Wednesday June 28 So after starting the trip with a lot to see, and the hike day, I planned for Wednesday to be a little lighter. We went to St. Paul’s Cathedral at the 10 am opening. I ordered all of our attraction tickets before leaving and it did help with getting in. It seems London is really busy with tourists this summer. We utilized the media devices offered, again this was very informative. Christopher Wren’s masterpiece did not disappoint. It was all jaw dropping, but I found the American Memorial Chapel that honors the US servicemen who died in WWII to be very moving. My kids went all the way up to the upper spire area - I begged off after the first section. They got some incredible pictures up there. I couldn’t believe it’s outside!
We then headed to do the RS City Walk outlined in the guidebook. My history major daughter loved this part of London. Afterward we headed to see some of the stores, taking in Liberty, Selfridges, Harrods. Didn’t buy anything until Harrods…. Where we bought picnic items to take to Hyde Park for dinner.
Thursday June 29. Windsor Castle. We bought our train tickets at Paddington early and thought we got on the right train to head to Slough and our transfer to Windsor. I don’t remember what made me realize we might be on the wrong train, but we were! We bolted off, ran to another platform and fortunately found an employee to double check our ticket, but we made it in the nick of time. Paddington station was very hectic and I think it may benefit us in the future to double check our assigned train at the information desk next time.
We loved Windsor Castle. So beautiful. St. George’s Chapel was probably my favorite place of all. The number of Royal interments there is amazing. I overheard one young British child trying to put together who was who to his mom. It was crazy to think of the amount of history he was trying to understand!
Walking past the King George VI Memorial Chapel and seeing where Queen Elizabeth II is interred was very moving. She was such an incredible woman. There were two employees who kept the visitors moving past the chapel because I think many would linger there to pay their respects longer if they could.
The rest of Windsor Castle was so interesting, too. I am so glad we chose to go. At 11:00 we saw the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Wonderful to watch the these guards and the respect they have for their positions of service. So dignified and proud. If you get a chance to time your visit to see this, take it up. We did not tour the Queen Mary’s Doll’s House- the line was really long. We did go outside and walk the Long Walk for a bit. You can really see the castle well from there.
Afterward we ate at the Dutchess of York restaurant. It was a great place to eat. Good food, good service, nice ambience.
We wanted to check out Eton so we walked across the bridge and walked not quite as far as the college. Eton is a scaled back version of Windsor. Not as touristy, really quiet and quaint.
Headed back to London afterwards- no wrong trains this time! Lol It was a lovely day. Windsor is definitely worth a visiting, we really enjoyed it.