Day 21: Weekend Update

Hi Y'all. I know it's been a few days since I blogged at ya, but I've been quite busy lately. My parents came to London for a week, and this was our weekend to see the sights together. So far we've seen the Queen's favorite home, the Windsor Castle, the British Museum, and the Tower of London. I haven't gone through all of my pictures yet, but I can post the pics of the Windsor Castle, which we took in on Friday.

Windsor Castle has been the home of the British Monarchy for over 900 years. Just to put this in perspective, on August 3rd, 1108, Louis IV was crowned the King of France. His knickname was "The Fat One". Things don't change much, do they?

Anyway, it's been great having my folks in town (and I'm not saying that just because they read this blog!), and I've had a great weekend spending time with them.

Here are some pics of Windsor Castle. I know there are a lot of pics here, but the light was fantastic and the castle itself was beautiful. There are a few shots taken inside the castle, which aren't allowed, so please don't report me to the British authorities, okay?

Here goes...

Not at the Windsor Castle, but kinda cool anyway
Just outside the train station at Windsor
Our first view of the castle
Some of the old shops outside the castle, including "The Horse and Groom", which so far has been the best pub food I've had this month.
Entering the castle gate



Sweet gargoyle, eh?
Everything carries the crown, even the lamp posts.
The Queen generally spends her weekends here, and this was no exception. She arrived at 4pm for the weekend. You know because the flag is flying whenever she's in residence.

The beginning of the tour inside the castle walls
All of the castles have these window-like structures that are build to shoot arrows at photographers. This poor girl was slain shortly after this picture.
The gardens
This is a picture I processed with a technique called HDR, which attempts to show both the shadows and highlights at the same time, to mimic what the human eye can see. It's not perfect, but it's a cool shot anyway (or so I think).
St. George's Cathedral
Yeah, I know. It's just a mailbox.
Another of St. George's Cathedral


View from outside the castle. If you look close enough, you can see Slough, where I work (please don't try to look for Slough - you won't like the view)
Some of the Autumn colors
The following few pictures are extremely not-allowed to be taken. Consider yourselves lucky that I was willing to risk life and limb to take them!
They have TONS of sculptures, paintings, and armory inside the castle as decoration. You really have to see it to believe it, it's really amazing to see.
More of the armory - see all the swords?
You aren't seeing this picture. Nope, never seen this room in my life. And I certainly wouldn't have snuck a picture of it!
Another HDR image of the castle grounds
I really dig this picture, with the sun peaking through the gate


One of the palace guards (probably on his way home)
Sunset over one of the minarets
Yet a few more of St. George's Cathedral, this time with sunset. We went inside, which was beautiful, but I didn't get any pics. You'll just have to visit it for yourself.


The sun setting over the castle. Silhouette shots like this are pretty cool to take, I was happy to get the opportunity.
One of the final daily 'walking of the guards'
This is really just for my Mom, who wanted a picture of the Horse and Groom pub, which as I said serves the best pub food this side of New York!

And that just about does it for tonight. Time permitting, I'll post more pics of this weekend. But for now I have to get ready for work in the morning. Looking forward to two full days of training in Slough, and after that winding up my week and heading home to the States. It's been three weeks here, and although I have really enjoyed my time here, it'll be nice to be back home next Sunday.

Hope you all have a good week!