It's a Tudor (and Pirate?) Life for Me!

Day Five

Linda left early in the morning. It was NOT fun saying goodbye and was really hard to watch Mum say goodbye. These women are practically her sisters and she never gets to see them.

Francis always needed a day off the day after we had been out and about, so she stayed in Surrey while Mum and I headed to Hampton Court - home of Henry VIII and his insane court and later to George II. The place was quite exquisite, actually.

There are two different palaces on the grounds at Hampton Court - one was the original structure (Henry's palace) and the other structure was built several hundred years later by King George on the grounds. It looks a bit weird having structures from two different periods, but they were both beautiful!

Henry's Palace:

George's Palace:

There were period actors walking around the grounds to help you imagine you were in Henry's court. There were different areas to teach you about each of Henry's wives (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived) and living in Tudor England.

George's palace should look familiar to anyone who saw the most recent Pirates of the Caribbean film.

I had fun taking pictures - the weather was perfect and the grounds were immaculately kept. As if Henry would tolerate it any other way - even in death!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Skyping with Peter (aka: Harrison Ford).

2. Snowdrops.

3. My aunt was Queen of England after Henry VIII died for 9 whole days.

4. Horse-drawn carriages.