We arrived in Jolly Old England on the hottest day ever recorded in history. It was a blistering 37.4 degrees Celsius at Heathrow Airport. It was so hot a ball boy at Wimbledon fainted from the heat. Luckily for us, we weren’t exposed to the unbearable temperature. Our hotel, the Sofitel London Heathrow, adjoins Terminal 5 via an interior walkway. We went directly from one building to the next without an inkling. There, we slept like the dead for several hours. By the time we emerged for dinner, it was very pleasant out. We had a fantastic meal at an Italian restaurant called Carluccios, which ended with limoncello and bitter chocolate gelato (Yum!)
.
The next morning, the hotel arranged for a car and driver to
take us to Windsor for the day. We had a traditional English breakfast (bacon,
sausages, eggs, hash-browns, beans and toast) at Monty’s Café and watched RAIN
sprinkle down on the passers by.
Yes, that’s how the weather is in England…unpredictable, just like
Vancouver. It turned out all right because it allowed us to enjoy a second cup
of coffee.
Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in
the world. Queen Elizabeth goes there on weekends, except in the summer when
she heads north to Balmoral in Scotland. We joined the throngs to see Queen
Mary’s Doll House, the State Apartments and St. George’s Chapel. Pomp and
pageantry is ingrained into the place. It still functions as it has for
hundreds of years. Outfitting a dinner table for 160 people with china and full
silver service is no problem. The Queen has “several” sets to choose from. One
of the coolest parts of the tour is the row of wooden heads in the Quire at St.
George’s Chapel. Each occupied head is adorned with the headgear and colours of
every living knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. There are currently
24 knights in service. Their half drawn swords indicate their readiness to
serve and protect the monarchy.
Although the adornments are removed from the heads once a knight dies, a
brass plaque on the wall marks their existence forever.
After all that, we had to stop 50 feet from the gate at the Horse and Groom for a pint of lime and lager so we could soak it all in. Interestingly enough, the men’s choir that we missed hearing in the chapel was also outside having a pint. We enjoyed 45 minutes of impromptu singing with our beverages.
After all that, we had to stop 50 feet from the gate at the Horse and Groom for a pint of lime and lager so we could soak it all in. Interestingly enough, the men’s choir that we missed hearing in the chapel was also outside having a pint. We enjoyed 45 minutes of impromptu singing with our beverages.
It was a quick visit to Windsor, but a welcome break from
traveling. We headed back to Heathrow and made preparations for our 11 hour
flight to Cape Town, South Africa.
Pictures to see
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