Windsor Castle Beauty

I've always had a fascination with history- stories from ancient times, the smallest details of the past, and the toils and triumphs of monarchs. Some of the greatest historical places I have seen in my life include Versailles of Paris, The Forbidden City in China, and now, after the second visit of my lifetime, Windsor Castle in Windsor, England. Though I recall greatly enjoying this amazing fortress when I visited with my parents, I could not have nearly appreciated it as much as I do now. It is absolutely incredible that this enormous castle has housed the royal families of England for hundreds of years, and even TODAY, is one of the homes of the Queen of England.

Our journey to Windsor began with a tour of Eton College, which is right on the outskirts of the town and castle of Windsor. Eton College is a private boys school which provides an education for the most well-off English boys. Many of the prime ministers of England have attended Eton, as well as Prince Harry and Prince William. The town was very quiet and peaceful when we visited because the boys were still away on holiday, but we were able to look around and see the chapel, where the boys were housed, and other parts of the school.

Immediately following, we walked back up through Eton to the town of Windsor, which surrounds the castle. When I was younger, we spent almost all of our time within the fortress and did not get to explore the town much, so it was a completely new experience for me. There were a ton of outdoor restaurants, cafes, shops, and the streets were all cobblestoned and beautiful. Luckily, my family friends the Reids were able to meet up with me and have lunch, since they only live about 20 minutes away from Windsor. We had lunch at a nice little Italian restaurant and I had some great pizza. It was really nice to see some familiar faces since I am so far from home!

Finally, we made it inside the actual castle. It was definitely a lot bigger than I remembered. Almost everything about the inside of Windsor was amazing. The architecture was stunning- everything seemed to be in such great condition, seeing that the castle has been used for hundreds of years and was used as a fortress as well. The original slots in the walls where defenders would shoot bow and arrows out of were still intact. Unfortunately, the Queen was away at a different palace when we were there so we didn't get to spot her, and some of the other buildings like the State Apartments were closed for renovation. Either way, it was a blast. We also got to go look at Queen Victoria's dollhouse. It reminded me of the dollhouse at the Science and Industry Museum in Chicago, but with even more detail. It looked like a tiny replication of Buckingham Palace. Even the miniature books that were the size of my fingernails had actual novels written inside of them.

We were also lucky enough to catch a few of the guards as they marched through the castle. We took a few pictures with them, until we got yelled at for distracting the guard. Sorry we can't help that we are so funny and entertaining!
The views from Windsor were gorgeous! There was so much to see there that I may have to make another trip there on my own to take everything else in. On an even more exciting note- we drove past Elton John's house on the way- pretty cool, right? We truly did have a perfect day to explore Windsor as it was the first time since I've been here that it has been BEAUTIFUL and sunny outside! There literally was not one cloud in the sky.

My fascination with history and love for London increases every day! Our trip to Windsor is probably my favorite thing we have done thus far!