The Queen and I

To allow for some much needed sleeping in time, we opted out of the Bath excursion and go to Winsor Castle, home of the Queen herself! Winsor is a great little town, topping the English country side, most the surrounding area is dedicated to tourism and unique shopping. The castle was originally a fortress and later converted into a palace for her majesty...well be for her, but anyway. So with Prince Charles reverberating in our ears, we circled the turret in the middle, and around where the original moat floated is a beautiful garden of Maple and flowers. The castle overlooks a gorgeous green valley lush with trees and vines growing everywhere! We entered the castle where their was a doll house, given to the queen as a gift. It’s complete with a tiny set of crown jewels, vacuum, and chandeliers. They also had a set of dolls with beautiful clothes and accessories, some replicating the Queens wardrobe. Next, we entered a room with fabulous displays of armor, swords, and guns in a sun burst pattern. Next into the grand entry, done in champagne and golds with vibrant deep wine pink. It was stunning and as grand as you would expect a palace to be. Then a grand hall with wood beamed ceilings with coat of arms on the ceilings, some of which were white-out, which meant that they were traitors to the crown. This section of the building had been in a fire and was rebuilt so it had fresh look, but restored as close as possible. Next were beautiful ball rooms, sitting rooms and solons, all adorned with exquisite textiles and furnishings. Giant murals of the royal family adorning the walls, which I loved to see people that I had really heard of in History, I’ve always found the Royal family fascinating and to see Queen Elizabeth in her coronation gown, alongside, Queen Mary, Queen Victoria, etc. See family portraits which included a young Prince Charles, so fantastic. The whole experience was amazing, this would be what I consider my first castle and it was magnificent.
Back to London…and off to Hyde Park for Peter Pan…I was really excited, with some choose your own gummies we headed into the large white tent, our seat were behind a bit so we moved into the middle more. Most of the set was images projected on the side of the tent, so when they would fly it looked like they were soaring over London. The images reminded me of CAD Max stuff! It was hilarious! Peter Pan and Hook were good, but the tinker bell was this random Russian 4’ nothing skater chick…weird. My favorite was the costume for the Crocodile, controlled by two men inside, the scales were made from wooden coat hangers and sheets of torn fabric. All in all, not my favorite play, after seeing the magnificent broadway, this play lacked the music! It was cute though with kids in the audience when they said ring your bells, and they all did. Behind me was a cute little boy that reminded me of my nephew Thayne, trying to be all cool, but still not wanting to be responsible for killing a fairy-saying in his adorable English accent, I believe in fairies! Oh my cute! After it was off to Piccadilly Circus which is the Time Square of London, the neon billboards on the side of the buildings, massive amounts of people! We headed to meet some friends at Planet Hollywood…had some grub…not favorite! But the restaurant was really cool, super sleek and modern. Accents of silver chrome and bold neons, really set the excitement! A quick run to the tube, we were afraid it might close, which I didn’t know Metros closed and off to bed after another fun filled day here in England!