Day 12: Windsor

I walked over to Hall for my last breakfast. There weren’t the number of people there as usual, and it seemed a bit sad. I had my egg and croissant and said goodbye to a few classmates.

A taxi picked us up and the Porter wished us well. 

We weren’t so lucky with the driver, I don’t think he spoke English very well, so I didn’t bother to ask him to take the scenic route. We paid cash, and I whispered to Pat.“should we tip him?“ She said no, unless we should give him money to buy a bar of soap.

The Sir Christopher Wren Hotel is beautifully sited on the river. Pat was able to check in and get her room, I checked in, but my room wasn’t ready. They have a small front garden area so I sat there and read for a while and then Pat met me and we started the walk up the hill to the castle. Every shop is devoted to tourists, either souvenirs or food. And there were lots and lots of tourists. It was actually difficult to walk on the sidewalk. Many different foreign languages were being spoken all around us. We stopped at a restaurant that had outside tables and I had a cappuccino and Pat had a Diet Coke. We were early for our 1 o’clock entrance appointment to get in to see the castle but we walked up to the entrance area. A very nice staff member told us to get on line but we were a half an hour early. She told us to go down the street, turn left and walk over to see the Long Walk.

We walked past the Windsor church, and passed the mews. Then turned a corner on a short block of very nice houses. And the cars outside included a Ferrari, several Mercedes, an Aston Martin, and the lowly Audis and Volvos.

We walked back up and got on line. And then made a very slow walk to the entrance. And then a very slow wait for audio guides. There were SO MANY people. We went to St. George’s Chapel first, which was a great idea. 

Again, so many people. So we shuffled around and it’s really a very impressive place. Of course we got to see the chapel where the queen is buried. 

Then we walked up to the state apartments, a long walk in itself. And then the long long long walk around them. Lots of paintings, lots of armory, exactly how you imagine a royal palace to look.

Every so often we came upon a room that had some benches so we got a little rest. Over two hours later, we looked at each other and said “this is just overload” and we started to wend our way down to the exit.

Pat had made dinner reservations at a recommended Chinese restaurant and we decided to go over there. It was about four but we were starving since we hadn’t had lunch. We had dim sum. I’m not too familiar with dim sum, but Pat said it was very good. We canceled our 7 o’clock reservation. 

Then back through the crowds and down to our hotel. There’s a wedding going on, so they closed the outdoor terrace. It’s a shame because the weather is beautiful and it would’ve been nice to sit by the river. And we even got a free drink coupon when we checked in!

I met Pat at 7:15 so we could use those coupons! And guess what, I am a certified toper now. I do love my Seiter.

We were a little peckish so we split a mature cheddar and pickle sandwich. Pat thought that the pickle would be sliced pickle. But it was English pickle.

In any case, it was tasty.

Then off for a little walk, crossing the bridge over the Thames into Eton. 

Eton High Street was very English looking, with lots of union jacks flying. Just crossing the bridge put you in a completely different frame of mind. No souvenir shops, no terrible fast food restaurants.

Now it’s time to organize everything so we can have breakfast and leave for Heathrow in the morning.

Signing off,
Lynn