Windsor and Eton

There are a lot of red coats in this post. This is because tourists cannot take pictures inside any buildings at Windsor Castle or St. George's Chapel and the only thing left to take pictures of - besides the outside of the buildings - is soldiers. I must say that everything was gorgeous inside and that it's worth the money to pay a visit to the Queen's weekend getaway. 

The only reason Windsor Castle is open to the public is because it caught on fire. That's right. In 1992, large parts of the property were burned. Because it wasn't insured (doh!), there was a big debate in the country as to who should pay for the restoration. Technically, the government paid for its upkeep, but the press wanted the Queen to pay for the damages out of her own income. It turns out she couldn't afford to fix it, so she opened most of the property to the public, and the ticket sales paid for it. Good thinking. 

We got there right when it opened, along with 2,347,884,057q98479adfug7 Chinese middle schoolers.

A free audio tour came with our entrance fees, and we learned a lot from it!

The castle keep and surrounding gardens

We were so blessed to have gorgeous weather.

One of the features was a room with 60 photos of the Queen over the years to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, 60 years on the throne. The pictures above and below were my favorite.

I can imagine her having said something like, "Straighten up, you dummy!" Oh wait, that would have been Nathan's grandpa, nick-named Grumpa.

Soldiers marching toward the changing of the guard

A Yankee Doodle-like tune... but not.

A very nice man offered to take our picture, but he cut off our feet.

This reminds me of this (it's toward the bottom of the post).

He's looking at me. That's not allowed.

This is in Eton, where all the poshest of posh boys go to school. It's a paradox, Eton. And that's all I'll say about it for now. 

Eton College. Check out some famous alumni, including Princes William and Harry, on the Wikipedia page here.

I thought the man spitting into the pipe looked quite modern.

The chapel is covered by this massive tree. Sorry.

This is the bridge between Eton and Windsor. So beautiful!

Next stop... the Isle of Wight to meet up with Sam and Jen!