Hampton Court Palace

November 7, 2009
Yesterday we visited Hampton Court Palace, the main residence of King Henry the 8th. It was later owned and inhabited by King William the 3rd and Queen Mary. It was absolutely beautiful! The building gave you a very good view of what the world would have looked like when they lived there. However, my favorite place was the garden. There were more than 60 acres of it! The most beautiful being the Knot Gardens that were built in 1924 to show what it would've looked like. Another feature were the Yew Trees planted by Queen Anne. There were two sections of the Palace, one medieval styled by King Henry, and the other was very Baroque, the style of King William. The tapestries that hung in the Great Hall were sewn in the 1500s and cost the same amount of one navy ship. WOW! The Palace holds the world record of the largest grape vine also. It was planted in 1768 and is 108 feet long and has been weaved around the roof. While having lunch, we threw some of the crusts of our sandwiches to the swans, and one of them, walked right up to my aunt and snapped it out of her hand! I was laughing so hard, it startled me so much. Any way, here are some pictures.

King Henry waling around the courtyard. They were pretending to celebrate his wedding to Kateryn Parr... The 6th wife.

This is the Great Vine (grape vine). They had a piece of lawn completely rid of any plants where the roots were.

The Knot Gardens were GORGEOUS! There was a fountain in the center and sculptures and flowers that must look dazzling in the spring.

This is the entrance

The Great Fountain Park... With awesome Yew trees. It was 60 acres alone and even gorgeous in the winter.
This is the swan attacking my aunt. It was super funny and yet startling. They are BIG!

This is the Baroque section in front of the Great Fountain Gardens.

There was a "world famous" maze that we went through that was fun, but lame since it only took about 10 minutes at the most.

There were 6 tapestries in the Great Hall and with each costing the same as a navy ship, it had to be a fortune. The palace is still owned by the Queen but was opened to the public by Queen Victoria. The tapestries were incredibly intricate, looking extremely realistic and showing emotions perfectly. Sadly the vibrant colors have faded.

After we were all ready to go home, we stopped by a Strada Restaurant for dinner. Even though the pasta I had last time was the BEST... I decided to try the pizza that my aunt had last time and she had the Rigotoni Speck dish that I had had. After a piece, we told each other our opinions and liked the other dishes more. So, we switched and I was reunited with the Rigotoni. We also found a tiny Krispy Kreme shop that was OUT OF CLASSIC DOUGHNUTS! A crime.

This last week, my uncle had some business in Belgium. While there, he found some of the authentic freshly made cholcolates to bring home. Now the kids didn't like them because they were a little bitter. But to me, Belgium Chocolates are the best chocoate I have ever tasted in my life and will probably ever taste.

Well, I know we are supposed to keep a food storage, so I just wanted to let you all know that I'm covered if there is a storm! My cousin found this and my aunt got it so I can bring some sticky pudding with me when I go home. My favorite is toffee, but they didn't have any.