This is another catch-all blog entry since I didn't write about our trip to Hampton Court last weekend and we had a busy Saturday yesterday as well... And tomorrow we are off to Seville for 5 days so I'll have lots to add when we get back! Hampton Court is way down the Thames to the west and was one of 
Henry VIII's many houses that he took over from its original owner Cardinal Wolsey after he had him executed (that's one way to get into real estate). We took a long bus ride from our flat to get there (close to 1.5 hours!) It was long but direct though. Hampton Court is a beautiful red-brick palace originally built in the early 1500s but has had expansions and renovations that were made over the 200 years it was a royal residence. On the day we went the courtyard was being set up as a medieval market 
place for a movie (Jack the Giant Killer) they were going to film there that week. Lots of taxidermied animals were laying about in preparation for this se
t. Hampton Court also has costumed actors wandering around portraying Henry VIII, his new (and last) queen Catherine Parr and members of their court as if it were their wedding day (July 12, 1543). The house is a bit spooky as there are reminders of a few of King Henry's unfortunate queens (for example, a small H&A for Henry and Anne Boleyn was accidentally left behind on a carved screen in the Great Hall when workmen were scraping away all traces of her memory... There is a carved doorway with Henry's tudor rose and Katherine of Aragon's family's pomegranite symbol). The kitchens are in working order and
the day we were there they were cooking up Tudor-style gruel/porridge and chickens were roasting on a huge (and very hot) fire. Other wings of the castle (added later) were the apartments of the monarchs William and Mary in the late 17th century and are filled with their paintings and furniture. There is also a beautiful garden to wander in and a famous hedge maze we found our way through. The weather was beautiful that day and since it has been warm the flowers were blooming.
Henry VIII's many houses that he took over from its original owner Cardinal Wolsey after he had him executed (that's one way to get into real estate). We took a long bus ride from our flat to get there (close to 1.5 hours!) It was long but direct though. Hampton Court is a beautiful red-brick palace originally built in the early 1500s but has had expansions and renovations that were made over the 200 years it was a royal residence. On the day we went the courtyard was being set up as a medieval market 
place for a movie (Jack the Giant Killer) they were going to film there that week. Lots of taxidermied animals were laying about in preparation for this se
t. Hampton Court also has costumed actors wandering around portraying Henry VIII, his new (and last) queen Catherine Parr and members of their court as if it were their wedding day (July 12, 1543). The house is a bit spooky as there are reminders of a few of King Henry's unfortunate queens (for example, a small H&A for Henry and Anne Boleyn was accidentally left behind on a carved screen in the Great Hall when workmen were scraping away all traces of her memory... There is a carved doorway with Henry's tudor rose and Katherine of Aragon's family's pomegranite symbol). The kitchens are in working order and
the day we were there they were cooking up Tudor-style gruel/porridge and chickens were roasting on a huge (and very hot) fire. Other wings of the castle (added later) were the apartments of the monarchs William and Mary in the late 17th century and are filled with their paintings and furniture. There is also a beautiful garden to wander in and a famous hedge maze we found our way through. The weather was beautiful that day and since it has been warm the flowers were blooming. 
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