Windsor Castle

We traveled to Windsor Castle, a new spot for me (Paul sang in the chapel as a lad). It was both a fun trip (we spent the night at The Bean's home in Marlow, just a skip from the castle) and a very good learning experience for Family Smith Barnes.


Key Lessons:

1. Do all high-intensity museum visits BEFORE 2 p.m. when Charlotte starts to unravel.
2. Always check for advance ticket sales (lots of them here), to avoid waiting in lines with the little people. (Good advice for everyone, right?)
3. Feed, feed, feed the children, stuff them senseless, before dragging them anywhere (especially a crowded chapel, wall-to-wall with tourists, to visit the grave of Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and the like).
4. Why travel to high-occupancy spots during the summer when we have all winter to enjoy them? Windsor, in particularly, makes you pay (a lot) for admission, but lets you come back as many times as you'd like for a year on the same ticket.

The kids LOVED Queen Mary's exquisite, totally over-the-top dollhouse (flushing loo?) and the mounds of shining armor. I was particularly wowed by Henry's head-to-toe rig. And the gold tankards. Really? I don't think I could lift one empty, let alone full.

(Yes, it does appear we're making it a personal mission to feed our children ice cream outside every historic monument in Britain).