After a good night’s sleep we were treated to a river view in the hotel’s dining room whilst we enjoyed our breakfast selected from the hot and cold options on offer. We then walked over the Windsor bridge into Eton looking for suitable places for evening meals.
Our recce complete, we made our way to Windsor Castle where we had pre-booked tickets for a visit. We knew that our bags would be checked but weren’t expecting a full airport style scan. This caught Mr C off guard, especially when he realised that his multi-tool knife might fall outside of what was allowed through. He had been expecting to have to leave his bag in a locker before entering the grounds, but this turned out not to be the case. He declared the multi-tool knife and just to be on the safe side, the lady checking us through security put it in a bag and gave Mr C a ticket to retrieve it when we left the castle grounds.
Just after we entered the castle grounds, we realised that the ‘Changing of the Guard’ ceremony was about to take place. We hurried to the parade ground to see the Coldstream Guards stand down and be replaced by the Ghurkas. We didn’t have a prime spot for capturing photos but it was a great experience.
Next we entered Windsor Castle to see the rooms and State Apartments. Mr C lingered a while in St George’s Hall where he particularly enjoyed the Coats of Arms displayed on the ceiling. After our tour of the castle it was time for lunch in the Undercroft Café. There was a queue, where unfortunately the man behind me was crowding me out so closely that he was physically touching me. How rude!! When we arrived at the serving area I stepped aside for Mr C to order our food and choices. The same man, by getting too close, caused Mr C to step aside. The pushy man tried to make an order only to be told to step aside so that Mr C could place his order first. The café was rather full with no tables free but luckily we were able to share a table with other diners.
After lunch we made our way to see Queen Mary’s Dolls House where, much to our surprise we found there wasn’t a queue. The detail of the miniature items within the house is amazing.
Before leaving the castle (and picking up the contraband item) we visited St Georges Chapel, finding that its history wasn’t shown off to its best advantage.
It was too early to return to the hotel so we returned to Eton and attempted to follow The Eton Walkway, a short two mile walk. At one point the directions were confusing, leading us to miss out at least one of the points of interest.
We dined in a lovely French style Bistro, A La Russe where I learned that service à la russe (service in the Russian style) a manner of dining that involves courses being brought to the table sequentially, and the food being portioned on the plate by the waiter (usually at a sideboard in the dining room) before being given to the diner.
This is different from the older service à la française (French: [sɛʁvis a la fʁɑ̃sɛz]; “service in the French style”) in which all the food (or at least several courses) is brought out simultaneously, in an impressive display of tureens and serving dishes, and the diners put it on their plates themselves.*
After dining Mr C made his way to a pub. On my walk there I was heckled by a couple as I walked past them. I chose to ignore them and as I walked on by I heard them shouting ‘Oi Doris’ to me. I carried on walking and didn’t look back. The chosen pub turned out to be rather dodgy, with substandard wine.
On our way back to the hotel we lingered on Windsor bridge enjoying the views. We had a short (friendly) encounter with a slightly tipsy man who engaged us in conversation. Eventually we were able to make our excuses and return to our hotel. The slightly tipsy man was last seen walking towards two ladies that were also on the bridge.
*Info from Wikipedia
Quite an experience to visit. So easy to forget about something you would use innocently when bags are checked! I know we have some strange things in our day out bags for when we walk in the country! I know we went to the castle when I was little but not sure if we went inside. Lovely photos
I have family photos of a visit to Windsor Castle from my teens.
My mum informs me that we didn’t go into the Castle and I am left wondering the point of the visit!
They were not flying the Royal Standard at Windsor.
I guess, the Queen was in London for the Jubilee concert?
Along with Paddington Bear, of course.
The Queen was in Windsor throughout our stay. There was no wind so the Royal Standard was hugging the flagpole rather than flying.
That being said she missed the opportunity to meet Tedsley (Ted for short)