Last summer, Joey & I flew to London to meet with my aunt who was vacationing with her friends from the Philippines. As a typical overnight weekend trip, we wanted to make the most of the time: first flight out, last flight in! We've been to London before and did most of the sightseeing in that trip. So, our first day was more of a relaxed one. It was just to catch up with my aunt and collect the 'pasalubongs' she brought from the Philippines. For our second day, we decided to go to the countryside and booked the Windsor Castle, Bath & Stonehenge Coach Tour with Golden Tours (www.goldentours.com). The cost was £102 per person which included a lunch pack. Windsor Castle (Address: Windsor SL4 1NJ, UK) Our first stop was the Windsor Castle. The castle is just 23 kilometres from London Heathrow Airport. While public transport is available, its frequency may not suit the times of your visit. Hence, it is best to book a coach tour especially when pressed for time. We were fortunate to have a very enthusiastic guide, Graham. He has been a tour guide for over 30 years and very knowledgeable and entertaining. He talked us through the important mementos as we walked along Windsor Royal Shopping Centre. The shopping centre is the passageway to the Windsor Castle. This is also the stop when arriving via train. The Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland This is used by Queen Elizabeth II from 1953 to present in all her realms except Scotland. The Lion and the Unicorn are symbols of the United Kingdom. Quarterly, the 1st and 4th shows three lions representing England, the 2nd lion stands for Scotland. The 3rd quarter shows a harp which is the national symbol of Ireland. The words “Dieu et mon droit” is the motto of the British monarch which means ‘God and my right.’ Historical Pillar Postal Box Each box displays the Royal Cypher of the reigning monarch. This is the box during the reign of Queen Victoria. In the lower part, it shows “V R”, which means “Victoria Regina”. Regina is the Latin word for “Queen” so the whole thing means “Victoria The Queen”. Hence, the symbol “E R” means “Elizabeth Regina” – “Elizabeth The Queen”. We arrived early and we were the first group of tourists in the queue waiting for the Castle to open at 9:00 AM. Windsor Castle is one of the official residences of The Queen and has been home to the Sovereign for almost 900 years. Traditionally, when in London, The Queen herself spends weekends at Windsor. The Queen also takes up official residence in Windsor Castle for a month over Easter, known as Easter Court . During that time The Queen hosts occasional 'dine and sleeps' events for guests, including politicians and public figures (www.royal.uk). Since this is a functional castle, it is expected that security is very tight. On our way in, we passed through an airline-style security. Our bags were placed through an x-ray machine and we walked through a detector door. So, what was it like? The Royal Standard Flag When we visited, The Queen was in residence, signalled by the Royal Standard flag that was flown at the tower. Our tour guide told us that when Princess Diana died in 1997, there was a public outburst as to why there was no flag flying at half-mast at the Buckingham Palace in London. He explained that there was no flag because the Royal Standard only flies when The Queen is in residence. At that time, The Queen was in Balmoral Castle. The Royal Standard can never be flown at half-mast since The Sovereign never dies, he/she is immediately succeeded. As a compromise, on the day of Princess Diana’s funeral, the palace hoisted the Union Jack flag in her honour. Since then, the protocol has changed. When The Queen is not in residence, the Union Flag flies and has flown at half-mast upon deaths of members of the Royal Family. Graham gave us 2 hours to explore the Castle. He told us not to miss the 3 most interesting areas: (1) Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House, (2) St. George's Chapel, and (3) The State Apartments. With the allocated time, we explored these areas, unfortunately photography was not allowed inside the Castle. Hence, most of our pictures were taken around the Castle grounds. Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a perfectly-crafted miniature palace given by the members of the Royal Family, including King George V to his wife, Queen Mary in the early 1920s. Queen Mary is Queen Elizabeth II’s grandmother. The viewing area is a bit dark but from what we have seen, the Dolls' House had a breath-taking amount of detail in it, working plumbing and electricity, elevators and flushing lavatories, miniature crowns with actual jewels on them. It is said that every item is made exactly to scale. Truly, a well-thought and brilliant piece of art! It is worthy to note that this was designed for a woman, not a child. On our way out, we saw an elegant display of royal dresses of the young Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, some were gifts from the French monarch. As photography is not allowed inside the Doll House, I'm sharing pictures from an article in the Daily Mail UK: St. George’s Chapel St. George's Chapel inside the Windsor Castle is the final resting place of many members of the Royal Family. This holds a special place for Queen Elizabeth II as this is where her parents, King George VI & Queen Mother Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret are buried. We couldn't help to feel uneasy seeing the tombs, but then again, it was like walking through so much history. There were plenty of staff who guided us through our tour. They were very knowledgeable and I even asked about the tombs of the characters in the film "The Other Boleyn Girl". He showed us Henry VIII grave next to Jane Seymour's. He said that Anne Boleyn was buried in the grounds of the Tower of London after her execution. The chapel also houses an amazing collection of the Royal Family's religious possession. To this day, the chapel holds service and worshippers are welcome to attend. It is closed to visitors on Sundays. The State Apartments The State Apartments holds some of the finest works of art from the Royal Collection, including painting by Rembrandt. One of the rooms has the statue of King George VI with military weapons hanging on the walls and suits of armor displayed. Nowadays, it is also used by members of the Royal Family for official ceremonies, for entertaining or for hosting events in support of organizations which they sponsor. Since The Queen is in official residence, we were treated to a colourful spectacle in the quadrangle – the Changing of the Guard. We have never seen a castle with such grandiosity. This is by far better than Walt Disney’s because this is real! We were served with our lunch packs on the bus; it was a delicious portion of a ploughman’s sandwich, packet of crisp, a cookie and pack of nuts. We drove for 1.5 hours and continued our tour to Stonehenge, our second stop. Stonehenge (Address: Amesbury, Salisbury SP4 7DE, UK) A UNESCO-listed world heritage site, Stonehenge is an ancient temple aligned on the movements of the sun. The stones were raised 4500 years ago, by prehistoric people. For some, these may just be a circle of standing stones and may not be even worth the travel. Nevertheless, we are amazed by how this sophisticated monument was built with exact precision, considering the technology available during that era. The history of Stonehenge remains a mystery. There are theories that it was used as a religious centre and as an astronomical observatory. People flock to see how the stones are aligned in the direction of the sunrise of the summer solstice and the sunset of the winter solstice. Key to Stonehenge 1 – The Stonehenge Avenue 2 – Arrow showing solstice alignment 3 – Heel Stone 4 – Stone hole marker 5 – Slaughter Stone 6 – Station Stones 7 – Station Stone markers 8 – Sarsen stones 9 – Blue stones 10 – Horseshoe of sarsen trilithons 11 – Aubrey Hole markers 12 – Bank and ditch The biggest of Stonehenge's stones, known as sarsens, are up to 30 feet (9 meters) tall and weigh 25 tons (22.6 metric tons) on average. It is widely believed that they were brought from Marlborough Downs, a distance of 32 km to the north. Smaller stones, referred to as "bluestones" (they have a bluish tinge when wet or freshly broken), weigh up to 4 tons and come from several different sites in western Wales, having been transported as far as 225 km. (https://www.livescience.com/22427-stonehenge-facts.html) The Roman Baths (Address: Stall St, Bath BA1 1LZ, UK) On to our last stop, we drove another hour to reach the City of Bath, a city with rich history and has been home to famous Bathonians (term for somebody who comes from Bath) like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Manolo Blahnik (the shoe designer), Tears for Fears (musical group), among others. According to the legend, as retold by our tour guide Graham, then Prince Bladud had a skin disease and was banished from the court. One of the pigs also contracted a skin disease and got cured after rolling in the mud near the springs. So, Prince Bladud did the same, bathed in the waters and was cured. He eventually returned to court and when he became King, he transferred his palace to the place of his cure which was near the spring. He built spas (the word “spa” comes from Latin which stands for “Salus Per Aquam” or ‘health through water’) and baths around the city. He called it "Aquae Sulis" or "Waters of the Sun". When the Anglo Saxon gained control of the city, it became known as 'Bath'. We toured The Roman Baths. It is not safe to drink, swim or even to touch the water in the Great Bath because it is completely untreated. However, there is a drinkable spa water within the restaurant, which is included in the price of the admission ticket. Some tourists described its taste as “unusual”; Joey and I did not taste it. The thermal water is said to contain over 42 different minerals, the most concentrated being sulphate, calcium & chloride. The water is believed to be rainwaters that fell on the limestones of Mendip Hills near Bristol. Over 1 million litres of this mineral-rich water flow from the springs each day and are treated to make it safe for bathing in the nearby Thermae Bath Spa. "In Britain are hot springs adorned with sumptuous splendour for the use of mortals. Minerva is patron goddess of these." - Gaius Julius Solinus, 3rd Century AD During the self-paced tour, we also saw silver Roman coins on display. When the coins were excavated from a street in Bath in 2007, they were packed in 8 separate money bags, then joined together. This stock of money consists of 17,577 silver Roman coins spanning from the period from 32BC – 274AD. Though we spent nearly two hours inside The Roman Baths, it was still not enough to go through the numerous exhibits. We took a quick stroll to the city centre, treated ourselves with the famous cornish pasties (like Filipino Empanadas) before we headed to the airport for our flight back to Dublin, Ireland. It was certainly a day well-spent! Get 10% back from your Hotel Booking when clicking this button -> |
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Dates
October 2018
About MeI am a software engineer based in Ireland; a qualified accountant who made a 360-degree career shift to Information Technology during the Y2K era. Joey (my husband) and I have big appetites for travelling, learning new cultures, and a passion for experiencing varied cuisines. Follow us as we chronicle life's little perks! |