For breakfast I chose the continental option. It was every bit as good as I remembered it from last time. Comfortably replete, we walked through Windsor to the Cambridge Gates (The Windsor Great Park entrance to the castle).

The weather was perfect for the the walk; it was so warm we didn’t need to wear coats. The walk is 2.64 miles long and we enjoyed the views and seeing the deer herd as we got closer to the large statue of King George III that is located at the far end of the walk. We enjoyed the sense of achievement and took in the view from the elevated location before walking the pathway in the opposite direction in time for lunch in Clarence Brasserie & tea room where I chose fishcake with a sweet chilli sauce.

After lunch I sat on a bench whilst Mr C went to look for a Moroccan restaurant we had booked for the Monday night. He was gone so long I began to wonder if he had got lost or forgotten about me. Whilst I was waiting two ladies decided to sit next to me on the bench even though there were several empty benches nearby. As they had crowded me out I moved up a bit to give myself more space only for the lady next to me to shuffle up close to me again! I decided to move to a nearby vacant bench which turned out to be in a nicer spot than the one I had vacated. Whilst there I was asked to take a photograph of family group who wanted their picture taken standing in front of Windsor Castle.

When Mr C eventually returned half an hour later we walked across the Windsor bridge to visit an antiquarian bookshop that Mr C had remembered from our previous visit to Eton. Next we retraced our steps across the bridge in search of a naughty cake before taking a leisurely boat trip along the Thames to Boveney Lock after which we returned to the hotel to freshen up before dinner.

We dined in The Ivy Royal Windsor Brasserie. The food was lovely (I chose fish and chips followed by mini chocolate truffles) and we had excellent service and plenty of friendly banter with the gentleman who was waiting on us.

We finished our evening in Wetherspoons for a final drink before it was time to turn in for the night.

Whilst enjoying a leisurely breakfast, we were treated to another early morning river view. After breakfast, we stopped at the hotel reception area to request replacements for the essential items that had gone missing when our room was serviced the previous day.

Supplies suitably replenished, we returned to our room and gathered what we needed for a day visiting Brooklands museum which is home to the world’s first purpose built car-racing circuit and an aerodrome. Mr C was particularly interested in seeing the historic steep banked car racing circuit dating from 1907. On arrival he was able to sit in the cockpit of a racing car and drive along a simulation of the track.

As we made our way around the museum we were lucky enough to be treated to personal guided tours by museum volunteers. The first such tour took us around what is known as the Loch Ness Wellington, the only known surviving Brooklands-built Wellington. This Wellington, N2980, developed and engine problem during a training flight in 1940 and ditched in Loch Ness. In 1976 the Wellington was located in the Loch by a team of American Loch Ness Monster hunters and subsequently raised.

Later we were given a detailed explanation of the Stratosphere Chamber, designed to simulate atmospheric conditions such as snow wind and ice where planes, boats, clothing and other equipment were tested out for vulnerabilities in order to improve their design.

After our personal tours it was time to board Concorde with our complimentary boarding pass. Our tour guide, a former flight attendant on Concorde, shared both technical information and anecdotes. Suitably seated and ready for flight, the pilot, via video, gave us additional information as we reached Mach 2.02. We were told not to look outside the windows at it might spoil the illusion. When we reached our destination (right where we started) we were given a complimentary flight certificate to commemorate our flight on Concorde.

I have only touched the surface of the things we saw during our visit to Brooklands and there was so much more to see, but we ran out of time.  This meant that our planned visit to Runnymede later in the afternoon had to be postponed for another occasion.

Back at the hotel, we had time to relax and freshen up before dining in the Cote Brasserie which is located just on the opposite side of the Thames, via Windsor Bridge, from the Hotel Christopher Wren. Then it was back to the hotel for a nightcap in the bar, which on this occasion, was still serving when we retired for the night.

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

We picked up my Mum and set off on our journey to Windsor which took rather longer than expected due to the volume of traffic on the bank holiday weekend. Whilst we were driving around Windsor struggling to find a place to park we spotted my nephew and his lady friend outside Windsor Castle and Mr C heckled them.

Once we had found a parking space and met up with them we made our way to lunch in a quaintly named cafe Madame POSH. It is a delightful patisserie and home emporium. We sat on elegant chairs amongst pottery, glasses, linen, silk flowers and other similar items. The food was good, I had chosen a waffle and by the time we had sat down and the food had arrived it was 3 o’clock and we were flagging a little because it was a long time since breakfast. We chatted over lunch and then walked along the River Thames and across the bridge into Eton to see the college.

We then returned to the car so to make our way to Ye Olde Bell where we were staying for the weekend. We detoured on the way so that we could drop my nephew off and he could show us around his flat. The flat, which he shares with others, is nice and cosy. When we checked into the hotel we found out that my Mum’s room was in a separate building even though we had been assured when we made the booking that the rooms would be in the same building. Ye Olde Bell has several buildings with accommodation and also a barn suitable for weddings and other events.

After freshening up we caught a taxi back into Windsor and met up with my nephew and his lady for dinner in The Boatman restaurant. We sat outside in an open top conservatory with large, open windows. The roof was slowly rolled shut in stages as the sun went down. It was a perfect setting for a warm summer’s evening. Before the roof was finally closed we were able to watch the aeroplanes taking off from nearby Heathrow Airport. Apart from being a nice place to dine it was a plane spotter’s paradise.

The company was delightful and the food was good although there was a bit of a challenge in finding vegan options. The waitress however was extremely helpful and gave suggestions that she then went and asked the chef to prepare.

After we had dined the taxi returned to take us back to Ye Olde Bell. Mum went to bed after the long day whilst Mr C and I had a nightcap. We had a bit of a banter with the foreign bartender, after which he proclaimed ‘I Manuel’ meaning in the style of Fawlty Towers.

Unfortunately our peace and tranquility was disturbed by Mr C’s phone ringing… Someone was unrealistically for that time of night (and distance) expecting his logistical problem to be solved immediately…