Visit to Hampton Court Palace & Gardens

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We had planned visiting Hampton Court on Wednesday, 19 June. Mark took an annual leave from 19 June, and six of us planned visiting Hampton Court Palace.



We met up with John & Mary and my parents at Waterloo station in the morning and took the British Rail for Hampton Court from Waterloo.



My kind sister-in-law, Rhiannon arranged for six of staff complimentary tickets for us, and it allowed us to go through the entrance for the palace. We walked through the Seymour Gate and strolled through lanes flanked by the medieval buildings. We entered the Henry VIII’s Apartments, looked round the Great Hall, Great Watching Chamber, Council Chamber, and found it interesting in portraits of English monarchs, members of their families and relatives, Henry VIII’s wives and Tudor courtiers.



The special exhibition of secret of the Royal Bedchamber in Mary II’s Apartments was on 19 June. We looked at various types of beds, its decorations, furniture, cosmetic items, and portraits of Kings and Queens’ servants and housekeepers, and strolled through their bedroom and mourning rooms.



It was the lunch time when we finished looking round Mary II’s Apartments.



I showed my parents and John & Mary the Fountain Court, which was designed by Christopher Wren for William III and Mary II.



We had lunch in the café near Henry VIII’s Wine Chamber. John & Mary saw Lucy Worsley grabbing sandwiches in the canteen of the café.



The weather was very pleasant and sunny on 19 June. We decided to explore the grounds in the afternoon. We firstly headed for the Great Vine, which is one of Hampton Court’s most famous features. I explained to my parents that Great Vine is one of the oldest vines, which was planted in 1768 by Lancelot Capability Brown and it as kept providing a good crop every year. John & Mary, and my parents admired its stunning layout and collections of flowers of the Lower Orangery Garden, Pond Garden, Knot Garden, Privy Garden, and Great Fountain Garden. We found the royal horse carriage and rode in the passenger carts. The horse carriage took us to outer edge of the Great Fountain Garden. It included the commentary and we listened to the famous episode of how Henry VIII grabbed the beautifully remodelled royal palace from Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Hampton Court flower show was due to be held in July. We saw gardeners preparing for its events from the Great Fountain Garden.



Afterwards, we walked through the Rose Garden, had drinks in the Tiltyard Café and did shopping.



We went to the China Town and had dinner at the New World Restaurant.

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