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Final Day - Windsor Castle

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 Friday 2/21/2025  The week has flown by and we are on the last day of the tour.  While it was a super quick week, I think the tour packed in a bunch of stuff and then with the 3 plays and touring around on my first day, I actually did a lot in my one week in London.   I did learn something about tours though.  When you are out on the road in different towns, you get some rest time when on the bus.  There is not as much rest time when you stay in one town, so I wore myself out the first few days and learned how to pace myself after that.   For our final day, we took a train outside the city to the town of Windsor to see Windsor Castle.  It was a massive Castle/Palace.  I believe our guide says it sits on 13 acres, and at 955 years old - built in 1070 - it is the longest occupied castle in the world.  Any pictures of the inside that I post were taken from their website.  We couldn’t take pictures inside.  Here are some outside p...
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Shakespeare and Elizabethan entertainment

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 Thursday 2/20/2025 Today we headed out to the reconstruction of the Globe Theatre which everyone associates with Shakespeare.  Theaters really took off in London during the Elizabethan days, 1558-1603.  Shakespeare came to London in 1582.  Other entertainments at the time for the working class were dogfights and cockfighting as well as boardgames like chess and backgammon, because it was cheap.   The wealthy enjoyed dancing, banquets, masques and any sort of tournaments.   At the theatre the rich and poor alike combined.   Shakespeare came to London in 1582, but there is really not a lot known about the original Globe theater.  It is thought that it started to be built in 1587, but they know for sure it was open in 1599 since there is a recorded performance of Julius Caesar.  The original Globe Theatre only stood for 14 years before it was torn down.  It was rebuilt and stood for another 28 years, then torn down and made room for other ...
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Royals, Westminster Abby and War Rooms

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 2/19 Wednesday How do all three of this go together?   Well, because we did them on the same day.  We started our day by walking thru Green Park to view Buckingham Palace. The palace is just a 10 minute walk from our hotel, and while it was a pretty walk, it would be beautiful in the summertime.  We took a few pictures of the Palace.  It was flying King Charles’ royal standard rather than the Union Jack, which indicates that he is in town (we didn’t see him though). We then walked to Clarence House where the queen mother use to live, then Charles and William and Harry after he split with Diana, and currently the king and queen make it their home rather than Buckingham palace.  We were told there are many reasons, but a main one is that the palace is going through a 10 year modernization to be finished in 2027.  The palace originally began construction in 1703 and was completed in 1837, the year Queen Victoria moved in, making it the official London re...
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