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Published: June 24th 2022
Miguel had been saving to come to Europe for quite some time and eventually saved enough and found a place to live in Germany. Miguel asked if he could come visit and stay with us in England via his relocation to Germany. I was happy at the thought of seeing him again and pleased to be able to offer him the opportunity to spend time exploring places in the UK he hadn't seen yet, as he has only been to London previously. I meet Miguel through Couchsurfing and we met once in-person almost 3 years ago in his hometown in Argentina (see
Miguel's hometown).
Fiona and I welcomed our daughter into the world in February, we named her Jovie, which is short for Jovial (If you've seen the Christmas movie Elf, you'll know where we got the name from). We knew hosting Miguel would be a challenge given we have a 2 month old, as well as my partners two older children, so fortunately it worked out well when Miguel is visiting us as it's Easter half term and so Fiona's two oldest can stay with their dad, which means we have a spare bedroom and en-suite for Miguel and we
have plenty of space in the car for doing some travelling. Spending days travelling around the UK wouldn't have been fun for Fiona's older two and luckily given Jovie's age I knew we could carry her around in a child carrier and she would be content, providing her basic needs are met.
Miguel's plane arrives rather early in the morning and so not many places are open yet. Today's itinerary is a visit to Windsor. The weather is chilly but very sunny, so I suggest a short walk around
Virginia Water Lake, to show Miguel some Roman ruins. Fiona and Jovie stay in the car, as it's too cold to be pushing a newborn out and about. The history of
Virginia Water Lake dates back to Queen Elizabeth I back in the 17th century, where it was just a stream. The lake was then man-made back in 1746 on land that had always belonged to the crown and lands to
Windsor Castle. The lake is 4 miles to walk around and is a very pleasant walk, which includes
Savill Garden. There are plenty of perfect picnic spots and, given its closeness to London, it attracts many visitors.
It
is still early, so we head to Windsor and find a nice pub for a full English breakfast, I mean any visitor visiting Britain must try this breakfast. I want Miguel to have a British experience, as he gave me a taster of being an Argentinian when I visited his hometown.
After breakfast, we take the car and park up just outside of Windsor, in
Windsor Great Park. From here, we enjoy a pleasant walk and reach part of
The Long Walk which takes you directly from a gate of
Windsor Castle all the way to the foot of the statue of King George III. If you were to walk this journey one-way then it is around 2.6 miles, or just over 4 km. This walk is arguably one of the most photographed walks due to its stunning views.
We arrive at
Windsor Castle at around the time of the 'Changing the Guard' by the time we go through security, there is already a queue to watch the Queen's guards march up from the high street into the castle and so we have to wait patiently for them to pass by. Once they pass by, we can follow
them into the main castle grounds. The Changing of Guard encompasses colourful spectacle and British pageantry. The ceremony is on set days of the week and usually takes place around 11am within the castle grounds. Its the first time I have ever seen this spectacular event and Miguel is very fortunate to see it, especially with being blessed with good weather, as understandable, the event is weather permitting and we get a lot of awful weather.
Its been a long time since I have been in the grounds of
Windsor Castle, despite living nearby for most of my life. The castle is the official main residence for Queen Elizabeth II, and has been a royal home and fortress for over 900 years. It is the largest occupied castle in the world. The Queen is known to usually spend a month in the castle between March and April in celebration to Easter. We keep our eyes open for Queenie and her husband Prince Philip as we walk around the grounds, but unfortunately do not bump into them.
St George's Chapel is located inside the castle grounds. This chapel was built in the late perpendicular gothic style and has been
a site for many famous royal weddings, including two last year with Prince Harry and Megan Markle and Princess Eugenie with Jacks Brooksbank. The chapel is also a burial site for many famous Royals including the Queen's parents The Queen Mother and King George VI, as well as King Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour.
Next we take Miguel to
Windsor Royal Shopping, which used to be the main train station until it was separated into two stations with the current
Windsor Royal Shopping only now having one platform that connects to Slough. This grand old station is now housed with many retail shops and restaurants.
We finish our day in Windsor with a walk along the
River Thames, here you can do many boat trips that offer pleasant rides down the Thames. We didn't do a boat trip this time, but have done in the past and definitely recommend.
On our way home, we stop off at a
Toby Carvery. This chain restaurant is very popular for doing a carvery and at a reasonable price. I think a carvery is more customary in Britain, so for those who may not have heard of this,
its like a roast cooked dinner where you can help yourself to whatever roasted/cooked vegetables you want and you can select or have a selection of cooked meat joints. We wanted Miguel to have a British experience and this is a very typical British thing to eat.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Reconnecting
Fantastic that you were able to host Miguel. It sounds like you were able to ensure he saw a good bit of England. It is always fun to hear stories of the royals.