A few days being an English Tourist

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July 27th 2018

Published: August 3rd 2018

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Hampton Court Palace

Beautiful gardens of Hampton Court

Emma, a friend from Milwaukee, who we met several years ago whilst visiting Disneyworld Florida is currently studying Museumology at the University of Glasgow.

Emma arrived at Stansted on 27/7 from Glasgow, so convenient to have an airport close by.

We had a lovely few days together visiting museums & Kings College Chapel in Cambridge, Hampton Court Palace, The Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace and several London landmarks.

FRIDAY- A 40 minute drive to one of several Cambridge Park & Ride carparks, much to Emma's amusement I chose Trumpington.

We spent time in the Museum of Archelogy & Anthropology, a fascinating old building and artefacts to interest Emma.

It was a very hot day but we managed to find a shady spot for a light lunch in a small cafe next to a haunted book shop.

King's College Chapel with its wonderful interior was so beautiful and of course we had to take a photo of the typical English scene of punting boats on the river with the backdrop of King's College.

A whistle stop tour of the Fitzwilliam Museum before heading back.

A wonderful day full of history.

SATURDAY - An early

Hampton Court Palace

Medeival architecture

start to Hampton Court Palace & we were lucky to be able to park within the palace grounds.

A light refreshment before we started our tour of the palace but not before reading the descriptions of old palace workers which were depicted on the canvas of deck chairs scattered around the cafe area.

We spent the whole day experiencing life in medeival times, the gardens were looking wonderful despite the hot weather and thankfully Saturday was a cooler day making walking around much more comfortable.

SUNDAY - Well it was a day of rest as we had a busy day on Monday when we were travelling into London.

MONDAY - Today we let the train take the strain, about 40 minutes and we were in London, our first place to visit was The Royal Mews with the wonderful collection of Royal carriages & vehicles. The highlight being the golden state coach, the audio guide was full of information about all of the coaches and the horses that are stabled there.

We had a timed ticket to enter Buckingham Palace, opened only for 10 weeks in the summer, so you can imagine the crowds.

Emma

Hampton Court Palace

Interesting facts on palace workers

& I had been to Buckingham Palace when she visited London last December, a much quieter time and so we didn't worry about taking photos outside the gates this time with all the other tourists.

This was my 4th visit to Buckingham Palace but it was lovely to be able to share the experience with my American friend.

No photography inside the palace so we enjoyed refreshment in the garden cafe overlooking the Queen's lawn which actually had some brown patches just like ours at home!

The rest of the afternoon was spent photo shooting the London sights including The Globe Theatre, Kensington Palace, & views from several bridges as we journey back to the railway station.

I enjoyed being a tour guide to Emma but certainly felt the aches & pains after 3 full days.

Tuesday it was time for Emma to fly back to Glasgow which unfortunately she couldn't do as Ryanair had cancelled her flight !!!!

Can you believe the earliest flight to Glasgow was 2 days later on Thursday.

All was not lost as I was able to book a train ticket the same day for her from Euston

Hampton Court Palace

Characters of Hampton Court

to Glasgow, a few more hours travelling than a flight but at least Emma+Luggage would be safely on her way without too much hassle.

So this has been a somewhat different blog than usual but hope you enjoy the photos from my tour of Cambridge, Hampton Court Pala e & London.

Additional photos below

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