November 4th, 2011 - Windsor

Today was fantastic! The hour coache trip ended at the town of Windsor - which is split up into Old Windsor - houses that begin by the non-tidal shores of the Thames and extend to New Windsor - the shops and town that reach up to the Castle and extends to Eton College on the other side of the castle.

The Castle is extensive so it is impossible to get a picture of the entire structure - but this wall contains Curfew Tower as well as the Castles other towers and chimneys.

The structure itself dates back to William the Conqueror who built the oldest part of the Castle -which is Circle Tower - an ovular shaped building which used to house the Governor of Windsor. The steps leading into the Circle Tower are rarely climbed by visitors but you can book a special tour called Capture the Tower - which lets you inside. Circle Tower is now used to house the Royal Family's Archive Collection of manuscripts, photographs, and other memorabilia of the Royal Family. There is a Burning Tree - a tree whose leaves turn bright red - planted at the foot of Circle Tower's hill in memory of Princess Diana of Wales -as well as a beautiful Garden surrounding the Tower.

If you take a close look you will be able to see - that through centuries of constant use and repair that the stone and other materials used in the tower begin to look more modern and new. Windsor - since it is lived in by the Queen is under constant refurbishment.

The red  leaves on the left side of this photograph of Circle Tower belong to the tree planted for Princess Diana of Wales.

The Castle is split into three wards: Lower (the Guard Chambers and St. George's Chapel, Middle: Circle Tower and Upper: The State Rooms and palace. The strategic placement of the Castle at Windsor is a main reason that the town itself goes right up to the Castle Walls in present day. Nobody could attack the villages or the Castle without the Royal Guard knowing and being prepared hours in advance.

You can see how the view from the Castle terrace captures the horizon. Anyone who tried to take the Castle would be unprepared for the onslaught of defensive fire that would come from the Guard and soldiers.

Stretching below the Castle on one side is the town of Eton built around a school that is as old as the Castle. The boys who attend wear tailcoats and dress as people did when the school was first started.

The Castle has  great vantage point and even great sense of tradition. Present in the lower ward is St.George's Cathedral - services taking placing there must always be attended by a member of the Order of the Garter. The Order of Garter began when Richard III - noticing the ridicule a lady faced when her garter fell - picked up the garter and told those around they should be ashamed. He then said - that should another lady meet the same occruance - there should be someone there to restore her honour. 

The Order of the Garter is the highest honour in England. There are branches in all of the United Kingdom extending to:

The Order of the Garter (England and Wales), The Windsor Gauard,  The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle (Scotland) and, although it is non-active - The Most Illustrious Order of St.Patrick (Ireland).

The Windsor Guard was formed and initiated into the Order of the Garter so there would always be a Knight of the Order in attendance at services held in St. George's Chapel. While we were there we got to see a Changing of the Guard - and I learned that the size of the bear skin hat denotes rank. 

The outer parts of the castle hold their wonders and their history but so does the insides. On display - for those who do not walk directly to the State Rooms  is Queen Mary's Doll House. The House was a gift from her cousin Princess Maire Lousie. The house itself is a valuable piece of history - as it was built by architect Sr. John Edwin - to the miniature scale of a  French Chateau. The completion of the house depended on commissioned miniatures of famous art, literature, and decor of the time - and includes complete and miniature copies of literature written by authors of the time. Everything in the house from the lifts, lights, to the cars in the drive can fully function. 

Alongside - in a short gallery - is a display containing the clothes of France and Marianne two dolls given to the Princesses Elizabeth and Margarete Rose. The detail in the stitching and finery of the clothing shows how amazing craftsmanship at the time was. The dolls themselves are on tour in France for the first time since 1938.

Besides these wonderful pieces - on my visit I was able to see Leonardo Davinci originals of his earliest works - he was one of the first painters to capture the portraits of young boys - and it is thought that the work I saw was sketches of one of his proteges. In the Drawing Room - along with those artworks I saw a very good Nude of a crawling man thought to be drawn by one of Rembrandt's proteges after a similar drawing of a solider was done by Rembrandt himself. 

Also in the drawing room at the time of my visit was an exhibit of portraits, photographs, and memorbilia of Prince Philip. 

The great thing about Windsor is that you are encouraged to revisit the Castle as all the displays of art and object are changed each year. 

I really wished I could have gotten a photograph of this:  There was a grasshopper - fashioned from metal and copper - which was a fucntioning whine cooler at the time it was gifted to the Royal Family. It's back - alongside the wings - opens up and inside it's body is the cooler. It was really an amazing piece of metalwork. 

Also in the Castle, is the China collections from all the centuries Windsor has been in use. The most memorable collection included craftsmanship to make the pieces of the sets look as if pineapple leaves and the fruit itself were intertwined in the design.

There is also a china set for which all pieces are painted with individual design. Not one plate or cup in the set is a repeated pattern. 

The State Rooms are through a corridor and up a grand staircase from the China exhibit. They are magnificent and my favorite part of them was the wonderful ebony furniture with gold inlay. My breath was taken away by the sustained beauty and durability of the wood.

A few memorable pieces in the sate rooms were:  The silver desk and dressing mirror. A complete piece of furniture - one of the only remaining ones of its time- made of silver with clawed feet. 

The other beautiful aspect were the three painted ceilings that have survived. One is in a dining room depicting The Gods a feast and all the paintings and decor are of food. 

The other two ceilings depict the wife or mistress  of King Charles II> They are all painted by Virrio a well-known and talented artisan of the time. 

I didn't have time - after spending an hour in the State Rooms - to go down to Eton  College - but I recommend it because there is a lot of history surrounding one of England's oldest colleges. After taking the tour and looking at paintings - I ate a wonderful scone with a pot of Jasmine Tea at the Crooked House:

The house was built next to the guild hall - and over time it just sort of slid over on its foundation and then stayed this way. It is a quaint one-manned cafe with wonderful decor, great food, and a nice ole-time atmosphere.

I highly enjoyed my time in Windsor and hope to go back one day in the future - because I'm interested to see what exhibits they have - since they change the exhibitions every year. It was definitely a great time. 

~ H.C.