Hampton Court is best known for being one of the main homes of the Tudor family, namely King Henry VIII, who reformed England from Catholic to the Church of England and had several wives beheaded. I was able to tour through to see all the royal paintings as well as the bedding and tapestry from the 14th century. They had the palace set up to look like it would have 500 years ago. I saw the kitchens, servants quarters, and royal bed chambers. They had a special exhibition on about the royal bed chambers- apparently there was a system to how kings and queens woke up and went to bed!
The best part of the entire experience, however, was seeing the gardens around the palace. There are so many fountains, mazes, and flower beds. They also have the largest grape vine in the world.
I walked into the first open area, and saw this guy from across the yard card. I thought he was real and he was staring right at me- he gave me a fright!
Selfie galore on my own in the palace gardens
So lovely! Even though the weather is turning cold I thought the gardens looked great.
Found some of the prettiest, unique flowers in the gardens today
Ceilings in one of the staircases
Lisa's boyfriend, King Henry VIII- portrait by unknown artist after Holbein.
Family portrait, notice his two daughters are on the ends.
King Henry VIII's chapel- I got in big trouble two seconds after I lifted the camera for this. Luckily, I pressed snap before she stopped me.
It was a great last day!! I had such a good time walking around the grounds, seeing the swans swimming around and exploring Tudor life. I don't know if I'm ready to get on the plane tomorrow morning- guess we'll see!
Cheers, y'all
Carly
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