Hampton Court

In honor of Hampton we have had the royal palace at Hampton court on the list for quite some time now. It actually took us two trips to see everything, and considering the fact that you have to take the longest bus ride in the history of man to get there, it was quite an accomplishment checking it off the list. Anyway, Cardinal Wolsey, took over the site of Hampton Court Palace in 1514, and over the following seven years, built the Tudor portion of the Palace. In 1528, knowing that the King Henry VIII was angry for Wosley's inability to get the Church to approve his first divorce, he passed the palace to the King. Henry expanded the palace further, and called it home to he and his court for much of the time till his death in 1547.

It wasn't until 1689 when King William and Queen Mary II took the throne that much changed at Hampton Court. Within months of their accession they embarked on a massive rebuilding project at Hampton Court. The intention was to demolish the Tudor palace a section at a time, while replacing it with a huge modern palace in the Baroque style retaining only Henry VIII's Great Hall. When Mary died in 1694 William lost interest in the rebuilding, and the result is what you see today. Essentially, two seperate and distinct palaces, Henry VIII's Tudor style and William and Mary's Baroque style.

The main entrance to the Palace

Looking from inside Base Court back at the main entrance

Kristen not enjoying the English summer weather

The kitchen and the roasting oven, today I called it the heater

They had a big fountain that poured wine which they gave away. This guy was very popular

Fountain Court, in the Baroque part of the Palace

The formal gardens, not a bad view from your bedroom

This is my kind of decorating!! Kristen has already said no for when we get back, but I bet she will come around.

On our way home we stopped at the Riverside Brasserie, just across the street, right on the Thames river. I have been eyeing the place for quite some time as I ride past it all the time. The weather was just about perfect, (I know, wouldn't have guessed I would say that) except for the sun in Kristen's eyes. And when they say 'on the water' they really mean it. Probably not more than 3 feet from the river where we were sitting. The food was just about as good as the atmoshere, although I think Kristen might have overdone it on her huge bowl of pasta. The lack of waiter service may have been the worst ever, even for London. A good 20 minutes after our meal to finally flag someone down to get the bill, and another 20 for them to drop it off. Thank goodness we had cash or we may have been there all night trying to get our credit card swipped. Even with that I would say it would go on our list of favorites, but don't know if we will ever find another excuse to make it out there again. Any takers?