I realised there was no way i could take the mrt to airport with all the luggage. So I took a cab instead. The driver and I had a good chat. Once I reach T3, the holiday feeling prevail. I am going to fly to London tonight in A380 upperdeck, how cool is that!
The inflight entertainment is impeccable. I managed to catch some sleep. Upon landing, noticed the thick clouds that surrounded Heathrow and I started to worry abt cold and the rain. Landed at 530am. BA was not even there yet. Immigration clearance was surprisingly swift - phew!
It is 7am when we managed to get out of T3 and hop onto the Hertz bus. Been given a black Ford Focus of all colour. Drove to Windsor long term park and realised that I was out of coins to pay for the car park. A gentleman came over and actually gave me the 60 pence short - oh my goodness - i started to change my perception about the englishmen. They are so kind! Many incidents happened after that reinforced my improved perception about them. I started to love this country bit by bit. We walked from the car park through the railway station to the castle, passed by the row of shops lining the street.
While waiting for the castle to open at 945am, we roamed around Windsor town and see where to settle our lunch and also where to shop later. Boots 3 pound meal deal seemed to be the way to go. Many meals were then in meal deal style from then on once the secret to saving money discovered. It is a very good way to save money. For 3 pounds, you can choose a sandwich, a snack and a drink - how cool is that!? We can even get out of castle halfway to have our lunch break later by wearing a hand band - thats certainly a plus plus.
Quite chilly outside i must say. Finally the castle opened and we followed the crowd in. We went to St Paul's Cathedral first as the court outside was where the change of guard is going to take place later. This beautiful cathedral within the grounds of the Castle where old tombs of past nobles and kings still rest - feeling of serenity prevails throughout the place and one perceives a sense of history within the walls ...
The change of guard took place at 11am. It was magnificent. The band actually played some hip songs during the ceremony - much to my surprise. This is the short clip uploaded to youtube, taken when the guard marching into the castle from town.
After watching the parade, we went into the State Apartments. The State Apartments were really cool. With the audio guide (god-send really), one can listen to the stories associated with the room.
After lunch, we walked the long mile. The Long Mile is a very comfortable walk, particularly so since the weather is cooling. You can see the grand castle slowly appearing above the tree line from the Long Mile.
Some tips if u intend to visit the Windsor Castle:
- a visit to the magnificently decorated State Rooms (including the former royal dining room) is a must !! (please listen to audio guide for the rich history behind the individual rooms you visit). The dining room is embellished with pictures of food, fruit and fowl on ceiling freescos and wooden panels on the wall columns - do look out for them !
- visit the St Paul's Cathedral (within the castle grounds)
- visit the St Mary's Doll house - quaint miniatures but be beware there is always a Q for this .....!
- the changing of the guards at 11am.
- if you have time, take a leisurely stroll along the Long Mile to savour the view of the grand castle from afar.
- time to allocate - 3 hours at least.
- tkt can be used within a year upon yr next visit .......!!
- its certainly worth a visit !
- there are also no lack of shops near the castle to grab some food and even shopping before heading for your next destination !
(above tips were collated from our group, we will however not bear any responsibility for posting there tips haha!)
At about 3pm, we set off to Oxford. I misread the exit signs and got the car exited from motorway too early. After some enquiries, we managed to join back the motorway again. It should be exit 8, but we exited at Exit 4 haha. They started to lose confidence in my navigation skills I guess but who cares! Finally we managed to reach Marlborough House Hotel. Lasting impressions remained of this delightful B&B which we stayed - our very first 'experience' of a B&B after reading and hearing so much of B&Bs in blogs, books, etc...
Marlborough house invited us with a warm english welcome. The helpful and cheery receptionist even carried our luggage all the way up to the 3rd floor family room which was luxurious with a kitchenette and well stocked fridge. The room was spacious, clean and airy. It exceeded our expectations as there was a cosy 'living' room area for chats, to read brochures, etc. There was even a piano in the living room haha!
Once all barang-barang were thrown in the room, they went to snooze, while I continued to recce the Oxford town to see if there is anything interesting. Found the Bridge of Sigh and Radcliffe Camera. Found Christchurch College as well. Drizzling. Cold outside.
Reached hotel at 830pm, finished off the day with microwaved sandwiches.
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