Beautiful Day in Windsor

It was a bit of a cloudy morning but by the time I got to Windsor at about 11AM the sun was shining. The main reason for visiting Windsor is to see the castle which is right in the middle of the town. Actually, the castle was here first, and the town built up around it.

Luckily, since I saw the castle with Peter in 2022, I wasn’t interested in going in, so I bypassed the lines and headed straight to the host of the Airbnb flat. This flat is professionally managed and as late as yesterday my contact at the office said it would be no problem to bring my bags to the office until check in time at 3pm. Unfortunately, when I got to the office (after climbing a fairly steep hill from the train station to the castle, and dragging the roller duffle through cobblestone streets), I found the office closed. I called the number on the door and after getting disconnected a couple of times, I finally reached someone who said he’d try to find someone to come to the office. Eventually he called me back to say that I could check into the flat early. I think it was just a matter of no one wanting to come into the office not just once, but twice. Once to drop off my bags and once to pick them back up. Alls well, though, as I was able to get into the house before noon and rest for a bit before heading back out to check out the town.

I found a nice outside tearoom for lunch, the Nell Gwynn. Nell was the mistress of King Charles II, who was the king after the monarchy was restored in 1660. Apparently, there was a tunnel connecting the Castle to Nell’s house, which is where the tearoom is now located.

Of course, I had to stop in at a church. This one was the Village Church of Windsor with its beautiful altar.

Then I strolled to the river and crossed to the Eton College side of town. A British college is for kids aged 13-18. Like Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the buildings of Eton are scattered around town, mostly without signage.

Before heading back across the river, I took a 40-minute ride on the Thames.

According to the narration, the Thames goes all the way out to Oxford, but it would take 2 days as there are 24 locks between the two cities.

Just before we docked, we got a great view of the castle compound.

After the cruise I went back to the castle for Evensong in St. George’s Chapel. I thought it would be interesting to experience an Anglican service. It was just over 30 minutes long and the best part was the choir. There were only 9 singers, but they sounded like a 30-person chorus. The acoustics were absolutely incredible. Photographs aren’t allowed in the chapel, but I found this one online.

Once the service ended, I stopped at the market on my way back to the flat. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to turn on the stove top. It’s a gas stove so you would think all I need to do is turn the knob, but nope. I hear the gas but there’s no flame. Of course, no one is answering email at the management office, so I just ate a sandwich for dinner. I’m not sure how I’m going to cook my eggs in the morning, but I’ll figure something out.

Anyway, that was my day. I walked another 15,000 steps but so far both the left foot (with heel spurs) and my relatively new left knee are doing great.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow. Maybe play golf in the afternoon if I can get a tee time. There’s a golf club on the other side of the castle but I would need a cab. I’ll see what I feel like doing tomorrow. Maybe I’ll just hang out at the flat and rest. I’ve been doing a lot of walking the last 3 days and Monday will be a long day with an 11 1/2 hour late evening flight to Cape Town. It might be wise to hang close to home and just go out for lunch. We’ll see.

Love from the UK.