Windsor Castle

I have to admit, this was one of my fave days out of all the touring we did, mainly because it's a place Brian and I hadn't been to yet, and the weather was really great and it was such a British experience. After a long day in London on Friday, we still had to get up and get going Saturday morning to fit in all that we wanted to see at Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle is West of London, so we didn't have to travel all the way back into the city, which was nice. We did however still travel via train again from the Oxford station, but we left even earlier than Friday, so was able to find seats this time.

Windsor Castle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Castle is one of the main residences of the Queen of England. When she's in residence, just like when she's in residence at Buckingham Palace, they will raise the Royal flag on top of the castle or palace. When she's not in residence, they fly the Union Jack flag. She's wasn't home when we were there, but we experienced the Changing of the Guard, and I tell you what, it was awesome! I highly recommend watching the Changing of the Guard at Windsor Castle instead of Buckingham Palace for many reasons. The main one is you are much closer to the guards to see everything and there are not as many people there to watch. It still gets busy, but we arrived about 20-30 minutes before the change at 11 a.m. and it was really fantastic.

From the very start of the first guard troop getting ready, until they changed with another guard troop, it lasted about 45 minutes. They do quite a processional, with a marching band, lots of military drills and important looking stuff. It seems like they are putting on a show for the audience, but we're reminded that it's their proper way to change the guards, and it's for the queen of course. What surprised me is that when both of the guard troops are in the center area, and the band is off to the side, they wait and have the band play a couple of songs. And they played the theme song to James Bond 007! Pretty fun.













Basically when we arrived to the Castle in the a.m., we went straight to watch the changing of the guard. Afterwards, we then toured the inside of the castle and the royal state apartments. These apartments are mainly large lavish rooms where the Queen entertains dignitaries and guests for special events. There is a whole private wing where she lives, but obviously we can't tour that area. The Castle was built as a fortress by William the Conquerer in the 1100s and is the largest occupied castle in the world and oldest in continuous occupation. It's beautiful and amazing, and was a really great place to visit.



After the castle tour, Mom, Brian and I took off for quick tour on foot of the town of Windsor and popped in some shops. Met up with Dad and Charlie at the pub before we headed back home for dinner via the train. Had another BBQ dinner at the flat and then played some friendly family poker for the evening's entertainment!