Hampton Court

Jamie has the week off so we decided to do some exploring - the real reason we came! We headed over to Hampton Court, otherwise known as Tudor Palace. It has been at the top of my list, I find the Tudor time fascinating. We were able to get a palace membership for the year that includes London Tower, Kensington and Kew - where else can you get yearly access to Castles?

Hadley is really excited to enter the palace!

Everyone is dressed in period costume and they do scenes a few times a day, here is the older King Henry VIII and Catherine Howard.

Watching in the front courtyard

Gorgeous ceilings, almost every room was done beautifully - I want to say this is the Queen's sitting room but I will need to write them down in the future. The most impressive was the chapel but since it is still operating so no cameras were allowed.

Amazing paintings, especially from the Tudor time, Henry was reported to be extremely vain. Hadley is making sure she takes it all in.

The Palace Kitchen, it was so small considering how many meals they had to prepare with old fashioned methods!

The Palace Gardens, it was pretty cold so we are planning on coming back to visit in the summer. There is a maze they said noblemen and their mistresses would get "lost" together.

Jamie in the central courtyard. The palace was nicely kept and there were placards describing the history - you need a chart with you at all times to remember the family trees and shifts in power! They offered headphones with an audio tour but it isnt extremely practical with a baby, so the info was good but I would love to do some more research before we go to other sites. A fact I didnt realize is that this was the location of King James of the King James bible translation lived, one of the most popular versions. I also didnt realize that not every King/Queen lived here, depending on the family and the time they would chose new locations. This one housed quite a few though and was built to impress the rest of Europe. The rooms and perks are to die for, but I am not sure it is worth it to be a Queen of Henry VIII!