Windsor Castle

Today six of us decided to go to Windsor Castle. That’s the castle where the queen lives on weekends and many of the English monarchs have resided for hundreds of years. It’s a pretty impressive place and full of rich history.

“The original construction, a motte and bailey (an artificial hill with with a fenced area at the top), was built for William the Conqueror around the year 1080. Originally part of a ring of defences around London, Windsor Castle gradually became a popular Royal residence because of the good hunting in the nearby forest. The Round Tower, along with the original outer wall, was erected for King Henry II.

Further improvements and enlargements took place over the centuries until the magnificent castle we see today finally emerged in 1830. A favourite of Queen Victoria, the castle survived for most of the last century with few changes.”

I really like the town of Windsor. People bustle about in the walkways between the quaint shops and restaurants. It somehow has a small-town feel despite most of the people being tourists. The castle lies at the center. It is quite hard to miss as it towers above everything as if saying “I still command this area and all within it.” We wandered into a really pretty Victorian restaurant, and I got fish and chips for the first time since coming to England. It was pretty good. We felt fairly inadequate in the restaurant, however, because we were the only people under the age of 50 in the place. It was a nice meal though.

Eventually we worked our way to the entrance of the castle. I forgot my school ID, so I didn’t get the student discount. Sigh. I suppose my heightened rate was worth it though. It is definitely an amazing castle. Throughout most of the inner rooms we weren’t allowed to take pictures, but there were some amazing rooms with armor and weapons and such. I was very impressed. It is pretty amazing to see the luxury that some people get to live in.

Windsor castle is the Queen’s weekend getaway so the same guards that watch Buckingham Palace are also at the castle. Cody and I managed to get a picture with one of them, but it didn’t turn out all that great because of the sun.

I am pretty tired now. I’m debating just staying here tomorrow and not doing much, but I’ll probably end up going to Bath with a few people. Oh well, it’s not like I’m going to have too many opportunities to do things like this. I’d better take advantage of every opportunity to experience something new.