Hampton Court Palace

Another post so soon!

I went to Hampton Court Palace yesterday and it was amazing. We took the train from Waterloo tube station, and it was only 5.70 round trip! The palace itself was 10.50 with a student discount. Anyway, I'll divide the palace up into its sections:

The Tudor kitchens: These were pretty cool. I thought it was amazing how small the doorways were around the kitchens, my friend Kate had to duck to get through. This was the only place I could really take pictures indoors.

The Queen's Apartments/King's Apartments: Both were amazing. They date from the 1700's, around Queen Mary II and William III's reign. It's interesting to see how many rooms they have in each apartment. For example, in the Queen's I remember seeing a room where the guard stood, an audience chamber where the Queen receives people, another chamber beyond that for socializing with people, a chamber for dining, and a bed chamber.. I know there was more! In both the Queen and King's apartments there was original furniture, including the original bed from the 1700s--a little creepy, if you ask me. Also, all the rooms had these gorgeous murals painted on the ceiling, and huge fireplaces and wall-to-ceiling windows.

King Henry VIII's Apartments: Unfortunately, they were rather small, since monarchs after him built things over them. But we did see the infamous "long gallery" by the chapel where Katherine Howard supposedly ran through screaming after she found out she was to be beheaded. She supposedly haunts the gallery now.

Young King Henry VIII Exhibit: This was pretty cool; it was set in some of Wolsey's old rooms, and they had written quotes all over the place, and had lots of portraits hanging.

The Georgian Rooms: Similar to the 1700's apartments--they were absolutely gorgeous, and one of the few places in the palace that actually felt warm! I couldn't believe how freezing the majority of the palace was, it felt colder than outside.

The Gardens were also incredible, they were so big there was no way we could walk through all of it.

Overall it was a great experience, though I was sad that I couldn't take pictures of most of the cool stuff inside because of portraits hanging from the Royal Collection... I guess the Queen is kinda paranoid about them getting stolen.

Be sure to check out the pictures that I could take: http://www.picturetrail.com/justinekelly