Danny has this extra week of Christmas break and Jer has meetings in the U.K. -- I call that kismet!
We popped over on the Chunnel this morning, and I'm sorry, but I never get over thinking "how cool is this?!" when we drive our car, onto a train, and it drives us under the English Channel! After a quick rest stop to grab the loo, some £'s and some coffee we hit the wrong side of the roadway and were off!
Hampton court palace is our first stop. The apartments of Henry VIII are closed for two weeks--downside=they are closed...upside=tickets are half price! And believe me, there is more than enough to see there. And this also provides the perfect excuse to return in the spring when the 700 fruit trees and million bulbs,etc are blooming. A chilly Wednesday the week after Christmas must be the slowest time of year here, we had much of the palace to ourselves, especially at the start of the morning. We began in Henry's kitchens. Mainstay of the diet was meat, which jerry and Danny loved hearing about! They had six enormous fireplaces with multiple spits on them in the roasting room. They are so much meat they got scurvy from lack of fruit and veg! Fun fact we learned; they didn't eat any meat at all during the 40 days of lent and on the other holy days and Fridays of the year, and this was a problem. So they classified geese as fish, because they lived on the water and they classified beaver as fish, because "well, they acted like fish" HILARIOUS! We loved the chapel, with its original ceiling from the 1500's, and charming older docent who wanted to tell us special facts! We also went through the life of young Henry, the Georgian apartments, the various courtyards and the cafe. Nothing says "You Are In England" like Steak pie and mushy peas! We finished up with the maze, a delight with only a couple of other people running through. Settled in to our homestay in Shepards Bush and watched Great Railway Journeys on BBCOne. Life.Is.Good!
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