So I was totally nerding out today. I was in my history-junkie zone. We spent the day at Hampton Court Palace, a royal court of King Henry VIII. It was built in 1514 by a favorite and high-ranking church official, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, it served as the royal rresidence for over 200 years. King Henry VIII seized the palace when Wolsey fell from grace when he was unable to obtain a divorce for Henry from his first wife, Queen Catherine of Aragon. She had not produced a male heir for him and he was desperate. He broke from the Catholic church in order to obtain his divorce and marry his much younger mistress, Anne Boleyn. Ironically, she too was unable to give him a son and they were married only three short years before she was beheaded at the Tower of London.
Below is an astronomical clock at the palace. Note that the clock shows the sun rotating around the earth because it was created before Copernicus & Galileo debunked that myth.
Inside the apartments of King George II who lived in the palace after the Tudor era had ended (the line ended with Elizabeth I).
View of the gardens from King George's apartments. .
Talk about a royal throne!
Mom and I inside the Tudor apartment dining hall. Cheers!
We ate a picnic lunch in the gardens under a tree. The weather was absolutely perfect and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful surrounding. This little guy became our friend while we were eating. Just walked right up to us and gave us a pathetic look. I gave him a cracker... probably not advised, but I just couldn't say no to that cute face!
View from our lunch spot under the tree.
After lunch we took a horse-drawn trolley around the gardens. The horses were absolutely gigantic!
After returning from Hampton Court Palace, we ate at The Mandarin, a Chinese restaurant close to the hotel and it was delicious! I got chicken fried noodles (kinda like chicken fried rice I guess).
This blog is pretty short and sweet, but I'm too tired to elaborate at this point. I'll update when I'm back in the States.
Tomorrow we're off to Stonehenge after we have afternoon tea.
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