in Windsor. Before we could even think about testing the seriousness of this rule, we watched a matronly tour guide roughly snatch the camera out of a rule-breaker's hands and scold him severely for trying to snap a picture of the statue of Queen Victoria inside the State Apartments. Guess I will be Googling pictures for my scrapbook. After a very, very long day of pushing and being pushed through crowds, we stopped for a bite to eat a local pub, the Carpenter's Arms. Apart from having delicious food (try the chicken and mushroom pie), the Nicholson is a historical building; from 1509 until the 19th century when it was bricked up, the tunnel in the basement of the pub led straight into the Castle. Links of the Day: Windsor Castle: http://www.windsor.gov.uk/things-to-do/windsor-castle-p43983 St. George's Chapel: http://www.windsor.gov.uk/things-to-do/st-georges-chapel-p45153 Mary's Dollhouse: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/berkshire/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_9101000/9101131.stm The Carpenter's Arms: http://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/thecarpentersarmswindsor/