Windsor Castle

After leaving Bath on June 20^th, we drove to Windsor so we could visit Windsor Castle. Check out the rest of the Bath posts: Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, Roman Baths. 

We were both very tired and got a bit lost but we made it in the end. It turns out the “rest stops” in the UK are quite different than the picnic table and public bathroom style rest stop you see in the states. We found ourselves at what amounted to a mall when we stopped looking for a WC and a place to stretch. They had WiFi (you had to set up an account though) a Burger King, a M&S (like a 7/11) a couple of little cafes, and a free car park. Take another spoke off the round about and you’ll find yourself at the petrol station and a third spike is for caravans only (campers). Whew!

The town of Windsor was, in every way, quaint. Just about the only thing it has going for it is the castle though I think my mom and Mark’s mom would have loved to have a walk through the little shops and the market. We only had eyes for the Castle though so we headed up to pay our money.

The Castle is not a ruin but a constantly changing piece of architecture, though of course every effort is made to maintain the original character and restore as much as possible as repairs are made. The Castle is one of the Royal Residences so it is kept in pristine condition, and indeed the gardens and grounds were immaculate. We stopped to watch the castle band perform a little and noted that unlike American bands, the band had an oboe and was playing with a brass tuba, not the American-invented sousaphone. The band was still very cool and we enjoyed it for a few minutes before moving on.

link to video of band here... 

embedded video coming as soon as I can find better WiFi. 

Throughout the castle and actually throughout much of England we found hidden touches of the crown. It has started to become almost a game, like finding the hidden Mickeys at Disneyland. Here is one perched innocently on top of a lamppost.

The highlight of the Castle for me was seeing Queen Mary’s Dollhouse. Unfortunately this was a no camera exhibit. For those of you who don’t know, I played with dolls of all sorts all through my childhood and my allowances always went to dolls or doll clothes or accessories. The dollhouse was spectacular. It was several stories tall and each room was filled with tiny details, down to the wallpaper, tiny stoves and fireplaces, beds with hand quilted bedspreads, and dolls. There was a garden with model trees and rose bushes and car park with model cars! Each room was labeled but I am quite sure those labels were added for tourists. I wish they hadn’t been added, as a little girl would not want such labels because sometimes rooms change.           

As part of the dollhouse exhibit, we got to see some of the large dolls that the queen was given as a little girl as a gift from several dignitaries from other countries. These dolls were about three feet tall (the doll house dolls were more Barbie sized or smaller) and their dresses were the most fashionable items of the time. I wondered if the Queen was ever allowed to really play with those clothes and dolls. They looked too beautiful to ever be truly played with or loved like dolls should be.

After the dollhouse we were lead to an area full of genuine suits of armor. We also got to see antique guns, swords, shields, and other elements of battle. In addition, a lot of the plunder from wars past was on display, such as decorative knives and swords and shields from enemies past and decorative military uniforms from defeated foes. Today an officer just needs to look on twitter to confirm if a soldier is telling the truth or not, but back in the day a soldier needed to bring back something from the battlefield to prove that he did indeed do as he said.

We explored the castle grounds some more and watched the planes coming in and out of London Heathrow make an interesting juxtaposition against the turrets of the castle. Finally, when we felt we could see no more without collapsing, we left and continued our drive to the tiny town of Cheshunt where we stayed the night before continuing on to Cambridge in the morning. 

And so after many years of playing the princess, I saw a real genuine castle, an actual royal residence, where royal people occasionally live and do royal things. I decided that while I may act the princess or queen, I much prefer the life of well loved cabbage patch dolls and sitting criss cross on the floor playing cars with my brothers. I wouldn't say no to a mansion though...