Today we went on a day trip to Hampton Court Palace, I thought that the palace and the gardens surrounding the palace were beautiful! It was so cool to be able to see where so many important people lived throughout history and be in a place with so much history inside of it’s walls. 

The part of the palace that I enjoyed the most was King Henry the 8th’s apartments. I liked it the best because it reminded me of the Six musical, because it gave a little bit of a backstory for each of King Henry the 8th’s six wives which I really enjoyed reading about because I know the musical so well. I also liked the Council Chamber in King Henry the 8th’s apartments because it reminded me of reading all the books about King Arthur and his knights at the round table as a kid. The reason I thought of King Arthur and his knights at the round table in that room is because there was a circular table placed in the middle of the room and there was a throne at the head of the table and a few chairs surrounding the table that looked fancier than regular chairs but not as significant as the throne for King Henry. I thought that the gardens surrounding the property were very pretty and I would have loved to spend the day just laying out on a blanket, packing a picnic and looking at all the flowers and streams that went through the property. 

I enjoyed looking at all of the different parts of the palace like the kitchen, the wine cellars, the weapons room, King Henry’s bedchambers, closet room, office, writing room, dining room, and multiple rooms that had different art pieces and tapestries in them. There was also a room in King Henry the 8th’s apartments that looked like a dining hall for parties, and it had interesting facts about what would happen during those parties, which I thought was very cool to read about. 

Overall, I really enjoyed going to Hampton Court Palace today. I think we could have ended like 30 – 40 minutes earlier, but I liked looking at all of the different rooms in the palace, I thought that the chapel was beautiful and I may or may not have gotten in a little bit of trouble for taking a picture of the chapel when I wasn’t supposed to . . . in my defense I didn’t see the sign and there was someone else (not in our group) that took a picture first so I just assumed that we could – oops. I would definitely suggest Hampton Court Palace as a place for people who are looking for things to do, and it’s a huge place with lots to see. 

It is my sixteenth day in The United Kingdom and today I took a train to Hampton Court Palace!

Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace owned by King Charles III in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. This palace was once owned by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who was the chief minister of King Henry VIII. Thomas Wolsey fell out of favor with King Henry VIII in 1529 because he could not secure an annulment for King Henry VIII’s first marriage with Queen Catherine of Aragon. To try to regain favor with the king, Wolsey gave King Henry VIII his entire estate. Although King Henry VIII took the estate, he still arrested Wolsey for treason. Wolsey died the same year on his way to his trial. King Henry VIII was never a merciful king. His six wives would agree with me.

Hampton Court Palace became one of King Henry VIII’s favorite residences and referred to it has his “Pleasure Palace.” He turned the palace into a place of entertainment where aristocratic individuals could hunt, have huge, elegant banquets, and watch jousting matches and theatre. In 1960, King William III commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to help him began his massive expansion on Hampton Court Palace. They destroyed most of the Tudor architecture and replaced it with Baroque. In 1694, King William III’s work came to an end, which caused the palace to have two contrasting architectural styles. Tudor in the front of the palace, and Baroque in the back of the palace. Although these styles were different, they somehow complimented each other. The pink brick is what helped the two styles blend nicely. King George II was the last king to live in Hampton Court Palace and it remained unoccupied until Queen Victoria opened the palace up to the public in 1838. Since then, it has been a tourist attraction where millions of visitors have stepped foot on to the palace grounds.

I enjoyed my time while walking around Hampton Court Palace. It was quite relaxing strolling through the extravagant gardens with my friends until we got lost in the hedge maze for a good 10 minutes. I loved discovering the orchard, the river, and the greenhouse that were hidden by the brick walls of the palace. It was peaceful, and I was always trying find more doors to more hidden places.

I would like visit Hampton Court Palace again. Not because I’m interested in learning more about King Henry VIII (I’m not the biggest fan of him,) but because the palace was so massive that I wasn’t able to see all the places I wanted to see. I couldn’t see King William III’s apartments that he added onto the palace in 1690. I heard that there was a grand staircase and multiple beautiful paintings that covered the walls and the ceilings of the apartment. It would have been nice to see that.

Today we went to Hampton Court Palace, and let me just say….I would hate living there. But let us rewind to the beginning of our journey. We left today at nine am, and took a tube to Waterloo station. We caught a train to the palace, and it was about thirty seven minutes of travel. I love train rides so much because I enjoy just sitting and listening to music. Earlier I fell down a rabbit hole of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez songs to each other, so I was listening to mostly that on the train. Anyways… we arrived and walked to the palace.

Upon arrival we walked down the drive way and there was a beautiful flower garden. The flowers had such bright colors to them, that they almost looked fake. When we got there we were given little audio guides and they were very helpful in learning. The chapel had the most beautiful architecture. The bean I think my favorite part of the tour was looking through the King’s apartment. When you first walk in there is a big room full of guns. It was said he would have forty plus guards in front of his bedroom. When walking in more there were three rooms with thrones that he would entertain guests in. The more we went in the more private the rooms got. I was really surprised when I saw his private bedroom was so small, compared to his “guest room”.

After leaving Molly and I sat on a bench in the garden. We sat there for a good twenty minutes before leaving for lunch.

We decided to look for lunch and found this one place down the way. I had a really tasty Chicken, roasted pepper, mozzerella panini. I also got it with the soup of the day and it was so delectable. What was funny is that Shawn and Courtneay walked in ten minutes after us, and said they loved this place for the exact sandwich I ordered. Then not even four minutes more of our group walked in, what a silly day. The train ride back was very warm, but not too terrible, and went straight to the room to take a nap. 10/1o day overall

Hampton Court Palace- Day 16

1. We weren’t confused on this train ride, and were able to find our seats quickly…thanks Shawn. 
2. Saw some Shakespearean acting within Hampton Court Palace, they were reenacting Midsummer and another scene that I was not familiar with. 
3. I ate a Jacket Potato with cheese and beans, which is basically just a baked potato with chili on top..but Ted Lasso inspired me and I had to eat one. I will be remaking this when I get home, with a way better baked potato. 
4. We fed Ducks by one of the Hampton Court Ponds. Not entirely sure if I was supposed to, but it felt like they were telling me to feed them and they eat out of my hand. 
5. I sunbathed in the Rose garden, which was GORGEOUS!! And it was less of a sun bathe since I hate jackets on but the sun and all of the flowers were so breathtaking, I’m gonna let it count. 
6. Caught an episode of One Tree Hill upon returning to the hotel, the day after meeting Sophia Bush herself. 
7.  Ate Taco Bell for dinner…for the second time. Somehow it tastes better but also makes me miss Taco Bell from back home. Don’t go to McDonald’s though in my opinion it was lackluster compared to Taco Bell. 
8. Tried a Wagon Wheel and a Timeout (both chocolate cookie things). Timeouts are my new favorite thing, 12/10 recommended, I didn’t vibe with the jam in the Wagon Wheel. 
9. Planned out last minute details for my small group’s adventure to Amsterdam happening on Friday!! Can’t wait!
10. Settling in for another night of board games and blog posts!

Hampton Court Palace is a maze within itself, not including its actual maze that is on its grounds. The two places I spent the most time were William III’s apartment and Henry VII’s home. I enjoyed William’s apartment more as I got to learn more about his life and fun facts about him (did you know he had asthma? That’s why the steps to his apartment were so shallow). I felt like being in his apartment I got to see more of his life even in his bathroom (that was the highlight of his apartment for me, he had a velvet toilet seat). But when I was in Henry’s home it felt more like it was meant for entertaining (he did do a lot of entertaining here and had many halls for this purpose). But I felt like because of the popularity and everyone knowing who Henry VII is, many people were crammed into his home and so were many attractions, including performances. So it was hard to really learn about his life. But I mean do we really want to learn about Henry VII because he was a pretty shitty dude, and that’s an understatement. So I guess it was a blessing in disguise. Even though Henry’s quarters were the ones that connected most of the things I saw before stepping into different sections of the palace, it just felt lackluster to me but again it might have something to do with the man (it won’t be the first or last time I’m saying that).

My favorite part of Hampton Court Palace was being outside! I know, shocking, I’m not the typical outside girly. But sitting in the grass surrounded by the prettiest flowers, so many ducks, and the biggest bumblebees I have ever seen made me realize why people live in palaces. It’s not for the inside, it’s for the outside. You get your own garden, multiple if you’re lucky. And it’s phenomenal, I could have spent all day out there reading, feeding ducks, or simply just watching people harvest blooms (which I did all of these things). The upkeep of these gardens must take forever and a day but in my opinion it’s so worth it, because I could get lost exploring and I didn’t even need to go in the maze. All I had to do was frolic around until my heart was content enough to sit down. I guess I could put up and well out for Henry VII if it meant I got all of these gardens but he would still probably kill me…oh well. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do, especially when they don’t have rights.

Today was a much needed Alex-day, and I spent it walking around the halls of a dead king. I felt very much like the good, old queen when she walked with her corgis. For context, we took a day trip out to Hampton Court Palace, the old home of Henry XIII. It was a very impressive building, but the thing that impressed me the most was the gardens. The building was cool and all, but I can only care so much about the stinky, old home of a man who has a very popular musical slandering him, running infinitely through the headphones of young theatre goers (this is in reference to the musical Six). I spent a majority of my time walking through the garden just looking at all the plants and birds. There were so many baby birds, and I spent so much time stalking them. I even had some fun heart to heart moments with a pair of mallard ducks. I just connected with them in a way that made me feel loved… I will never see them again, and there is something beautiful about that. To love something so much that you don’t even need to see it to value it. Those ducks mean more to me than life itself. I know that when we cross paths again, neither of us will know each other. We will be like strangers. Two lovers, forbidden to interact, never to truly connect. It is a pain too beautiful to understand. Anyway, I have come to realize that I like birds (sorry Ryan) and I really just want to bird watch. The palace was cool, but the birds were cooler. 

The bird’s name was Toodles…

I miss her

Hampton Court Palace was a maze. Each certain area designated to a certain royal was like its own little cocoon within the palace walls. I spent a lot of my time in William the III’s royal chambers and what struck me the most was the beautiful mural Verrio painted across the staircases walls and ceiling that you pass under to enter into his residence. The mural was huge! I wondered if he stood on a ladder all day and painted this masterpiece or if this was wallpapered onto the palace because the sheer size of his artwork was magnificent. I cannot imagine having to have painted for so long, especially for a king. Entering William III’s section of the palace, you are first met with these numerous public rooms that allow courtiers and servants to enter and stay waiting upon the king’s arrival. These rooms were lined with tapestries and paintings that depicted the meaning of each room. In King William III’s “bedroom” another Verrio mural painting was present that had the goddess Venus singing to sleep Mars the god of war. I think this was my most favorite mural in the palace. Little angels flew around Mars and Venus holding his armor and weapons and flying them away. Mars is at peace in this painting and that is not something we saw often in Roman mythology, so I found it quite cool that Verrio used this image to replicate the action of the room. A dark and scary king having his afternoon nap under the gaze of Venus. It is kind of hilarious.  

As for the architecture in the palace, it was all constructed in very open spaced rooms, but the paneling and wood read very mundane to me. It was not until you looked at the artwork that was hanging from the walls that I began to read rich and royal from this space. The personal staircases also lent the idea that these people were quite wealthy and high in society. The stained glass in Henry VIII’s eating/party room for his six wives was quite beautiful and it is positioned in a way for Henry VIII to always be in an eye shot of his stained-glass doppelganger. Talk about conceited. But as for the foundation of this palace, I do not know, nothing caught my eye overwhelmingly until I was standing outside in the gardens where I began to appreciate the stone pillars and cobbled walkways. The cushioned toilet of William III did make me lose my mind. That cushion has got to be crustyyy.  

But for most of my time, I spent it outside in the large courtyard where the stream ran through the grass and trees. Me and some ducks became good friends. It was so tranquil out there I kept forgetting I saw sitting in the grass that once belonged to an unjust and power hungry and hateful king. So gross. I picked some grass out of the ground to really stick it to the man. Just a little though; I was totally seeking out justice on my own time, haha. One thing these kings and queens sure knew how to do was import exotic plants and animals and make it feel like they are where they are supposed to be. I watched an Egyptian goose, and her children walk back and forth across the grass for a good hour, and I could not help but continue to think about how they do not belong here. I wonder if that’s how Henry’s wives felt. Trapped and imported from foreign lands to entertain him. To simply look pretty. I hope those ladies had a pact together of some sort that kept them safe in the simplest ways they could. I am sure this palace felt like a prison for most. Especially Anne and Catherine. Godspeed sisters.  

Visiting Hampton Court Palace was a beautiful experience. The town we were in for the day was really peaceful and I would have loved to just sit outside the palace all day. 

 On the flip side, the inside of the palace was also really interesting. I loved having the audio guide with me and being able to tour at my own pace. Being able to listen to the history of the palace at my own pace really helped me absorb all of the information. One of my favorite parts of the tour was wandering into a room where there were actors acting as Shakespeare’s acting troupe and planning out a performance of A Midsummers Night’s Dream. I wasn’t expecting it at all and I’m always happy to see a little bit of theater. Also, it’s crazy how after being in London this long, it’s still shocking to me that places like Hampton Court Palace have existed as long as they have. Learning about Henry VIII and other nobles made me want to watch Six.

 My favorite part of our visit was the gardens. As we walked outside it felt like the clouds parted and the weather became beautiful. We watched baby birds and their parents run around for a while by a stream and at first, it was so peaceful, but then they got close and I started understanding Ryan’s fear of birds. The rose garden was my favorite garden, it smelled so beautifully of roses and had all of my favorite colors in it. Compared to other big city’s I’ve been to London has a plethora of nature, but I’ve still been missing the amount of nature we have in Arkansas. Being at Hampton Court Palace calmed my need to be outside a bit. I also really liked the town outside of the palace, we got some fresh juice and found a calm sitting area and it was very peaceful. I would love to come back here one day and just wander around for hours.