29 July 2023, Saturday
We spent the day at Hampton Court Palace, enjoying Tudor history and Georgian splendor. We did an in-depth tour of the Tudor rooms, where Henry VIII kept court for the first half of the 16th century. The Baroque rooms were designed by Sir Christopher Wren and added with expansive gardens in the late 17th century. Queen Victoria opened the estate to the public in 1838. It is still considered a royal palace but the Royal Family does not use it regularly as in the past. Now we tourists can enjoy it instead!
In front of the main gate
The Tudor Great Hall
Carved hammer beam ceiling, with carved
faces of courtiers "always watching"
An actor performing a brief scripted Elizabethan play
King and Queen
Playing Fox and Geese in the Great Watching Chamber
The Anne Boleyn Gate in the Clock Court
Fountain Court in the newer Georgian structure
Great Fountain Garden
The Long Water
The Privy Garden
The Pond Gardens, with the Tudor and Baroque sections in view
The Great Hall and Anne Boleyn Gate
In one of the rooms of the Great Kitchen,
equipped to feed 400 Tudor guests
In the kitchen garden with the palace in the background
View of the Great Hall from the kitchen garden
Wow, that's great that you have access to all the palace has to offer. Take me there next time!
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