Friday, March 30, 2007

Windsor Castle


I still can't believe I didn't do this post a couple weeks ago when I had a series of pics on my Shutterchance (SC) blog. Too many things going on (too many excuses!).

Or maybe I saved the best for the last! Which raises the question, which WAS the best of the 3 places we were so lucky to see: Stonehenge, Bath (last post) or Windsor Castle? Luckily, I don't need to make that decision because all 3 places are as different as they can be.

This Windsor Castle is something else! It's the largest inhabited castle in the world and dates back to 1070 when William the Conqueror reigned. Here's my photo album of 72 pics. The pics I'm posting here are different from the ones I showed on SC, if you want to start here and see the week's series I posted there (in large format).


Even before walking inside the castle walls, from the outside you get quite a feel for the immense bulwark this place is! And with a clock, of course. :)


When you see the flag raised atop this Round Tower, you know that the Queen is in residence. Since she's usually at Buckingham Palace during the week (when the flag is raised there), it's a fairly safe assumption it is the weekend when the flag is raised here. It was: Saturday, February 24th.



We walked through the Norman Gate (above) to get to the State Apartments and, more specifically, the Queen Mary's Dolls' House (below) from 1924. The doll house, believe it or not, has running water and electricity! It's 3 feet tall and is filled with thousands of objects made by leading craftsmen, artists and designers.




What amazed me about this castle, that covers 484,000 square feet of floor area alone, is how many roads and walkways were along castle walls. DUH! Everything is connected!


The main place of worship for the residents is St. George's Chapel, built from the 15th to 16th centuries. Photos were not allowed but this is one outside the nave that I was able to sneak in.


After walking through the chapel, we had time to watch the changing of the guard at 12:30p before heading back to the coach.

This ends that fabulous excursion day when we were in London back in February. I'll never forget it in all my life!

11 comments:

  1. What an amazing place and your picture bring back the exact sensations of being there!!! Thanks for this reflection of our visit.

    For everyone else...if you like castles, and I DO!, this one is a MUST SEE!!

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  2. Fantastic!! I love seeing the collection of photos together like this with your notes about each one.
    I said on your shutterchance blog that I couldn't ever imagine living there, but I could imagine playing with that dollhouse! How fantastic and what a true princess's dream!

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  3. Donica: You're welcome, of course, Honey! :)

    Mad: I could imagine playing with that dollhouse as well! And with real running water and electricity!

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  4. Nice memories. I haven't been there for years, I think the last time was when my younger son was 2, he's 25 now! it certainly is a very impressive castle.

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  5. I've been there and seeing it through your eyes and with this lovely pictures was a great reminder. Thanks for sharing!
    Wishing you a wonderful weekend Ginnie:-)

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  6. Such wonderful picts, Ginnie! Thank you for the virtual tour!I've been to the UK so often (mostly for business), but I have never had the chance to visit Windsor Castle. Maybe one day ;)

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  7. oh those pics were great! Great tour for me since I've never been!

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  8. I'm running over to Shutterchance right now to see if there are more dollhouse pictures!! Running water, I love it!!

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  9. Ex-S: I'm guessing not a thing has changed that would be visible to you now! So glad you were able to see it.

    Renny: Thank you kindly, sir. Had a great weekend and now am packing up to leave for Amsterdam.

    CS: Yes, maybe one day. I recommend it. The little city of Winsor itself is worth the trip.

    ET: Thanks! I hope you and P can go some day.

    Susan: Nooooo, I didn't post any dollhouse pics there! I really wasn't supposed to take any pics whatsoever so I really didn't get good close-ups, which would have been fun.

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  10. Beautiful pictures! I especially loved the outside architecture of Windsor Castle. Thank you.

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