The interior rivals
Versailles. I’ll do my best to describe
it to you:
With its gold studding
ceilings, crimson furniture, impressive oil paintings from the 16th
century forward, and the lush surrounding gardens, I truly felt like I was a
guest awaiting the presence of Her Majesty the Queen of England. We walked through the royal chambers of the
King and Queen, including the Queen’s own private apartments (where she receives
and entertains her guests). We also
strolled through the impressive Waterloo Hall, commemorated in honour of the
battle at Waterloo. The enormous hall is
filled with grand paintings of imposing war heroes, famous earls, dukes, and
kings. The paintings are literally
larger than life. It’s almost impossible
for me to describe their incredible beauty.
My favourite room is
the Crimson Room, which is decorated in all crimson and gold. The room faces out towards the royal garden,
a splendid view and a favourite of the queen’s, I’m sure. My second favourite room features wild and
exotic gifts of weaponry and other royal tokens from places like China, India,
and the like. There’s an impressive
array of swords, sabres, guns, and spears.
A fierce looking gold tiger head studded with jewels sits in the centre
of the collection. It’s from the throne
room of an Indian prince, apparently. It
was very, very cool to see these treasures that were all given to the royal
family on behalf of the different countries.
Another room showcases
weaponry from the British Royal Navy and other armed forces. Busts of great war heroes and commanders (Sir
Winston Churchill, his ancestor Sir John Churchill, and others) surround the
display of guns and swords, as if to keep watch and stand guard over the
country’s impressive military history.
Did you know that the
Queen collects dolls and has a doll-sized replica of her castle for her
dolls? It is absolutely adorable – as if
that needs to be affirmed!
The castle is home to many,
many beautiful original paintings from as early as the fifteenth century. It’s quite remarkable to gaze on these
enormous, lifelike portraits of kings, queens, and other royalty. History seems to come alive right before your eyes! Specifically, I was struck by a painting of
King Henry VIII. I’ve never been so
stunned by a portrait. What an imposing
figure! He was rough, bold, and very
large. His furrowed brow and firm
features are preserved in the portrait.
It’s a wonderful piece of art history.
We also saw Henry VIII’s armour… The guy was pretty huge.
Some parts of the
castle were destroyed in a fire that occurred in 1994 (I think… it may have
been 1992). For this reason, a few rooms
have been renovated and repaired to replicate what they once were. For example, the Octagon Room, which is
inside a tower, was renovated because the original tower was burned to the
ground. Miraculously, the beautiful gold
chandelier survived the fire and hangs in the new Octagon Room today.
After walking into the
Queen’s reception room, I was literally speechless. The ceiling, the walls, every square inch of
space is covered with original paintings by a famous artist whose name escapes
me. It’s just gorgeous. Most ceiling paintings from the period have
faded badly and need touching up by modern painters; however, this room has miraculously
survived hundreds of years and it has been preserved. WOW. I
wish I could find the words to describe its beauty perfectly. It’s a heavenly scene: the gods are feasting
at a long, golden table at their kingdom in the clouds. Cherubs float around their heads, each
holding the Queen’s coat of arms (I don’t remember which queen’s coat of arms
it is…). Each god sips fine wine from a
golden goblet. On the surrounding
panels, pheasant, turkey, goose, chicken, fruit, vegetables, and just about any
other food you can imagine are painted. The scene is extravagant. Overall, the painting makes you stand back in
awe… it also makes you very hungry. :]
The walls surrounding
the castle are from the medieval period, so some parts are being renovated to
reinforce them. We stopped to take the
classic touristy pictures with the guards from the front of the castle. Poor guys!
They must hate tourists like us!
Haha! Here are some pictures:
After Windsor, we
looked in a few of the tourist shops around historic Windsor. I paid entirely too much money for a caramel latte
that didn’t even vaguely taste like a caramel latte. This isn’t the first time this has happened
to me. You’d think I’d get the hint by
now… the English should just stick to tea. ;]
Anyway, by this point
it was raining pretty hard and we still had to visit Runnymede. I’m almost positive I will be getting a cold
from our brief hike through the grounds.
I was soaked by the end! We
walked around for about thirty minutes.
It was fascinating to see the different monuments, but the weather was
perfectly miserable.
So it rains a lot in England
Wet. So very wet.
Crazy cobblestone laid by hand
The walk up the hill to the JFK memorial
... said JFK memorial
That’s all for now!
– K
