Henry's Shack

Sorry. I've been away for a few days. I brought home a little something from London besides Guides and Souvenirs. I brought back strep throat. And then the antibiotic I was taking to inhibit it, inhibited me with a grand case of nausea which rendered me a porcelain princess for several days.

So, where were we in London's environs?  Just so you know, I'm getting confused on when I did things. I've already written about Peter and Alice, the play we saw, but that was actually a day later than the events of this entry.  Oh well. I've been sick. Too exhausted to regroup.

Heather and I were off to Hampton Court. From something around 1509 to 1547, it was one of the hunting, jousting, resting after jousting residences of the Tudors. Later it would see other kings and queens, including William and Mary who began to rebuild something in a Georgian style but ran out of money, and then frankly their lives, so it would not be completed. There are therefore two distinct styles in one large palace. Oh, dear, my very first palace!  Stepping into history in a big way, with the Thames still nearby. It's about a hour or two drive from London proper. We took the metro to Richmond, and then a bus the rest of the way.

So, first cool thing, for you New Yorkers.

 This is Kew Gardens. Nope. Not the one in Queens, New York, of the same name, but the one in the outskirts of London. I loved this.  I loved the commonality.  But this is clearly the "Underground" of London by virtue of the sign's logo. Now, then, "Mind the Gap."  Those of you who have been in the area, know what that means!

Once off the bus at the entry way of the lavish Hampton Court, I could see why it was so prized an environment, by the kinds of old and in the 20th century by the folks who had apartments there, usually relations of royalty.

In an even grander way than the many parks I had already seen in London, this was bucolic, peaceful, a place where deep breaths could be taken and nature absorbed fully. And then there was the grand courtyard and the gravel on which my feet crunched, where princes and kings and queens paced and pranced.

 

 

That clock, that's not a recent creation, and it's based on the idea that the sun circles the earth, not the other way around. Cool, huh? 

 

 

Turrets, lots of Turrets

 

Prisoner of Zenda anywhere to be seen?

 

This ISN'T the real Henry, but a facsimile backed by another young fake royal. They were running around the castle talking about some unwanted visitor, like Jane Seymour or something. And the king was looking to marry Cathryn Parr,

 



 

This coat of arms was outside the castle and if I read it right had been obscured by Henry as it is the coat of arms for Cardinal Wolsey, he who fell very far from Grace, and his grace (meaning the king's). Because it had initially been built for Wolsey, not big on humility nor apparently did he take the remotest vow of poverty, there is a cloister and church size chapel within.  The chapel was one of the spaces in which we were not allowed to take photographs, and frankly it was one of those places where one was most tempted to do just that. Indeed it was here that Edward, Henry's son by one of his wives was baptized; here he married his last wife who outlived him (lucky girl). As in all ancient places, there have been many changes over the years; for example, what had once been a great stained glass window was covered over by heavy wood, just as impressive for my speculative money. But parts of the original ceiling, under which these separated (by Henry's self deluded hand) prayed, remain. The essence remains.

No movie nor created set (as much as I realize some things were recreated here), could possibly compete with this real thing.

Trivia:  Did you know that there was a really great job back in those royal flush days?  He was the Groom of the Stool.  Guess what that was. And it really got you about as close to a king as one could ever imagine.

We are not talking about furniture here. Well, we sort of are. They did show us a 17th century chamber pot, which was like this plush chair with a hole over the pot.   So, getting a sense of what the Groom did? 

So, after halls and paintings and stained glass,

 

 

I was in the "back yard",  mostly created from hunting land into the gardens for walking and whispering state secrets, in the 18th century. If the inside was exceptional, the outside was a marvel.

 

And I got to take a ride around the entire perimeter thanks to a couple of Clydesdale's.

 

Heather had the idea of our taking a boat back to London, on the Thames. As you can see the weather was getting pristine. And for the English after a most rainy winter, this day was like unto summer for them. As we rode back up to London proper for a three hour trip (and it really ended up that way, no Gilligan Island wash ups) in a boat that had in fact been one of the evacuating vehicles at Dunkirk, it was a little cool, but I felt a sense of utter joy at having finally made a trip to Europe after 22 years. People lined the edges of the water, picnicking, or eating at the many built up, umbrellas nearly glistening in the sun. In places the Thames was wide and calm; in other places, wild and narrow, or vice verse. There were even a couple of locks, something I had never experienced in my life.

 

There was the Teddington Lock, and the Richmond Lock. I actually forget which one this is. Kids and their parents watched as the water level dropped along with the boat. At this point, we were completely surrounded by the lock walls, feet, before the gates were opened and we could proceed.

 

And then we were back approaching Westminster. 

 

 

 

Oh, Britannia, I was falling in love with you. And I am currently reading the history of the Tudrs. Quite the fractured family who fractured history.