I was slightly underwhelmed walking up to Hampton Court Palace. It was a dreary, rainy day, and the palace was very far away so it looked tiny. It hardly compared to the great Westminster Abbey and Tower of London we had seen in days or weeks prior. It didn’t glow in the sparkling sunlight or shoot up into the heavens above, but inside the palace was much more intriguing! And you know what they say, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. For one thing, the palace seemed to go on and on forever. The long and narrow hallways were lined with door after door after door, each leading to perhaps a room or another hallway of doors.
We walked the very same footsteps that Henry VIII and William and Mary walked when they were alive. It was really cool to see all the different rooms and luxuries they had as royals back then. For example, we walked through Henry’s kitchens and learned that he would eat multiple three-course-meals a day! They had multiple fires that would be going at all times to cook all the food. I was shocked by how much the king is said to have eaten, and I feel bad for the cooks who were confined to the room for hours at a time while multiple fires were burning with no A/C. There was only one fire burning when we were in there, and even standing on the same half of the room as the fireplace would become uncomfortable after a bit of time.
We were given headphones with a device similar to an iPod that told the history of the various sections within the palace. On these devices, we learned a lot more than the environment could tell us just by looking. For example, the royals would often have dinner where the public was invited to come and watch them eat. However, one of the kings did not like this practice and rarely had dinners as such. We also walked through the Tudor house and learned a little more about Henry VIII’s six wives.
This was plastered on the wall of the area of Hampton Court Palace dedicated to the Tudor Dynasty’s history. Although French physician Jean Fernel said it in 1550, it also applies to today’s age. As I go through all of these historic places in London, I see how similar their lives were to ours even though it was so many years ago. People have always been people. So, did they ever imagine the world as it is today? Did Henry VIII or Mary or anybody back then ever dream that people would travel from all over the world to walk through their home? That we would marvel at everything to which they never gave a second thought? It is something to think about, especially as we look to the future!
– Hadley ❤
Theatre in London U of A 