Carole: Second Day in London

We spent the day at Hampton Court Palace, which is about 30 miles from London. My knowledge of British history is pretty fuzzy, but I filled in some blanks today. Of course, this left me wanting to know more. The palace was built by Cardinal Wolsey, the "right-hand man" of King Henry VIII. However, it was more magnificent than Henry's place, so he just confiscated it. It's huge (and was made even bigger by later additions by William and Mary). The main banquest hall has the most incredible carved ceiling...all kinds of intricated designs and figures and animals. The chapel ceiling is also wonderful...a beautiful blue with graceful arches. We got to see the kitchens and other working areas, where an army of servants was kept busy all day with the cooking and laundry and other tasks required to keep this edifice going. The newer parts of the palace were added on about 150 years later and are in the baroque style. They were quite impressive, but the older parts of the palace were definitely more interesting. There are excellent exhibits and audio tours that really give one a sense of the place. The gardens are magnificent, but I contented myself with admiring them from the windows because the predicted "intermittent showers" had become a downpour. (David did brave the elements to get some photos.) I was told it takes 40 gardeners to maintain the grounds.

One last word on our trip on the Queen Mary 2...My only disappointment was not being able to sit out on deck to read a book. It was very windy out there, and rather cool. I did sit in a wooden deck chair for a few minutes on a sunny afternoon, but that's about all I was up for. That was a small disappointment, however, in what was a truly wonderful experience.