Last day in Windsor

Sunday, August 25th:  Our last day in Windsor before jetting home to Portland tomorrow.  The day started out quite rainy and the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle was called a "Wet Mount."  This means, we guess, that there was no accompanying music by a military band and the guards were wearing foul weather gear. 

A sampling of mailboxes (while we waited for the Guard change).  The blue box (looks like it is black) is an original airmail box commenorating when that service began during the reign of King George V.

The Guards on route from Coldstream Barracks, a 7 minute march to Windsor Castle, for a "changing of the guard."  Central Windsor is closed to traffic for about 2 hours every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday during this ritual.  The Guards are well-protected in their capes, but the young officer who led the parade both way was fully exposed to the elements.

There was lots of police presence, along with community officers and volunteers who acted as hosts and  shepherded the crowds.

Preparation for the exiting of the 'old' guards for the march back to the barracks.  The yellow vests are some of the officers who had the job of herding the cats, ah people, off the street.  Clots of people were queued up for the Windsor Palace tour (which we did in 2016). 

Going home.

Betsy and I wandered around some in town, stopping at a few shops to look at the wares.  We also went to look at the railroad train station -- Windsor is an easy train ride into London, Waterloo Station.  It continued to rain until mid-afternoon.  We returned to the hotel for a break and hot drinks.

At around 4:00 pm, we took ourselves to the Windsor Promenade on the river to catch the French Brothers boat to the Windsor Racecourse, along with about 50 other rowdy folks.  We had tickets for the Last Summer Race Meet.   The party had started early for some.  We slowly cruised up river to the race course pier, disembarked and flowed with the crowd into the grounds.  Our tickets gave us access to the Club Enclosure and we immediately found seats in the roofed area just opposite the finish line.  

There were 6 races, the first started at 5:15 pm. It is worst than watching football -- it takes about 10 minutes to set up the race (getting the horses warmed up and positioned in the opening chutes), once the horses are loaded the race lasts about 3 minutes, and then it is another 27 minutes until the next race.  However, the model works well for people with limited attention spans.  Attendees in the Enclosure included many well-dressed guys, mostly in suit coats and ties, and women in high heels and skimpy dresses, and even a few "fascinators."  These people attend to see and be seen, and to drink.  (The people in the other half of the stands - probably General Seating - were more suitably dressed for the weather.)

After the first race the skies darkened and there was an intense rain storm.  Everyone scurried undercover -  if you were dressed for a garden party, where would you carry an umbrella?  Fortunately, it stopped before the second race was scheduled.  I made three bets on the second, third and fourth races, losing the first one and the last one.  But Betsy's selection in the third race, "Sea of Roses," pulled out a surprise win 6 to 1, paying 35 pounds on a 5 pound bet.  

The course at Windsor is shaped like a rough figure 8 and they shifted the starting gate, depending on the length of the race.  The first two races, which featured youngsters, ran a straight 6 or 7 furlongs to the finish line, while the later races started on the far side of the figure 8 and did the loop before coming down the straight-away.   As a result the audience sees little of the actual action, mostly keeping track of progress via the big electronic display boards.  After the horses pound through, a crew of guys marched down the green way (the course is all grass) replacing sod chunks.

The start of the third race (one mile and 3 furlongs).

Sea of Roses on the right (in the video replay).

Again our horse on the right.

Leading coming to the finish line.

Sea of Roses is the winner by a head.

The winning ticket, just before cashing it in.

The view from out seats and the jumbo TV.  The finish line is just to the right.

After the last race at 7:45, we boarded the boat for a slow ride back to the Windsor dockside.  We walked into our hotel which was only a block away, had a light, late supper,  packed and retired.  

I am writing this on the next morning before breakfast, checking out of the hotel and leaving for the airport.  We hope you have found some enjoyment following along on our 2024 European Adventure.  Cheers!

Windsor is for walking (and biking)...

Friday, August 23rd:  While our trip to Windsor was intended for relaxation just before going home, we are instead walking.  The weather is fine and the temperature is perfect for walking.

We arrived at Heathrow Airport from Marseille on Wednesday, by flying over London.  I was able to get a few photos as we descended.

The City of London, with the quirky-shaped high rises.

Battersea Power Station (which we visited during our first week of the holiday).

Kew Gardens.

 Parliament Building and Westminster area (on the left) and the London Eye (on the right).

The SST just before we touched down.

We took two buses from Heathrow to our hotel, the Sir Christopher Wren.  The first bus took us from Terminal 2 to the city of Slough, which is north of Windsor.  We caught a second bus that took us to Windsor, within a block of our hotel.  We opted for this slow travel since we were early for check-in at the hotel.  We unpacked in a nice spacious room and immediately went for a walk -- we did most of the "Queen's Walkway," a path commemorating Queen Elizabeth's 63 year reign.  The path is 6.3 kilometers long to match the Queen's reign.  We stopped for dinner at a vegetarian Indian restaurant.

Evening from the Windsor & Eton Bridge, which is next to our hotel.  The bridge is pedestrian only and the quickest route to Eton College.

On Thursday, we completed two walks, the first one was a guided walk around Eton and then Windsor (4 miles) from our book on the Thames Path.

Lots of swans hang out by the bridge and riverside -- tourists can buy "swan food" to feed them -- much healthier than bread.

The Windsor & Eton Bridge over the Thames River.

Flood marker.

Eton College, closed to the public.  The next term starts around September 4th.  This "public school" is for boys, ages 13 to 18.

A rather gross downspout.

Eton's Library.

An original brick viaduct for trains, one of the longest in England.

A typical alley.

On our second walk of the day, up and down both sides of the river.  This is a railroad bridge designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and was one of the first in the country (1840s).

Rehydration stop at The Waterman's Arms in Eton.

Sir Christopher Wren Hotel,  Savora property

Today, we walked nearly 15 miles, under mostly sunny skies, from Windsor to Runnymede along the Thames Path, and then uphill and inland to Savill Gardens, finally back down to Windsor through the Great Park.  We discovered the Thames Path when we were here in 2016 and found it made for great exercise and exploring.  Legs of the path can be found on both sides of the river, which makes loop walks possible.  

Typical signage (or 'finger posts')

Romney Locks, the first of several that we passed today.

At mile 6, we arrived at Runnymede, where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215.

Runnymede is large plain, with a few sculptures and memorials.  This is a new one - three woven reed statues of women launching birds (symbolizing freedom, perhaps).

The second memorial called the Jury, 12 chairs with pictograms on the front and back of each chair marking key historic events or concepts linked to human rights.

One of the chair fronts with a high tech message.

A gate to the path uphill to the John F. Kennedy memorial and the "one acre" of land given to the US in honor of JFK.

The JFK Memorial.

The Magna Carta Memorial.

This memorial reminds us that human rights must be carefully protected since they can easily be taken away by tyrants and dictators.  The men who forced King John to sign the Magna Carta had the influence of the purse strings - they would stop providing him with funds for his wars if he didn't accept the new charter.

The image, a quote from the Magna Carta, reflected in the water, is readable.

The Writ in Water Memorial is a large circular room inside a larger circular enclosure with an open circular roof, with a pool of water around which the quote can be read.

The entrance to Writ in Water.

Uphill from Runnymede is an Air Forces Memorial to British Empire airmen and women lost in WWII.  

The Air Forces Memorial entrance.

The names of the airmen and women whose bodies were never recovered, some 20,000, are engraved on the marble walls (to the right in this photo).

Our next stop at mile 9, was Savill Gardens.  We toured around the garden where summer flowers were in full bloom.  These are dahlias.

Peruvian Lilies.

Some kind of daisy.

Dahlia.

Gunnera or Peruvian rhubarb (very nasty prickles on the underside of the enormous leaves).

The last leg of our walk, looking down the Great Walk at Windsor Castle.  The castle is not housing the Royal Family at present - King Charles is in London, at Clarence House.  Buckingham Palace, according to official sources, is undergoing a 10-year renovation.

We rested up and cleaned up, then went over to Eton and the George Hotel for fish and chips.