London, England (Take 6!) - Day 3

 It's been more than 20 years since I've been to Windsor Castle, so I thought it was time to go back!  Unfortunately, the semi-state rooms and Queen Mary's Dollhouse were both closed.  But at LEAST St. George's Chapel was open, which I hadn't seen previously so I was THRILLED about that, since it's the final resting place of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away last month on September 8.

MIND THE GAP!!

These lovely ladies were ready to hit up Windsor Castle!  We took the fast train out to Slough where we switched to the local to Windsor.  There were some LEGIT bullet trains going through Slough and we thought this was super funny for some reason. They were FAST.

The good thing about a visit to Windsor Castle is that the train station drops you off RIGHT at the castle, which of course is the LONGEST occupied palace in all of Europe, having been built after 1070 by William the Conqueror. The clock you see up on the Curfew Tower is from 1689, but the walls here are from the 1200s.

The town of Windsor is a super cute little town. It gives you all the feels.

Awww.  This makes me sad. Think whatever you want about the royal family, but the idea that these two humans were recently on this earth and now they are not is always sad to me.  This is an Annie Leibovitz photograph from 2016 (when the Queen turned 90). This large photograph is pictured in the entrance room where you purchase/scan your tickets.

To the castle, this way!

We spotted the State Apartments not far from where we entered the castle grounds.  This is the north side of the "Quad" (what is this, Auburn University??) and here you can see St. George's Hall, which was originally constructed by Edward III in the 1300s.  Charles II and George III (of Mad King George fame) and George IV all added to it over the years. And that's actually a statue of Charles II on the left there.

The Round Tower is one of the most recognized parts of the castle - the original tower on this site was from the 12th century, however this was built up around the 1830s.

   One of the weirdest things about Windsor Castle is the fact that it's so close to Heathrow Airport.  Can you imagine what William the Conqueror would have thought about seeing airplanes like this?? 

The Edward III tower was built sometime between 1350 and 1371.  Edward III was actually born at Windsor Castle, and he was probably one of the most influential in it's expansion, having built this tower, the State Apartments and St. George's Chapel among other things.

We loved these little adorable crowns on top of the lights at the gate near the Edward III tower!

Julie actually remembered to bring her tiaras and they were a huge hit!  The staff at the castle thought they were hilarious!

I forgot mine, and I'm still kicking myself over it.  But Julie let us borrow hers so Bay and I could look equally amazing and regal.

This area in front of the Round Tower is actually a moat that once surrounded it.  This feature is actually one of the originals that the Normans built in the late 11th century.  Henry II rebuilt the original keep around 1180, but the mote is now just a beautiful garden!

I mean, isn't that lovely - all the greenery growing in the moat!?

Here we are on the other side of the moat, facing the Edward III tower.

Fun fact about Windsor Castle:  There are 400 clocks here, and there's one guy in charge of making sure all of those clocks are in good, working order!  There are also 300 fireplaces!

It's definitely fall here in England - and the changing leaves make the Round Tower look even cooler!

The State Apartments are here on the left, and the private apartments are directly ahead in the background.

We only got to visit the State Apartments when we were at Windsor Castle because Queen Mary's Dollhouse and the Semi-State rooms were closed. BUT... as I mentioned before, we were able to visit St. George's Chapel, which was a highlight for me since it was closed the last time I was here. And of course, the State Apartments never disappoint!  You get to visit the ceremonial and the historic rooms - the room in the picture above is the King's Drawing Room, and the walls have several large Rubens paintings, as well as some Van Dyck.

I really liked the Garter Throne room, which is where Queen Elizabeth used to hold the investiture for newly appointed Knights and Ladies of the Garter.  The portrait of the late Queen on the left was done by James Gunn, and she is wearing the collar and badge of the Order of the Garter.  Interestingly, when she sat for this painting in 1953, she was not wearing the Royal Diadem (the tiara)!  She and the artist decided later that it should be added!

You might recall Harry and Meghan first showed the world baby Archie in St. George's Hall.  This particular room was destroyed in the November 1997 fire. The fire started in Queen Victoria's private chapel when a construction spotlight got too close to a curtain, which ignited and sparked the fire.  When the chapel was renovated, it was transformed into the new Lantern Lobby.  It's basically a little room between St. George's Hall (above) and the Semi-State apartments.  It's actually a cool room now, with a little memorial to the exact spot that the fire started.  The room is filled with flasks, tankards, chalices, flagons, jugs and other various drinking vessels.

This place REALLY burned during the Great Fire.  Nine staterooms (plus over 100 other rooms) were destroyed.  

I'm glad they brought back that gilded ceiling!

I just wanted you to get a glimpse of this room (the Grand Reception Room) because it's really something else!  

I wish I had been able to take a picture of the Waterloo Chamber because it was very impressive - particularly the ceiling (you know I love a good ceiling!)  I took this picture of the Waterloo Chamber off of the Windsor Castle website but it doesn't really do it justice.  The Duke of Wellington beat Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, so the Monarch had a room dedicated to him. Directly from the Windsor Castle website: "The Indian carpet, woven by the inmates of the Agra prison for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1894, is thought to be the largest seamless carpet in existence."  Now that's a cool superlative if it's true, but you may remember the Sheikh Zayed mosque has a carpet that is much larger (although I do not believe that is seamless as it comes in many very large parts.)

We finished up the tour, bought some goodies at the gift shop, and headed out to get in line to see St. George's Chapel!  

MANY famous royals are buried here at St. George's Chapel, and there have been many famous weddings and baptisms here.

Members of the royal family had historically been buried at Westminster Abbey, but that changed when Victoria had her husband Albert buried at Frogmore Cottage (just down the road, also on the Windsor Castle property).  Since then, many royals have been buried here at St. George's or in the Frogmore Mausoleum.

Thanks for letting me borrow your tiara, Julie!  There have been many weddings here (including the more recent wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) but the first one of substance was the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward who married Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The Prince of Wales would, of course, go on to become King Edward VII. Other notable weddings at St. George's include the wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie of Wessex (Queen Elizabeth's youngest son) in 1999, and Prince Andrew's daughter Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank who married there in 2018.

Looking back into the Lower Ward toward the Round Tower from the entrance to St. George's Chapel.  You also cannot take pictures in the Chapel, but we were able to see MANY notable graves, including those of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip.

 There are two aisles that run parallel to the quire (the center aisle, so to speak) and many of the royal vaults are in this area.  George V and his wife Mary (Queen Elizabeth's grandparents) are buried on the other end of the chapel.  Queen Elizabeth, Philip, George VI, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret are all buried where it says "George VI."  In the area where it says "Ledger over Royal Vault" they have a memorial on the floor that states the remains of Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and Charles I are buried beneath.  Other notable burials include Edward IV and his wife Elizabeth (they lived in the late 1400s), Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, Henry VI, George III and Queen Charlotte, William IV and Queen Adelaide among MANY others.  

This guy definitely hates his job when weirdos like me wearing a tiara do things like this.

Whew, if heavy is the head that wears the crown, then hungry are the ladies who wore tiaras all day!

We popped into the Duchess of Cambridge for some fish and chips while laughing at this picture of King Charles III enjoying a pint of beer!

Awww. We saw this at the Windsor train station where we headed after lunch. I like this picture because of the reflection of the train station (mind the gap!)

After the long train back to London, we headed out to search for a place to have a drink in Chinatown before we had to get ready to go to the Skid Row concert!  This beautiful gate was "opened" in 2016 and is in the style of the Qing Dynasty.

It's a very busy and beautiful little area!

We went back to the hotel to freshen up before heading out to Kentish Town to grab dinner at the Bull and Gate ahead of the show at the O2 Forum.  We totally met this kid (I think he was 19?) smoking outside of the bar who was SO EXCITED about the Skid Row show.  We didn't even tell him we were with the band!

Guest tickets, please.

We went upstairs to the Skid Row dressing room and I stole someone's beer.  Well, it was handed to me... I'm not going to be rude and say no! I like this picture of my bestie and her hubby having a little preshow chat.

Enuff Z'Nuff opened up for Skid Row, so we ran downstairs to try to catch a bit of the show from the side of the stage. It was funny because people in the audience noticed us and were pointing. I'm literally no one important, just a mom of two here with my best friend!

They were super fun and Chip Z'Nuff is a literal national treasure.

I found this series of pictures on my phone taken as we went up and down the O2 Forum stairway and I could NOT stop laughing.  I saved ALL of them. Beer bottle in my hand and stairs.

Skid Row VIP pant sticker. 

We ran downstairs at one point to catch some fresh air outside, and there was a bathroom right near the back door entrance.  When I went inside, it had a full shower! So weird ha ha.

Finally we made our way out into the general admission area so we could get drinks and stop stealing the bands beverages. It was packed!

But then we had to go back upstairs, but not before snapping this cute pic of Julie and Jen in front of the Skid Row tour poster!  Back upstairs, we met up with some Swedish friends of the new singer, Erik Grönwall who were hilarious.  More on them in a bit.

Finally the show started and we went upstairs to the booths (we are all too old for crowds like this plus... ewww, germs) where we had a great view of the show!  

 

I love how Scottie's hair is flipping back here!

I feel like I only want to see Skid Row shows up here from now on. SO GOOD!

They released a new album in October (just a few weeks before this concert) called The Gang's All Here which featured Erik for the first time on lead vocals. 

Great band, great lighting, terrible iPhone.

Cheers, ladies! Here's to another great show!

Skid Row, rock royalty. (See what I did there?? Purple is the color of royalty! OK, stop rolling your eyes now because I'm trying to bring this day full circle!)

They were filming this concert, so we really got all the bells and whistles, including giant balloons falling from the ceiling!  The crowd had a fun time with those!

Our hilarious new Swedish friends joined us upstairs!  They are very tall ha ha.

After the show, we went back to the dressing room for the post party.  (Well, we always give them some decompression time before we do that!) Jen's daughter thinks Erik is pretty sweet (ladies, don't even think about it, he's married!) so she got a cute picture with him.  His story is really cool - he was actually the winner of Swedish Idol (you know, the Swedish version of American Idol) and he auditioned by singing 18 and Life by Skid Row!  He's also actually a very recent leukemia survivor.  He has got MAJOR stage presence - I couldn't believe how much energy this show had!  This picture is just so funny - his friend photobombing behind him!

Gotta grab a cute little family picture of the Hammersmiths!

NO WE ABSOLUTELY DID NOT STEAL A BOTTLE OF VEUVE FROM THE SKID ROW DRESSING ROOM!!!

VIVA LA SKID ROW!

London, England (Take 6!) - Day 2

Our second day in London took us south of the Thames, and we explored the neighborhood around Shakespeare's Globe before heading back north to explore some of the oldest pubs in London.

I'm still kicking myself for this, but I completely forgot my good camera on this particular day!  PERHAPS because of the wicked bartender from the night before?  So all of these pictures are either taken on my iPhone or on Kristin, Julie or Jen's phones!

We started off the day by taking the tube to Mansion House and walking across the Southwark Bridge.  You can see Bankside and Shakespeare's (new) Globe theater in the center and on the left.

Look out, London.  The Skid Row ladies are on the move! 

Me and my bestie-cousin-roomie on the Southwark Bridge. 

The sassy queens (and I literally mean this... we had tiaras) were rocking the Southwark Bridge.

Our first and very brief stop was the original site of Shakespeare's Globe Theater! WHAT? How cool!  Every time I'm in London, I try to see something I haven't seen before and this was certainly something!  What you see here is the projected outer wall of the theater.

Here is a good map of what we are looking at.  The picture above this one is in the bottom left side of this map.

Do you see some cobblestones in the center of the picture (and beyond) that are slightly different colored?  That's on purpose.  That's the exact location of where they found the archeological remains of the original Globe Theater.  They found all of this in 1989.  As they say on the sign, "The remains lie approximately two meters below the present ground surface and are protected by a specially designed preservation system. The materials used will allow natural movement of groundwater (which protects the remains) and will prevent any contamination from ground level. The system is designed to preserve this part of this internationally important site."

Oh London, you are so funny.  Not far from the Globe, but on our way toward Winchester Palace, we spotted this. 

On our way to Winchester Palace, we decided to stop at the Clink Prison Museum.  The Clink is the MOST notorious medieval prison in all of London!  It was open between 1144-1780. Phew.

This was a really fun little museum and as you can see, wasn't super expensive.

You are entering the original site of the Clink, the prison that gave it's name to all others.

Outside of the payment spot is a sign that reads, "Ring for jailer."  Bay REALLY just wanted to ring this bell.  So she told the guy at the desk that she was going to ring it, but maybe he didn't believe her?  She was definitely testing him!  Of course, she eventually rang the bell (like she's doing here) while never breaking eye contact!

This way to the gaol!  

These mannequins were... something!  Is this supposed to be Joe Biden!?  Or maybe Christopher Walken?! I kid! He was Henry of Blois, a bishop of Winchester, brother of King Stephen and a grandson of William the Conqueror.  Apparently, as a son/brother of a king, he was named Bishop of Winchester and got to build himself a palace!

This is so cool!  Remains of the Clink Prison wall for 100 years (from 1680 to 1780!)

There is a decent sized room that shows plenty of examples of the torture devices used at the prison throughout the years.  You know... like the boot and chastity belts and stuff! In this case, they're giving examples of the branding they would put on their foreheads before displaying their heads on pikes.  V was for vagabond (uh oh, would I be put to death for being a vagabond???) and M was for malefactor (or wrongdoer), etc.

The fake blood was a nice touch on the chopping block. 

Julie was mouthing off about King Charles again so they threw her in the Clink!

YES! Superlative, check!!!

Literally adjacent to the Clink was the very old remains of Winchester Palace.  The incredibly still intact Rose Window on the western wall of the Great Hall is likely from the 14th century, although a Great Hall of this Palace has been here in some form since the days of the Bishop Henry of Blois. So... 1100s.

Interestingly, this was once one of the largest and most important buildings in all of London.  What you see above (that appear to be small windows) were actually the doors to the pantry, buttery and kitchen. There were two courtyards in the palace with many buildings surrounding them, such as a butchery, a brewery and of course... a prison!

We made our way over to the Old Thameside Inn where we had a couple of cocktails and a snack, and although the site is historic for being a former spice market that dates back to the 1500s, I did not manage to take a single picture when we were there! I don't think any of us did! After our break, we walked back along Bankside on the Thames and saw the NEW Globe Theater. It's only been around since 1997, but they had to fight like crazy for the thatched roof that you see above because there are STRICT laws against thatch roofs ever since the great fire of 1666!

As we kept walking along the Thames, we could see the beautiful St. Paul's Cathedral across the river!  And a bunch of cranes. Are there ever NOT any cranes in London??

Ahhh. I never miss an opportunity to see one of my favorite churches in ALL of the world!

But of course, you cannot take pictures in St. Paul's on Sundays during any services, unfortunately. So this is all you can get.  They were having an organ concert while we were in there which was really lovely. It wasn't an official service (as in... not a mass) but it was official enough to have the "no photography" signs up.

Well in that case, we should probably hit up another pub.

The next stop was YE OLDE CHESHIRE CHEESE, which I think is my most favorite name of any pub on the planet.

This thing has been around FOREVER.  It was rebuilt in 1667 after the Great Fire of 1666 which started just down the road from here.  The Great Fire of 1666 western extent wasn't far from this spot, but sadly, the YOCC was destroyed in the fire because it had been a wooden building.  And get this - YOCC was a known stomping ground of Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Mark Twain!  (Side note: This sign will sadly need updating soon, insert sad face here!)

Saturday, 30th April, 1859, Charles Dickens, pen name "Boz" operated out of the Cheshire Cheese Pub while producing his journal "All the Year Round."

Hopefully Dickens wasn't super tall.  Cause Jen had to mind her head at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese!

There has been a pub on this site since 1538, so Julie and I needed some photographic evidence that we were here, in the deepest depths of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.  This is a really wild pub because it's spread out across multiple levels, and aside from the ground level, there are no windows or doors to the outside. There is literally no light from the outside in here.  And it winds up and down and all around.  The site of this pub is thought to be formerly a 13th century monastery (the room we are in here is thought to be a part of that monastery) and appropriately, an 18th century brothel.

At Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, they sell magic water for fun people!  Although I only had a Coke here. So.  Not as fun. 

REBUILT. 1667. 

Soon we were moving on, hoping to get a spot at the Seven Stars. We walked through the Bell Yard to get there and Jen took this super adorable picture.

Once on Carey Street near our destination, we noticed there were FOUR iconic phone booths.  Only there were also only four of us, so we had to take two separate pics and stitch them together.  If we have weird looks on our faces, it's because we had seen a guy peeing in a phone booth across town so... cool.

Julie leads the way, anxious to hit up the OLDEST PUB IN ALL OF LONDON (you know, because the fire didn't reach this far.)  Sadly though... the place was packed. This pub is from 1602 - the year before the end of Elizabeth I's reign!  There is even SOME speculation that Shakespeare himself may have enjoyed a pint or two here.  But that's pure speculation, of course.  Because this pub is behind the Royal Courts of Justice, it has long been known as a place where lawyers celebrate their victories.

Unfortunately, because the Seven Stars was so packed with no spot for seating (and although it had tables outside, there were no chairs - and we were hungry at this point), we had to move along.  We walked through the campus of the London School of Economics, and I spotted this gem.  My buddy Grant loves maps and globes, as do I - and I love that someone slapped an upside down massive globe here.  This is known as "The World Turned Upside Down" (ok Hamilton fans, sing it with me!).  It challenges the bias that the earth's "north" pole is well... north, or facing up. 

After some dinner, we headed back to the hotel where we did little undereye masks - you know. So we look like the hottest 40 somethings in all of London the following day for the Skid Row show.  I think it worked. Stay tuned for all of that!