a royal affair in windsor

(originally posted 7.15.11)

Chris and I told ourselves that during our two year adventure abroad, we would travel one new place every month. In order to not overwhelm me, Chris agreed that it could be anything from a short weekend trip to the English countryside to a week long vacation to another country. So, we have some flexibility if life gets hectic.

Yesterday had to have been one of our best days in the UK so far. We've been too busy to plan a big trip yet, and we're still trying to understand our finances and the £ compared to the US $ before we start traveling all over. So, in order to feel rejuvenated and remind ourselves why we're here -- we planned a small day trip out of London to do some sight seeing.

Chris planned everything; my only job was to find a picnic blanket (none of our belongings that were being shipped over have arrived yet!). So I bought us a really cool wool blanket made out of scrap wool from the British mills.

since the day was rainy, i cuddled up with our new wool blanket on the train

Morning came, and despite the rainy day and head cold I was getting, we headed out to the city of Windsor - the home of The Windsor Castle. One bus, two Tube (the underground subway) lines, and one train ticket out of the city: we arrived at the adorable village in less than 2 hours. As we got off the train, we were in the middle of quaint pubs, shops, and a few small hotels, and if you looked up to your left, there was the castle peaking over the trees.

City of Windsor. Can you see the castle peaking out?

The Castle is very well known for it's association with the Royal Family -- the Queen of England actually still calls this one of her main residences. The grounds are magnificent and we were able to explore the 15th Century St. George's Chapel. Henry the VIII is buried there, as well as many many other Royals. I made sure to make a wish (as the Shebak's know you're granted a wish when entering a church of the first time).

 Because it's still inhabited, the gardens are much more constructed than other castles. It's like a real life fairytale.

 St. George's Chapel - Chapel of the Order of the Garter

 St. George's Chapel - stunning clock. 

We got to see the most adorable gift I think I've ever heard be given -- The Queen Mary's Doll's House. Queen Mary's cousin came up with the idea for a gift to the Queen, built in the 20s and completed in 1924. It is larger than a backyard tool shed and ever detail down to the paintings is done perfectly. Famous painters actually painted the miniature paintings, and the books had words from famous authors. It's every little girls dream house!

The rest of the day in Windsor was magical. We had a delicious lunch of Monkfish and crab linguine and some white wine at The Belle and the Dragon. 

A couple pints at another pub while it rained after our castle tour, then a proper British pie for each of us at dinner (along with Chris' new favorite type of beer since arriving: cask ales). 

We even got a little bit of shopping in. I bought a new shiny pair of Chucks.