Hampton to Churchill

Thursday, May 19
I'm so excited!  We're heading to Hampton Court Palace, home of King Henry VIII.  Actually it was built for his sidekick, Cardinal Wolsey, but later becomes the king's.  Now I'm really curious...how does a humble "man of the cloth" amass such wealth?  I never knew God's service could pay that well!

Entrance to Hampton Court Palace

First we have to get there.  So we board the Tube for a half hour ride where we will catch a bus in Richmond out to the Palace.  Since seats are taken, we're standing.  But what's this?  Jacque is actually standing with one foot in one car and the other in another car.  She's twisting, turning, and bouncing.  She says it's going to be her morning workout. Luckily we find seats before she falls to the ground.
As we approach Richmond, the architecture and scenery change.  Everything is quainter and slower.  Suddenly we see many with babies, but where were they in London?  I have no idea.
Anyway, the palace is amazing because it is all intact.  The palace that would have been Henry's in London was lost (most of Whitehall Palace was lost to the fire of 1698).  If I remember correctly this King had six palaces, but don't quote me on that.

A view of one of the many gardens outside of

Hampton Court Palace

This pathway in the garden looks so inviting

One of the fun things about this visit, is that there are actors about the place presenting scenes from the time of Henry, Catherine, and Anne Boleyn.  They are excellent actors/singers/musicians.  The lady that portrays Queen Catherine even manages to cry real tears!  It is interesting to see the scenes of royal marital discord played out in front of you.  But...whatever King Henry wants...King Henry gets!!!

portrayal of Queen Catherine

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the town crier

We see the Royal bed chambers, living quarters, and the huge kitchens where meals were prepared for over 600 people.  The audio guide says that it is important for a king to demonstrate his wealth by feeding his guests well.  Only the wealthy eat much meat, and since it is a demonstration of wealth, a diet of 75% meat is served.  There is a theory that the king suffered from scurvy because of his lopsided diet.

roasting meats in Hampton Court Palace's kitchens

this is only one of the many fireplaces

The gardens are beautiful, with wisteria in bloom everywhere.  There is even a full sized garden maze.  So...this trip is totally a-maze-Ing! (Two days ago we saw the Royal Mews, so I guess that day was a-mews-ing.  Hee hee!)

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Wisteria was in bloom everywhere.  The chimneys were

fascinating.  Each one had its own design.

We spend about four hours at the palace, and could have definitely spent an eight hour day, but we want to return to the city and see the Churchill War Rooms before they close. So off we go.
We arrive at the Churchill War Rooms without a hitch. That's fairly amazing for us.  Here we see the underground war rooms.  Churchill didn't like the idea of being underground; he felt like it was hiding.  But he did realize that with the Blitz going on above ground, the planning needed to be done beneath it.  These war rooms were beneath Whitehall which was heavily bombed.
The people working here were sort of like moles.  The rooms were operational 24/7 with no light of day.  Some ventured above ground at night, just to sense some fresher air.  But basically they were entrapped in basement rooms for weeks on end.  I read that when they turned off the lights after the war had ended, the lights had been running continually for six years.
Churchill took the post of Prime Minister at 65 years of age, which gives us hope that our most important years may yet come!  Prior to this, he had not really made a great mark.
From here we headed to Covent Gardens, where we all had fish and chips...which tasted great!  I also tried a hard cider...yum!  Now it's time to pack up to head to France.  Good-bye to hello and hello to Bon jour!