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| King Henry VIII |
Hampton Court Palace was another place that had been on my list for a long time (like
Jane Austen's House) and so finally we decided to visit on Norma's last weekend with us. It's a huge place with 1000 rooms so it should go without saying we didn't see all of it but we did manage to see lots of amazing things. One of the first highlights included watching actors re-create the famous people who had lived there - like King Henry VIII above, striding through the courtyard, consulting with an advisor. But our favourite was definitely George Boleyn (below) who we encountered on a couple of occasions. He managed to be very, very funny while staying (mostly) in character.
Apart from the other obvious highlights - the amazing murals and friezes, enormous tapestries, beautiful furnishings and the phenomenal scale of it all (HUGE), I really loved seeing the kitchens. We had fortunately visited on the right day to see cooks, in period costume, recreating old recipes. It was really interesting to watch them work and I probably could have stayed there all day. We loved the famous maze too, and the gardens are beautiful.
Now that I'm a member of the
Historic Royal Palaces I think I will definitely try and visit again - there's loads more I would love to see.
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| George Boleyn |
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| Queen Mary II's Bedchamber |
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| Orangery |
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| In the maze |
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| Kitchen storage |
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| Re-enactment in the kitchen |
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| Great Watching Chamber |
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| The Cartoon Gallery |
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| Gardens |
