The group was small, the trip leader, 8 students and 1 faculty member. Only 3 of us were native English speakers; the other students were from India, Spain, Germany, Italy, just to name a few. Getting to Windsor was a bit of an adventure in itself as the train running from Brighton was under construction. A combination of trains, buses and two and a half hours later we were finally in Windsor. First thing we did was grab a quick picnic lunch and then it was off to the castle. A town within itself, the Castle and its grounds were mind-boggling. To think that the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family still frequent the castle was almost too much to wrap my head around. The only way I know she wasn't there was that the Royal flag was not flying from the top of the round tower. Oftentimes she will be spending her weekend there while tourists are gawking at the extravagance of her massive estate, all the while not catching a single glimpse of her because the castle is so massive and us commoners are exposed to only a fraction of it.
My favorite part of the grounds was St. George's Chapel, which, in terms of size resembled more of a Cathedral than a Chapel. Gorgeous stained glass, elaborate tombs of Kings and Queens past, elegant woodwork and painting all throughout the Chapel kept me lingering there for about an hour. My favorite part of the Chapel was a stunning sculpture in remembrance of Princess Charlotte who died in childbirth. From one slab of marble an artist created a gorgeous depiction of the Princess veiled by a sheet with only her delicate hand peeking out from underneath. She is surrounded by her ladies in waiting (also veiled in mourning) and above her is herself surrounded by angels. It was so elaborate and lifelike; I was completely captivated by it and not allowed to take a single photo by which to remember it (good thing I found this site).
The castle itself was equally as impressive. Tons of paintings of royalty and dignitaries, opulent carpets, furniture and wallpaper- all of it matching to create a bold color theme for each room (bright red, vibrant green, royal purple; you name it, there was a room colored in it). Entire rooms were devoted to various weaponry and armor used throughout the years. Carriages "pulled" by statues of horses adorned in their own fancy dress flanked the foyer of the State Apartments. Whoever named them apartments had a twisted sense of humour; if those are apartments then the rest of us live in shacks.
The town of Windsor outside the walls of the castle is a small, charming place. Filled with lots of posh little shops and restaurants, Windsor and the next town over, Eton are interesting places to visit. Other than the castle we didn't have much time to sight-see and wander around. We did manage to take a quick walk across the river and into Eton to visit the prestigious boys school that Princes William and Harry attended not so long ago. the school is usually open for tours but we didn't have time so we just admired from a distance. All in all I had a really nice day. As always it was lovely to visit a new town and see such lovely places like the Castle and its grounds but even better was that I developed a new kind of self-confidence that day. It's perfectly acceptable, dare I say encouraging to go out on your own- to take a trip with total strangers, push past your comfort zone and meet new people. I made some really nice new friends that day. I suppose it could be argued that this whole trip has been a big trip without anyone I know. Coming to Sussex I didn't know anyone and looking back now, after only just over 1 month I've made so many new friends from all over the world. I guess it was just an unnerving though to spend Valentine's day alone with total strangers- thank goodness it turned out to be a great success!
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