Day 9 – Windsor Castle

I woke up at 6:30 to head to the gym today. I had my induction set for 8 am. Since we had only been to the pool, I needed to be shown around the equipment. My instructor set up a gym card so now I have a gym plan. It was funny because I didn’t know my weight. It is the one thing that for some reason I find hard to remember how to convert. And even worse, a lot of people in the UK go by “stones” which is really somewhat foreign to me. However, it did explain why the scale in the house was saying I was around 9. I thought I may have had a radical weight loss or something to be only 9 kilograms. Then I took a shower at the gym and headed home just as everyone was waking up.

By 10, we were off to Windsor Castle – a 30 minute train ride. Scott took the bus for the first time to the Richmond train station where we were able to pick up a direct train to Windsor/Eton. We learned all about the history of the castle and walked around the rooms in the palace part. If the flag is up, the queen is in residence and a flag was flying. However, we did not get to meet the queen (or see her for that fact). There was a room completely dedicated to Prince Philip her husband. (I am still not quite sure why he isn’t King Phillip. I think it may have to do with the fact that he was not born in the UK – similar to President) We got our tickets stamped which allows us to return for up to 12 months which the girls and I may do because the castle has kids activities in August. We also learned about the Order of the Garter, a special group of knights. It was started to mimic the Round Table of King Arthur. Emily wrote about it for one of her “Summer Bingo” squares.

We stopped in the town and had a quick bite to eat. The train station is for Windsor Castle and Eton College – where William and Kate met. There was a lot of stuff about the Royal Wedding in the town. On our walk back to the train, we passed a Pizza Hut – which in an commercial we heard pronounced Pizza Hoout, so now whenever we see a restaurant, we like to say Pizza Hoout. You probably had to hear the commercial to find the humor in it. Then we took the train back to Richmond where we had dinner in a French restaurant. Then back home for bed.