Time to get out of the city and see some countryside. We were deciding between Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace and opted for Hampton Court Palace believing it would likely be less busy and we've already seen the opulent grandeur of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle is a bit longer to get to. I mistakenly turned off national rail service navigation in Google maps so we are directed to take the Picadilly line and then a bus which takes about 1.5h in total travel time. Happy accident though as taking the bus through a more residential part of London gave us a taste of what the single family homes are like outside the city. Sitting in the front seat at the top of the double decker bus is a great way to see stuff too. Part of Hampton Court Palace is closing at 2pm so we opt to head out and arrive earlier - we grab a nice sandwich and coffee at a place just outside the palace.
Yet another gorgeous weather day, sunny/clear and 19C or so. We opt again for the audio tour and thankfully this place is not busy at all. There are a bunch of school tours but as far as opulence, it's on par with Versailles (well maybe a little less ornate), but orders of magnitude less busy so we can actually have a much better experience.
 |
| This room looks just like the Palace of Versailles - minus the throngs of people |
 |
| Chapel Royal - Henry VIII was religious even though he beheaded a lot of his wives |
 |
| They borrowed from the French in their decorating style |
We walk around and chill in the gardens for a bit too - again they are on par with Versailles although maybe a bit less manicured or maybe a bit smaller. There is a huge wisteria vine - which Carrie says smells delightful - and the world's largest grape vine among the gardens as well
 |
| Chilling under a tree in a private spot in the gardens |
 |
| Wisteria and the world's largest grape vine |
I read in reviews that "the palace is a great sight to see that is only a 45-minute train ride from London" and I'm like "why didn't Google direct us to take the train". That's when I realized I had de-selected the National Rail service as a transport option. I turned that back on and sure enough Hampton Court station had a train service to Waterloo station that took only about 40 minutes. We hop on that and we notice a theme forming that we generally have been taking different ways home than we take to get to places - which is nice as we have different experiences all the time. We grab a quick ice cream at a stand by the river before hopping on the train.
-
 |
| Waterloo station at the end of the trip |
 |
| Thames river by the palace at the start of the train trip |
We get back at a reasonable time and we aren't completely wiped out so we decide check for cheap last-minute tickets to another show. We want to avoid the crowds so we opt for another comedy musical - Avenue Q which is at the Shaftesbury Theatre for a limited engagement. We get decent tickets for a pretty good price and even have time to grab a pint and some pub food at Plough's near our hotel before the show. Carrie gets "Bangers and Mash with peas" and she shares her bangers with me. I have a lovely local IPA and Carrie buys the pub beer glass it came in. We still have time before the show so we pick up some more wine and drop it off at the hotel before heading over to the show.
Avenue Q is muppets mixed with human performers. It's a bit odd at first (not knowing to focus on the human performers or the muppets), but you get used to it and it was a pretty good show. It wasn't a sold out show like the Book of Mormon as there was a big area of free seats right in front of us so we had a great clear view of the stage from the "stalls" (orchestra) level. I'm always amazed at the creativity of the creators of these shows and this one doesn't disappoint in that area as well - even a bit romantic.
A thankfully short walk back to the hotel and another event filled day is complete.
