Yesterday we went to Windsor Castle. Again a lovely day, however a tad warm for doing the tourist trail. I wanted to watch the Changing of the Guard as I have never seen it. I have to say I felt really sorry for the guardsmen as they must have been roasting, the one on the parade ground was stood in full sun. We managed to stand in the shade of one of the buttress on St Georges Chapel, so although we could see we were quite a long way back but it did mean we didn't melt. I really enjoyed it. There were a lot of people watching and despite all the signs asking people to keep off the grass, one idiot thought that it was there so he could have a great view without having to turn up early, he made one mistake he stood straight in front of me, he was videoing the parade, so now he has me, saying very clearly "excuse me, but can you not read the signs, you are not allowed on the grass". Amazing how all the foreign people there managed to read the sign but the English prat thinks he has a whole lawn to himself!.
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| This guy was in full sun |
After watching the parade we did the tour of the Castle, I was quite impressed with what we saw, helped by the very useful audio guide, although the queue for the dolls house was huge so we gave that a miss. We also had a tub of Windsor ice cream, made from the milk of the Windsor Jersey cows (which we saw whilst cruising past the park today).
After the castle we wandered down towards town and found a lovely Greek restaurant where we had a lovely lunch and considering where we were very reasonably priced. A wander around the rest of Windsor and a bit of shopping from M&S saw us heading back to the river for some shade. When we got back we had a mooring fine! We had missing the collection person and they use the equivalent of parking fine envelopes to leave your fine, so I went over to the leisure centre to pay, £8 for 24 hours and a discount in the leisure centre if you want to use the facilities. We spent the rest of the afternoon sat in the shade chatting to Jackie & Lol from NB Caramia with Dave & Angie.
We had debated if we would be able to continue up the island where we were moored to join the main river channel, we thought it would be possible, it looked a bit shallow in places (we have had the stern about 8ft out whilst we have been moored as its shallow at the edge, but there was a sign by the footbridge saying no motorised craft past this point. It would have been awkward to reverse, but as we were about to leave this morning the narrow boat opposite set off. I asked him if he was going out that way and he said he thought he could get out, so we all watched to see if he made it, which he did so when we were ready we followed him, with no problems at all.
Once back on the main river we headed back upstream to use the services before returning to Windsor. We cruised along past Eaton and then through the Windsor Great Park, this bank would make lovely moorings but the Crown says no mooring, I also think we were checked in as we cruised under Victoria Bridge and checked out as we went under Albert bridge as there was security at both ends of the park. Lovely glimpses of the castle as we cruised through the trees.
We didn't travel far today, stopping at Runnymede as I wanted to visit te RAF Memorial. So after lunch we set off, its a bit of a climb but it was through the woods so not too bad. Its well worth the hike up, a very moving memorial for all the RAF pilots of the Commonwealth that were killed in WWII that do not have a war grave. All the names are on the walls around the memorial. There are also some stunning views once you are up there. We could see London, just, through the heat haze and Heathrow and also Dorney Lake, which was where the rowing and kayak events were held during the Olympics. We walked back along the road as its easier on John's knee, conveniently coming out by the pub, where we cooled off with a few pints before returning to Triskaideka. I have managed to wash the other side of the boat this evening, although half way along the side the heavens opened and we had a thunder storm, but I decided to carry on as the rain was quite refreshing, although the respite didn't last long and its very close again this evening.
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| Jackie & Lol |
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| Victoria Bridge |
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| The crest on Albert Bridge |
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| Magna Carta Memorial |
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| RAF Memorial |
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Through the haze!
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5 miles 2 locks
The air forces memorial is a fantastic place, isn't it? I was so glad we ended up there by mistake a couple of years ago. As you say, very atmospheric and stunning views.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is Adam, and it was thanks to you that we knew about it. Some very moving stories around the memorial, left by relatives and friends.
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