Hampton Court

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Adjusting to an eight hour time change is not easy. We slept as best we could then set out for our one day in the UK. We headed to Hampton Court via Tube + a 30-minute train ride. This spectacular old palace was a favorite of King Henry VIII and there were a variety of colorful costumed characters roaming the premises reenacting one of Henry’s six weddings. There were many remarkable works of art and the tour did give a sense of the day-to-day life (and actual work) of being a monarch. The gardens, complete with a hedge maze, were spectacular. We did our best to shake off our exhaustion. We took it easy and spent most of the day at the palace and in the gardens, having lunch in a pleasant on-site café and enjoying the beautiful weather. Andrew was flagging but re-energized himself by standing close enough to a large outdoor water fountain to get soaked when a gust of wind kicked up. We made our way back to our flat for a brief afternoon rest. Our plan for an early dinner and early bedtime unraveled, so finding dinner turned out to be an unexpected challenge. Refusing to eat British food again, we settled on a great Indian restaurant in the West End and once we were all relaxing the great conversation made the dinner challenges disappear. Lauren and Andrew made each other pinkie-swear to tell one another their short-list of people they might marry. In the end, no names were actually shared but the jockeying was great entertainment. After dinner, we soaked up some of the West End night life as we searched for a late night dessert. Back at the flat, we quickly tossed most of our things in their bags and finally got to sleep at around 1 AM, not nearly as far ahead of our 5AM pick-up for our flight to Istanbul as we would have liked.

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Photos

Andrew on the Tube
Andrew observed another kid on one of these odd "seats" and adopted it as his personal style

Tired boy
Andrew's exhaustion showed as the day wore on

Garden goof
Andrew shows off in the beautiful palace garden

King and Princess
Posing by the back of the Hamptom Court Palace

Fountain Rejuvination
Andrew got his second wind enjoying the cool mist from the fountain

Girl in Garden
Lauren looking cool in her shades by the sculpted garden

Check these out
Andrew and large horses

Suckling Pig
Andrew demonstrates the camel-back device while John carries the water for the family

Hey!
Lauren expresses astonishment in the "antler room". King Henry the VIII was quite the hunter (and antler collector)

I'm done!
Andrew at dinner.

Comments

[Kaylee]

Haha, Andrew. Fighting exhaustion and finding fun.

[anonymous]

Enjoying your pictures and commentary, keep em coming Mom

[Beth]

Istanbul -- lucky you. What made you decide on this destination? Enjoy. Love, Beth