UK Day 4 In Which We Visit Windsor Castle, and Harry and Kate Make an Appearance, and We Love Eel Pie Island

The population of the UK is currently about 67 million and I'm fairly certain all of them were in Windsor with us yesterday.  Following the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle and then the wedding of Princess Eugenie to some very rich banker fellow, Windsor has grown in popularity as a tourist destination. It's always a bit of a shame when somewhere lovely in the UK makes a name for itself in the public realm as it inevitably means that where once were quiet cobble stoned lanes filled with tumbling roses and cats sunning themselves by brightly painted front stoops, now are ghastly tourist shops filled with plastic soldiers, horrible tshirts, and cheap bobble heads of the Queen and, for some reason, Donald Trump. What amazes me even more than the quantity of such shops, is the quantity of people actually purchasing said items. There's no accounting for tastes, I suppose. I did observe one man (from the US) go to great lengths to insist on one particular Queen's Guard bobble head/snow-globe that was located at the far reach of the front window of a tourist shop, knocking over a display of plastic hedgehog bells (that's right, hedgehog bells) and a couple of royal Wedding Commemorative plates along the way. Raj the shopkeeper looked on and quietly cleaned up the mess. I can only imagine what he wanted to say:

Raj: Excuse me, Sir, would you mind not leaving a path of destruction behind you on your quest for the tackiest of tacky gifts for your Trump-supporting mother back home in Wichita?
Gerry from Iowa: Huh? Honey what is he saying I can't understand him. Can you hold this hedgehog-be...of forget it, I'll just knock them all over instead.
Raj: I'm so sorry, my good Sir, but I must ask you to take the utmost of care whilst you...
Gerry (knocking over 5 plates and twelve mugs) There's no room in this country! Honey can you understand like, anything he is saying? Do they even speak English here? Tell him I want that one in the corner (turns to Raj and speaks slowly) I WANT THAT ONE IN THE CORNER, THE BLUE AND RED ONE.
Raj: Yes, yes, my Finest of Gentlemen, I do so understand your desire for that particular item but would you mind not...(Gerry knocks over 8 thimbles and 4 spoons)
Raj: ...not knocking over every single thing in the window you idiot of the highest order!
Gerry: (takes out the display of hedgehog bells) I GOT IT!
Raj: Excellent news! Now would you mind fucking off and never coming here again ever?
Gerry: Waddid he say, Honey? HERE'S FIFTY POUNDS THAT OUTTA BE ENOUGH.  Ok Honey let's go play mini-golf.
Raj (waving): Go fuck yourself my good man!

And so it was that I found Windsor to be both charming and tacky, historical and hysterical, lovely and awful all at the same time.

We did take the time to tour the castle, which was lovely. There isn't a blade of grass out of place here so I was happy to see this window. I hadn't realized the Queen was a Star Wars fan. Nice.

In this picture, my mum is explaining to Travis how castles work...
One isn't allowed one's camera in the State Apartments in case one reveals military secrets inadvertently on one's blog so there aren't any pictures but it was suitably magnificent.
Her Majesty was arriving that afternoon so all her minions were busy putting stray flowers back in line and having a quiet word with the bees about only buzzing in certain areas of the garden.

 Henry the VIII, who I may have mentioned before, rebuilt part of the castle during his reign and as befits a man of his stature, it is the short, fat part of the castle...but it's still lovely.
Zoe and Georgia did not accompany us to Windsor as they were wreaking havoc in London with a couple of Zoe's friends who live here in the UK, so we had a slightly less silly day than usual, but only slightly...

Will was busy and Meghan is on mat leave so it was only Harry and Kate in attendance today...

It was lovely to come back to our place on Eel Pie Island in the town of Twickenham in the evening. A tiny little pedestrian-only island in the Thames, Eel Pie Island has had a long and storied history that reaches back through the centuries with an alleged beginning as home to a monastery,  then one of Henry VIII's haunts (he was said to have housed a mistress here), and more recently renowned as home to the Eel Pie Island Hotel which served the region's famous eel pies. In the 1960s, the hotel's jazz club became a hot spot for jazz and rock bands with the likes of the Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Who, Pink Floyd and Genesis playing here. Unfortunate;y the owner was a better partier than businessman and eventually the place fell into disrepair and was closed and finally burnt down in the late 60s. In its heyday, Eel Pie Island was said to be the birthplace of the 60s. The island is now home to about 100 residents and their various art studios. It's very quaint and we have loved staying here.

 The view of the Thames from the footbridge. Twickenham Rowing Club lives here and is one of the oldest rowing clubs in Britain.

Our cottage, Ripple.

More bunting. I think this country would fall apart if everyone took down their bunting at once.

We finished off the day with a delicious curry at the local tandoori restaurant in Church Lane here in Twickenham. There seems to always be a party going on here and everyone was in great spirits, including us.
Just have a couple more days here  and then we are heading up north where I hope the wifi is a little better...
Thanks for hanging around,
Jane