Two pieces of advice on the website: buy your ticket in advance, and arrive after midday. So I wasn't in much of a rush - still, after all I drank yesterday, I had a broken sleep, and was up earlier than I'd expected, so said I might as well head off. The first train that would get me to the castle after midday, according to Google Maps, was to leave Waterloo at 10.58am. Not according to Waterloo.. turned out there was a train strike today! Thanks guys.. well. So, there was no sign of my train. Google Maps alternatively suggested that I take a train to Vauxhall and another from there - even the option they suggested to Vauxhall wasn't running! Still, trains there are frequent, and there was one leaving imminently, which I hopped onto.
In Vauxhall, with no direct access from the platform to a live departures board, I consulted a printed timetable - which informed me that trains to Windsor on Saturdays run half-hourly from Platforms 3 & 4. Great - so I schlepped over there. To discover that Platform 4 was closed. As, indeed, by the look of it, was Platform 5, and who knows how many more. However, Platform 3 was open - no 11.02 train for me though, the next wasn't until 11.32. Sure enough, the trains to Windsor were only running hourly today. I ended up in the waiting room for half an hour.
Dozed a bit on the train - which finishes at Windsor anyway, so no danger of missing my stop.
More photos here. No danger of missing the castle, either, which completely dominates the town. Head right from the station - just follow the castle perimeter, it's easy. It's all uphill, although not too steep.
When I finally got to the other side from the station, where the castle entrance and exit are - I could see the wisdom of buying a ticket in advance! I avoided a seriously long queue, even at that time (about 12.30). And it costs no more - only thing is, you do have to have the facility to print it out, they don't accept it on a mobile. But those of us with prebooked tickets just breezed past the queue, straight to the airport-style security, complete with metal detector and bag scanner.
The price is a hefty £21.50 - but for what you get, believe me, it's well worth it. The sheer size of the place justifies it by itself. That price includes a free audioguide, picked off a moving carousel, which - mind you - can be temperamental; mine insisted on talking to me in Russian, and not being familiar with the UI, I had to take it back to the nice lady to get me back to the home page! You can hold it to your ear, or get headphones with it. Just outside the audio guide hut, a sign gives the time of the free, half-hourly tours. Now, lasting 40 minutes each, these are worth it - they just go around the perimeter, and give you a good idea of the castle's basic layout (somehow, I'd missed getting a castle map). You can take photos out here - as the nice guide explained, not inside - i.e. not anywhere there's a roof over your head!
She left us at the State Apartments, where I switched to the audio guide. And dear God, I was no sooner under a roof than I was cursing the photo ban - of which you're constantly reminded. Words can't describe the interior - it's jaw-dropping. Circular displays of armaments line the staircase up to the State Apartments, with a knight in armour on horseback at the top. And you're paraded on a set course through some of the most spectacular rooms you're likely to see. It actually brings tears to the eyes to realise what beauty was destroyed in the Windsor Castle fire - the more so because the restoration was completed within five years, letting us see what it had been like.
More or less - a few changes were made, but the architectural integrity of the decor was maintained. And wow, would my camera have been busy.. enormous rooms, hundreds of paintings, stunning chandeliers. St. George's Hall was a revelation - to hear, on the audio guide, that at state banquets, the table stretches the length of the room! The point that everything has to be ramrod-straight becomes obvious when it's pointed out that, if it isn't, the view from the end just looks like a mess! But my favourite, I think, was the Queen's Reception Room - sporting three massive chandeliers, the view as you enter is just tremendous! Both rooms had their ceilings collapse in the fire, and suffered extensive damage.
When I tore myself away, it was to St. George's Chapel:
Again, no photos inside - but it's truly spectacular, particularly when you consider the present building was begun in 1475, during the reign of Edward IV. As the audio guide points out, it was quite an achievement at the time, to build a ceiling so high and wide, with no visible means of support - and the fan vaulting is incredible. Mirrors are strategically placed to enable views of hard-to-see parts of the walls and ceilings. I saw the tombs of the Queen's great-grandparents.. and grandparents.. and of her parents, a sweet little art-deco room, incorporating reliefs of them, along with a memorial stone to Princess Margaret. Finally, at the back, is an indescribably ornate memorial chapel to the Prince Consort - well, that was the fashion at the time!
The West Door is generally closed - but of course, everybody remembers it from the royal weddings, where the bride and groom walk down the grand flight of steps from there. The steps are actually in a small courtyard to the side.. and at least one group of Americans was there, entering as I left, exclaiming "Oh wow - oh I think this is it..!"
Stunning stuff. The sundry gift shops scattered about, however, are a massive disappointment - unless you want stuffed corgis, velvet pencils with crowns on top, children's books, or replicas of royal china. I'd really have loved a take-away of the interiors - so, some kind of a walkthrough video, or photo book. None was to be had. Never mind, I handed back my audio guide (with some relief - they're bulky and heavy). You don't have to queue for that, it transpires - the adjacent queue is for stamping your ticket - if you've bought it from the Royal Collection Trust, and get it date-stamped before you leave, you can return to the same attraction for a year from then for free! Which is handy, as it turns out the Royal Wedding Exhibition isn't until next month - and you know, Queen Mary's Dolls House isn't open at the moment either. So, if I could squeeze those in on the same trip - for free - wouldn't that be lovely? We shall see.
In all, I spent nearly three hours in the castle - and I fairly whizzed around; I could have taken longer. By now I was starving - but I eschewed the crowded ice cream stall in the castle for a proper meal. I'd seen a Prezzo on the way up, and fancied an Italian meal, so ate there - although I was spoiled for choice really; I've rarely seen such a selection of eateries as lines the road around the castle. It was practically empty, mid-afternoon - service was terrific, and I had stuffed mushrooms and one of the house specialities, chicken carbonara al forno. The mushrooms were decent, came with a lovely garlic dip. The pasta dish gained nothing, I thought, from the addition of chicken - indeed, I needed some pepper on it to make it taste of anything. But it was filling, which was what I needed. Much better was the soave I ordered - and I love it when it's served in a carafe. And the highlight would have been the chocolate fudge cake - natch! which came with a scoop of ice cream.
At the station, I hit exactly the wrong time - again, trains were hourly, and I had about 3/4 of an hour to wait. Went to the loo, sat on the platform - handily, although it didn't leave for 25 minutes more, the train did pull in and allow us to get on. Again, I dozed on the way back - and fell properly asleep after Putney, only waking as we pulled into Waterloo! Sightseeing is hard work, you know..
Tomorrow.. tan-ta-ra! The Crick Crack Club is back after the summer! Not that you'd know it from their Meetup group, whose next advertised Meetup is next month! Anyway, tomorrow, Tuup is telling the tale of The King and the Corpse, at the British Museum, accompanied by Sheema Mukherjee.
On Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - all the way to the Orange Tree, in Richmond, for Losing Venice.
On Tuesday, my £3.60 club has a ticket for me to hear Professor Rana Mitter speak about China for an hour in the China Exchange.
On Wednesday, well, London Literary Walks is back on - but I'd already booked with UITCS for Natalia Osipova in Sadler's Wells. Then I'm back to Ireland for a long weekend.
On the 17th, Crick Crack is back.. again! Just as well I'm on the main club mailing list. This time, it's Aye, Coyote! in Soho Theatre.
And on the 18th, back with UITCS for Pinter at the Pinter.. Pinter plays at the Pinter Theatre! Our particular combination is One for the Road / New World Order / Ashes to Ashes / Mountain Language. I bought my ticket for this one from another member who couldn't go - Ticketmaster, so hopefully there won't be a problem with me picking up the ticket.
No comments:
Post a Comment