Well it's Midnight and I'm Not Famous Yet

Sleeping in until 9am was nice again, cause we didn’t leave until 10am to go to Windsor Castle. When we got to the train station at Waterloo, we were short one ticket, so Hillar told us to go ahead on the first train and he would catch up with us. Travelling as a group without a chaperon was pretty entertaining, as Tess and Ali did some interesting interpretative dances to various songs on Ali’s iPod. Mind you, I recorded some of it for posterity, and it might even be up on youtube depending on how well I can narrate it.

As we arrived at the Windsor train station, we decided to divide and conquer for half an hour until Hillar arrived on the next train close to 1pm. A few of us walked down the street and found a bench to relax upon, while others went to eat, and soon we returned to the rail station and met up with Hillar, who almost passed us. From there, we were sort of scatter brained until we finally found the route up the hill to Windsor Castle.

The trek up was not as difficult as it looked, for it gave us time to pause and photograph the castle grounds, as well as the public sector. Since Windsor Castle is a working castle (meaning the Queen uses it for stately business, and other things), we had to dodge cars and royal air troops who were manoeuvring around us. We waited as a group outside the gates while Hillar went inside and purchased our group tickets, then we kindly followed him in to queue before security checks. Yay! I didn’t set off the detector this time! (Must be a low grade.)

At this point, we helped ourselves to “personal antennas,” which provided us with an electronic tour of each section on display if you typed in the appropriate number. We were then provided with a free tour guide to lead us up to the main areas, and he gave us information about the grounds, the ponies, the original defences of the castle, and the faux doors that would lead enemies to their awaiting doom. Then we were lead around to the back and shown the entrance into the castle, which gave us the antechamber and the entrance to the dollhouse room.

Brilliant! Simply brilliant! There’s nothing more impressive than a miniature display that captures history with beauty. Unfortunately, since the interior of the castle had camera restrictions, I could only photograph the exterior - the only way I can describe the interior is ‘sublime.’ It’s no wonder Hitler and so many others wanted to rule from Windsor if they ever took England!

Even though the flag was flying to signify that the Queen was on the grounds, we never once saw her, or any indication that she were there, other than that flag.

After we returned to London proper, we went to a Chinese buffet for dinner, and then walked around the Covent Gardens to view its history. I also made a mental note to come back to see the London Travel Museum. Then after that, I came back to the apartment, and scored a pretty sweet surge protector from Hillar’s apartment for showing him how to use the washing machine. I’m awesome, I know!

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Part of trip: London Summer Internship 2009

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