A Day Near Home: Hampton Court

Friends from Raleigh, Deb and Bob, arrived early Thursday morning and we thought we should take in a sight near home rather than trek into London.  We had a choice between Hampton Court and Kew Gardens - both within minutes of the house.  So after a short nap we headed off by car to find lunch and Hampton Court, the home of kings, including Henry VIII and several of his many wives.

Arriving at Hampton Court was pretty cool. You actually drive in the main gates of the palace to get to the car park. We grabbed a quick, unimpresive, expensive lunch at the cafe there. (Food in England has not impressed us.) 

The gardens at Hampton Court are really spectacular. It must take an army of gardeners to maintain them but you don't see anyone working on them. There is a hedge maze which we attempted to find the center of. You could really get lost in there. I think we all were getting a little uneasy and a little annoyed when we finally found the center.   Fortunately, the exit was easy to find from there.

We then headed for the palace itself and got our audio guides (I love that they are included in the admission price and you don't have to think about whether or not to get them.). 

We toured the impressive kitchens first - something we could all relate to a bit.  The kitchen was massive and took up a huge wing of the palace.  The organization required to feed the 1200 people in Henry's court must have been amazing.   At that time being fed was part of the pay for the servants. 

There were huge fireplaces (one of which was going) with many spits for roasting meat, a massive wine cellar, offices, dish rooms, pastry rooms, and boiler rooms (for making stews).  We learned that meat pies were developed because it was cheaper and easier than using crockery.  People would get a pie, cut off the top, eat the insides and throw the rest of the crust away.  To me the crust is the best part.

We then toured the main part of the Henry VIII palace which was interesting but not terribly memoriable to me (perhaps I have seen one too many palaces).  I do find it interesting to learn about how they lived.  For example, when the court was here they sucked up so much of the resources in the immediate area that after a while, there was nothing left to eat and drink so they needed to move on to another palace.  The other reason they would move on was that eventually the palace would start to stink!

The grounds however, were really amazing.  The gardens were so beautiful.

I do love English history.  It has always struck me as much more colorful than our own American history.  All the shifty fellows and the people who got their heads cut off.  Amazing.  Makes it really fun to tour places like this where these characters actually lived.

We then headed home for cheese and crackers and wine/beer on the back patio and tried to pick a good pub to have dinner.  We headed to Twickenham (next town over from Richmond) to The Swan pub and had a fun time (if not a great meal).