We were good kids today. We woke up much earlier than we did yesterday, although we honestly didn't have much of a choice... today was the day we were going to visit Hampton Court Palace.

Hampton Court Palace is located approximately 12 miles from Charing Cross in central London. According to Wikipedia, "the Knights Hospitaller had operated a farm on the site since 1236. In 1505, the Lord Chamberlain, Sir Giles Daubeney, leased the property and used it to entertain Henry VII". The present palace didn't begin to take shape until 1514, when Thomas Wolsey, then Archbishop of York and Chief Minister to Henry VIII, took over the lease and began to create a palace in the Renaissance Italian style. But then, in 1525, Wolsey made the fatal mistake of pissing off Great Harry, who not only took his life, but took his house too. Henry expanded the palace until his death. Subsequent monarchs continued to use and expand the palace, but the palace's present form didn't appear until the reign of William and Mary when "parts of Henry's additions were demolished, a new wing was added (partly under the supervision of Sir Christopher Wren), and the state apartments came into regular use". Even more refurbishment took place during the reign of George II, however beginning with George III, the palace saw less and less use by Britain's monarchs, who now preferred staying in London. As far as royal palaces go, Hampton Court is far older than Buckingham Place; in fact, Buckingham Palace didn't become anything resembling a "palace" until 1826 and didn't become the "official" home of the British monarch until the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.

But I'm getting way, way ahead of myself here. To get to Hampton Court from central London one must take a Bakerloo, Jubilee or Northern line Tube train to Waterloo station and then take a South West Trains train to Hampton Court Palace. Since the Hilton is close to the Bakerloo line, that's the one Lisa and I took. We arrived at Waterloo station at the perfect time, having to wait only 8 minutes or so for the next train to Hampton Court. Since we hadn't had anything to eat yet, Lisa checked out a sandwich shop, where she got a hummus wrap. I initially didn't bother with food, but seeing all those sandwiches made me kind of hungry. I went in and spied a "chicken tikka sandwich"... Curry for breakfast? Why the hell not? I grabbed the sandwich and a drink and hit the train!

I've only been outside of central London once, and that was to visit Bath. On that trip, I was treated to an hour and a half of picturesque English countryside... not so on this trip.  It wasn't ugly and industrial (like the train ride from Gatwick), but it wasn't especially pretty either. Of course, the cold and the rain didn't help that much, either. But - to be honest - I had other things to worry about. You see, the Visitor Travelcard is supposed to be valid for travel on all Tube trains, most London busses and all non-Tube railways within metropolitan London. I was fairly certain that the card was valid for this trip, but all of the "£20 penalty fare for not having a ticket" signs made me nervous. I wasn't exactly rolling in cash, and having to pay £40 (almost $80) penalties (in addition to paying for the fare) made a bit worried. Fortunately, no member of staff came through checking tickets, so the issue was never raised. A still-sleepy Lisa ate her hummus wrap (pictured left) whilst I stared off at the suburban scene passing by us.

We arrived at Hampton Court at 11:30 or so in the morning, around 35 minutes after leaving Waterloo station.

Hampton Court Palace, with the Thames in the foreground

Note the swift change in architectural styles; this is a Georgian area of the Palace

Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside most parts of the palace, so you'll have to settle for mostly exterior shots. If you'd like a more in-depth look inside the palace, click here. And fear not - even though they don't allow photography inside the palace, that doesn't mean that the staff is uptight. Many staff wander around the palace in period clothing, like the medieval monk pictured to the left, who was being merry for the holidays and handing out candy to the children. We were even treated to a free mini-concert of chamber music by folks dressed up in 18th century garb once we got to William III's state apartments!

Lisa dressed up in a bababooshka!
It was COLD and rainy that day!

Yum! Venison *and* wild boar for dinner! These are just plastic models, of course...

One of the most amazing things we saw at Hampton Court that day was the Chapel Royal. It's just a chapel, and is not much bigger than the Church of Our Saviour back home. But the chapel still has its original, magnificent Tudor ceiling, which was simply breathtaking to see:

Above photo taken by Gayle of DesignWest, 18 April or 6 May 1999.

Hampton Court is also known for its lush gardens and its maze. However, it was just too cold and rainy to check them out:

Given that we had seen just about everything that we could see inside the palace (and that we weren't stupid enough to try an navigate the maze in the rain), it seemed as if it was time to go. I did, however, have time to snap a couple of pictures of people skating in the ice rink set up outside the palace just for the holidays. Yes, these people are ice skating in the rain:

Before I finish with the Hampton Court stuff, I simply must quote you a rather funny conversation Lisa and I had at one point during the day. We had just finished walking through Queen Mary's state apartments, dozens of rooms so opulent that it simply beggars belief. The King of England had some money, folks. I'm not talking gangsta rapper money or even Hollywood movie star money... I'm talking Bill Gates money here. Queen Mary's friggin bathroom probably cost more money (and required more craftsmen) than my old house in Duluth. It's almost obscene!

So anyway, Lisa and I had this exact conversation shortly after we walked out of her apartments:

Lisa: "So, you've never been to the Biltmore House, right?"
Me: "Nope."
Lisa: "Pffffffffttt! Don't even bother now..."

It's that bling, folks!

End of Part 1 of Day 4. Click here to go to part 2 of Day 4!