Hampton Court Palace - 6/26

Our first Sunday in London started with a beautiful morning. However, before I get into any details about Sunday, I want to share with you a picture of a wonderful thing.

This was the second dessert that I was gushing about last night!

I don't know what else to say about it, except that it was delicious, and this picture will bring up memories of the pure delight tasting this tart brought to me. Yum.

Now, back to Sunday's events. Well, it started off again with breakfast, our last formal breakfast while we are here. The rest are on our own. Once again, I had a traditional breakfast, but this time I DID get a picture of it. So, voila!

After breakfast, we gathered almost all of the students together to travel to Hampton Court Palace. As you may recall, that is the palace that Henry VIII lived in when he reigned, and on which many of the scenes in The Tudors, the Showtime special, were based.

Here follow a series of pictures that describe and illustrate our adventure. First, after we arrived by train, we crossed over a bridge, and this is the first glimpse we got of the palace.

As we walked through the main gate to the grounds, the front of the palace came into view.

Aagh! This monster leapt out at us. Don't look!

Whew. Once we were safe, we went into the inner courtyard (actually the first of several - each more luscious and pleasant than the previous one).

While we watched, an odd character came strolling up and lo and behold, it was Henry VIII and a couple of his courtiers! That's one of our students on the right, and Henry couldn't help himself but he had to flirt with her. what would his wives (all six of them - but not at once) say!

We were entertained, along with the king, by several tales and other antics of his gentlemen. All in all, a good time was had ... by all!

After King Henry hurried off to his other appointments, we strolled through the palace itself and enjoyed many of its views, including the wonderful gardens.

No, those aren't the ladies in waiting of the queen. They are some more of the students who are participating in this year's study abroad adventure!

While we were enjoying a stroll through the lovely gardens, the monster popped up again!

It was at this point that we all decided it was time to return to London to find some dinner and for me, at least, to prepare for the first class meeting on Monday.

Thus, after a wonderfully enjoyable first weekend, the trip to London is about to get its real start - academically speaking. I hope you are enjoying our adventures. If so, return for more tomorrow. If not, come back tomorrow to see whether you like it any better then!