A Trip to Windsor #5 :: Exploring the Castle

Hi there everyone 😀

For today's post we are back in Windsor for more of our February trip.

It was Thursday and it was a big day. It was time for our visit to the castle.

We had been planning on getting there early to see the changing of the guard from inside ... but in the end we favoured a bit of a later get up instead. We were pleased though to catch the old guard making their way back to barracks ...
Before heading to the castle we had a bit of a wander to have a look at the long walk ...
As you can see, after the glorious sunshine we'd been blessed with for the previous couple of days today was just a little bit on the grey side.

We made our way to the castle entrance, via Queen Charlotte Street ... the shortest street in England ...
There was no queue and before we knew it we were in and ready to explore ...
The castle had seemed impressive from the High Street but close up and towering above us it was even more so ...
The first thing we came to was a bit of an exhibition where I was really taken with this image of Her Majesty ...

We then followed the path past the gardens to the main entrance for our visit to the State Apartments and the Semi-State Rooms, which are not always open so definitely best to check carefully before you plan your visit ...

You can't take any photographs inside of the castle, but it did not disappoint ... it was stunning and definitely something pretty special.

We got to see far more than we expected to, including where the fire of 1992 began ... the restoration is absolutely brilliant ... you would never know it had happened.

After we came back outside we were thrilled to bits to get to see a bit of a handover of the guards, having to swiftly move ourselves out of the way of the gate ...

We were even blessed with a little bit of blue sky as we made our way down past the castle and towards St George's Chapel ...

The Chapel is a beautiful building ...
You can't take photos inside but it is definitely worth a visit. It is jam packed full of interesting things and so much history ... I had no idea that so many of our Kings and Queens are buried there.

Having watched Harry and Meghan's wedding on the TV it was fascinating to look and see where everyone sat and the guides were brilliant at explaining the Order of the Garter and the symbolism of all of the flags and banners.

So that was it then ... another thing ticked off my list of the 50 things I want to do before I hit 60. I couldn't resist one last photo before we left ... though I have to say watching tourists pose with this poor chap for selfies did make me feel a little uncomfortable ...

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