We reverted to our normal breakfast time of 8.30 before driving the Hampton Court Palace.
Hampton Court is currently undergoing some restoration which meant the iconic view of the main entrance was covered with scaffolding. The size of the building is impressive but somehow the history of this amazing place didn’t come alive for me.
The one exception was the Chapel Royal which has stunning architecture and is also one of the areas that has maintained its original use since it was built. Maybe I was feeling the atmosphere of a ’space’ that has remained constant but flowing throughout the years…
The artwork displayed at Hampton Court both on the walls and in frames is impressive and we each had our favourite pieces that we lingered over.
We didn’t explore the gardens as much as we would have liked. It was rather hot and we were also running out of time. We did however walk to see The Great Vine, the largest grape vine in the world and also The Royal (real) Tennis Court which dates to 1625. A garden I would have loved to visit is the Magic Garden, I love a bit of fantasy and it has a dragon! But sadly, adults are not allowed in unless they are accompanied by a child. It was suggested that we could borrow a child and come back another day…
We were a little late back to the hotel so we chose to book into the hotel restaurant, allowing us to chill out after our long day out. The food quality was good but the combinations of dishes didn’t quite work for us. When Mr C’s sirloin steak arrived it was a thick cut more like rump, he did query if he had been served the right cut as did another customer. Both were informed that it was sirloin but cut thicker than usual!
Rather than stay in the hotel for a night cap we strolled across Windsor Bridge to the George Inn which was a lot livelier than our previous visits and presumably because it was a Friday there were no calls for last orders as there had been the previous nights.
It’s been a long time since I last visited this place.
Oh, did you go to Bushy Park too?
There are deer there too.
We didn’t do bushy park. We ran out of time.
It has been so hot this summer… lovely photographs from Hampton Court.
All the best Jan
It has been hot and I have loved the sunshine. But sometimes it was too hot for me to move very far.