Day Five: Windsor Castle for Four & Doctor Who for Two

On Wednesday, our group split up and went different places. 

Chris is a huge Doctor Who fan. He found out there is a Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, so he made plans to take a day trip there with his dad. The rest of us are not Doctor Who fans and decided to pass on this and we went to see Windsor Castle instead. 

So early Wednesday morning, Chris and Pete took a 3 hour train ride on the National Rail across the country to Cardiff. Since he didn't have his official family photographer with him, I only have a few iPhone pictures that he snapped. 

So while they were spending the day being Doctor Who geeks, the rest of us took our own little trip to Windsor. 

We also got to ride the National Rail. It was a little confusing on how to get there, but everyone was so helpful. The only time I got yelled at was when I was trying to get on this train. 

They announced it was boarding and everyone started crowding around the doors to get on like they do on the Underground. So we did the same thing, not knowing any better. Sue and the boys got on, then I got stuck in the crowd of people trying to get off. This one man yelled at me that the train wouldn't leave without me and to wait for them to get off first. He must have said it to me five times while he was squeezing past me. I just kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry". lol! I really didn't mean to make him mad! 

That first train took us about 1/2 way then we had to catch a different train into Windsor. 

I think we finally got to Windsor around 12:30pm. It was a beautiful day. I think this was the best weather we had all week. It actually was warm enough for shorts! 

As we were walking toward the castle, we came across this maze. The boys raced each other to see who could figure it out first and Connor won!

Windsor is really a nice little town with lots of restaurants and shops. 

 And of course this beautiful castle.

We really picked a beautiful day to take this tour. 

 Spencer snapped this picture of Connor and me.

The gardens were beautiful. I still can't believe how perfect the weather was this day. It was sunny and clear all day long.

We went inside and took a tour of the State Apartments and again there were no photos allowed inside. We did find out that the Queen had just been there on Monday and had hosted a luncheon in the dining room. She also attended a service at St. George's Chapel and we got to see the special chair she sits in. Two lucky tourists actually got to sit in her seat! We didn't, but I sure wanted to. :)

This is St. George's Chapel.

 The Queen's mother and father are buried inside the chapel. 

And again you were not suppose to take pictures inside, but I couldn't resist and quietly hit the button on my camera while it was hanging from my neck. I wasn't even sure I got anything, but I did.

Here a few more randoms shots from the castle grounds.

 After we toured the castle, we walked into Windsor and had lunch. We went into a few of the shops and then made our way back to the train station. 

While we riding the train back, I got a text from the London Pass company offering a special rate for a night-time bus tour of London. Since Chris and Pete were going to be late getting back from the Doctor Who Experience, we decided to go get dinner and then take the bus tour. 

We sat on top of a double decker bus for an hour and a half as they took us on a drive around London. It got a little chilly when the sun set, but we all really enjoyed the tour. We wish we had done it earlier in the week because it gave us such a great overview of where places were located. 

It is rather difficult for a novice photographer like me to get good shots at night while riding in a double decker bus. So here are a few of the ones that turned out semi-okay.

Royal Albert Hall

Harrods

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben

The London Eye and Big Ben

The Tower Bridge

This was a very long day. We didn't get back to our hotel until around 11pm that night. I think it was one of my favorite days in London. We got to see so much and the weather was perfect!

Stay tuned for Day Six!

Thanks for visiting me!