Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Adventures with the in-laws # 2

They've gone after a month of filling our home with laughter and love. During this month we had a few brilliant outings. Adventure # 1 was in Bath.

During the working week we decided to make a day-trip to Windsor and Eton. Got my pal Abhi to tag along with us. Quick 55 minute train journey from Waterloo past some lovely greenery and we were in Windsor & Riverside, home of the 1600 room Windsor Castle. Facts: Windsor Castle is the largest inhabited castle in the world, and the oldest in continuous occupation (over 900 years). It is one of the Queen's three official residences, and is often said to be her favourite. The Royal Standard flies over the Round Tower of Windsor Castle when the Queen is in residence - at other times, the Union Jack flag flies in its place. We took a 35 minute boat trip along the Thames to Boveney after lunch and the queen was not in residence!


Posted by Picasa Back on dry land and this is the large population of very hungry and grossly overfed swans begging the tourists for nibbles. Now, here's a cool story: the ownership of swans has always been a privilege granted by the Crown. Today there are 3 owners of the Swans: the Wonderful Company of Vintners, the Monarch and the Worshipful Company of Dyers. During Swan-upping, which takes place in July the swans are marked to show ownership. Irrespective of ownership they were all greedy guts!!!

Windsor is a beautiful little town, with hanging baskets of flowers adorning the streetlamps. It was a lovely clear day. After looking at the castle we decided to cross the river and have a look at the very famous Eton. As we strolled along the the very attractive High Street towards Eton College, we saw pairs of young lads in uniform (for me reminiscent of the Mallory tower stories where the girls were only allowed into town in pairs). Eton is very impressive. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI and counts 18 former British Prime Ministers amongst its students.

It was a long day and all the walking was capped off by cool drinks by the river at the elegant oh-so-traditional Sir Christopher Wren House hotel.

This is wonderful and leisurely day trip from London. Well worth the time and effort!

In other matters, I'll be 30 in 4 days (and I'm still not ready!) and my sudoku timing is improving steadily...

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