WINDSOR & ETON (updated)

On 8th July I visited the place I love the best so far in England: Windsor & Eton. The town and the castle, inside and outside, are just as beautiful as I remember, or maybe even more so.

It is a bit far away from where I live, so it was a long journey with a change in London. The rail ticket cost £24,50:

As you see the change station is not on the ticket. But, again, the system is so clever you can't even imagine. There are electronic corridor at each station, so you push the ticket in, the machine reads it, and lets you in to the platforms by opening the doors if your ticket allows you to go there. So although the change in London is not indicated on the ticket, the system knows you have to change in London. I also had to change stations in London, but they are very close to each other so I didn't have to use the underground. But if your travelling requires a change between stations where you have to use the underground it is also included in your rail ticket, the underground gate will open with your rail ticket. It's really clever and comfortable, isn't it?

So anyway, I left the house at 6:30 and arrived at Windsor at 9:35.

The centre of Windsor is quite small, tha castle is also close to the station, and fully packed with tourists:

Windsor Castle is the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world. It is the weekend residence of Queen Elizabeth II. The whole royal family loves the castle and spend lots of time here. The father of the current queen changed the royal family's surname to Windsor, because he laiked the place so much. All of the royal family learn to ride here, the Queen (91 years old) still rides every time when she is here. And the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla took place here. 

Ticket into the castle costs £18,70 (student concession), audio guide and guided walk included.

The weekend I visited the castle, the Queen wasn't there (she was is Scotland). It is indicated by the choice of the flag on the top of the tower. If it is the Union Jack, she is not there. And if it is a the royal flag, she is there:

William the Conqueror was the one who started building the castle in the end of the 11th century. Since then each king and queen added something to it, either beacuse they needed it or beacuse of the changing style and design.

The most famous part of the castle is the Round tower:

There are about 220 steps leading up to the top of the tower but it's open only in August.

From Monday to Saturday Changing of the Guard takes place inside the castle at 11 o'clock. The English simply ENJOY making you to queue, so from 9:35 I barely made it to the 11 o'clock Changing of the Guard. But I did and had my best experience so far in England. I just can't describe it with words how amazing it was.

It took place on the ground which you can see in the following picture:

The whole thing takes about half an hour but I made three short videos about the highlights. Unfortunately, they are too big, I can't upload them here. So you can either watch them on my Facebook page: or click on the following link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0Byv95615wkd7d0Q4M0pqRUtUUFk?usp=sharing

Of course there are beautiful gardens here, too:

Of course, those parts of the Castle which are occupied by the Queen during her staying are not open for the public. You can just take a look at them from the outside:

Her entrance:

The other parts of the castle is available for a visit, but again, taking photos is not allowed. If you are interested you can take a look at some of the pictures at the website. They look exactly the same in the reality as in the pictures. The two most famous attractions are Queen Mary's Doll House, with electricity and running water inside, amazing, and the other is the State Room, where state banquetts are held:

https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/windsorcastle/what-to-see-and-do/queen-marys-dolls-house

https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/windsorcastle/what-to-see-and-do/the-state-apartments

There is also a church inside the castle, called St George's Chapel. The parents and sister of Queen Elizabeth II are buried here and the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla took place here:

Of course, taking pictures inside is not allowed, but it is just again a church, nice but nothing extraordinary. The tombs of the former King and the Queen Mother are just a plain black stone with their names on top.

A photo with a guard couldn't been left out:

As you can see it in the name of the town: Windsor & Eton, Eton is connected to Windsor. It is the town where the very famous Eton College can be found. This is one of the best secondary/grammar school only for boys. The royal princes attend it and several Prime Ministers did, too.

There are occasions when guided tours are available inside the college. Unfornately, currently it isn't open for the public, so I could only take  a look at it from the outside:

The River Thames separates the two towns, so if you walk from the one to the other, you cross a bridge from where the view is wonderful:

When I was going back to the station, I ran into some kind of "festival". Actually, I have no idea how to call it. It was like the retired but energetic group of people of Windsor & Eton. I've made some videos, watch them if you want to laugh:

And finally the financial report: £45,60 altogether, so about 16 000 Ft.