Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace, Monday 3/6. [photo: Hampton Court, main entrance.] Another sunny morning! We took the tube to Waterloo and then National Rail to Hampton Court, about a 35 minute trip. They gave us a 2-for-1 deal on admission because we took the train, and since the train trip cost 4 pounds and each admission cost 12 pounds, we felt we were being treated like kings.

Hampton Court is the most beautiful of the royal palaces, and it has been restored to original quality. It was built by Cardinal Wolsey, but when he fell from favor Henry VIII nicked it from him. Subsequent kings up to George II lived there, many adding to it. Henry VIII’s grand hall is amazing, with its all-wood roof. William of Orange’s apartments are the most impressive, including a guard-room with hundreds of rifles, bayonets and swords arranged on the walls. Everywhere were Flemish gold-and-silver threaded tapestries, each worth a king’s ransom. The kitchen tour is most illuminating; on our day there were many school groups being entertained by costumed guides trying to light the kitchen fire with flints. Unfortunately, as in most attractions here, no photography indoors, so you’ll have to visit it yourself.

It’s not a good time for the gardens (the roses are bare and much of the statuary is wrapped up), but we did see the bulbs (crocus, daffodil, snowdrop) coming up through the lawns. The huge evergreens have been sculpted into broad mushroom-like cones. Lawns cover 90% of the grounds. There’s a maze that took us a while to solve.

From Easter to October you can take a river cruise from Hampton Court to London, but we were too early. So, as the clouds rolled in and a few drops of rain fell, we hustled back to the train station and commuted in. On the way home we stopped at a Tesco (the UK version of WalMart) and bought the necessaries. Then it was another relaxing evening admiring our view and watching a BBC mystery. Castles and murder with tea.