Trips

        After lunch, we took the Tube to the National Gallery and looked mostly at Renaissance paintings.  Marge found some more from our list from the Great Courses art lectures.  It poured rain while we were in the museum. This is another place to which we must return on the next visit to London.

The National Gallery	Leonardo's - Virgin of the Rocks - London version
Botticelli - Venus and Mars	The rain let up so we crossed the street to St. Martin-in-the-Fields and were lucky enough to catch a choral rehearsal.  The Nonsuch Singers, conducted by Tom Bullard, were accompanied by early instruments including sackbutts (early trombones) and cornetts, a leather covered wood pipe played like a recorder but with a small horn (trumpet) mouthpiece.  It was fascinating to watch and wonderful to listen to.  We stay about one hour before heading home.
The Nonsuch Singers	Early Instruments
Early Instruments	The London City Hall
Wed., 6/8/16 – London and Hampton Court             This morning we met the 9 people on our “pre-trip” extension in London and rode with them and our PD, Jane, in a 15-passenger mini-bus to Hampton Court. Hampton Court was originally built for Cardinal Woolsey in 1514.  After King Henry VIII declared England free from the Roman Catholic Church and Pope, he tired of Cardinal Woolsey and seized the palace for himself in 1526.  English history is long and involved, but Henry VIII ended up with the palace and spent years and much money adding to the place.  It was “finished” in 1560.             We began our tour at the astronomical clock in the courtyard with the wine fountain.  The clock shows time, phases of the moon, and the tide schedule at London Bridge.  The wine fountain was used to dispense wine for one of Queen Elizabeth II’s birthdays.             We toured with audio guides and useless tour map through Henry VIII’ state apartments where he conducted business and entertained (Great Hall, Royal Chapel, Throne Room, etc.) and his private apartments (bedroom, toilet, study, etc.).  We wandered through more rooms filled with priceless art owned by QE II.  Then we went through William III and Mary’s apartments.  They added another whole wing to the palace.  There are two Throne Rooms - since William was out fighting wars so much of the time, Mary had her own throne from which to deal with the business of the kingdom.
	Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace	On its way to a garden
Astronomical Clock	Decorative chimneys
Decorative chimneys	Hampton Court Palace
Tapestry	Stained glass window
Ceiling	Banquet Hall
	Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace	Weapons
Throne room	Henry VIII's Toilet
It was another glorious day so we enjoyed walking in the several formal gardens: the Great Fountain garden with gum drop shaped trees, the privy or privacy garden, the pond gardens in which workers were busy planting new flowers, the orange garden - because William of Orange had to have orange trees, the rose garden, and the “complimentary” kitchen garden where vegetables are planted next to plants they grow best near.  We loved the rose gardens because the roses really smelled like roses.  We also found the Great Vine, the largest grape vine (and the oldest) in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records.  It was planted in 1768, it is 246 feet long, the circumference of the trunk is 12 feet 5 inches, and the branches average 108 feet!  It produces sweet black dessert grapes eaten by royalty and sold in the palace shop.  I am still fascinated by the indoor tennis courts.  The Brits consider this unusual game “real tennis” from 1527, while “lawn tennis” is new and dates from 1874.  Both are played over a net with a ball and rackets and there the similarity stops.
Hampton Court Gardens	Hampton Court Gardens
Hampton Court Palace and Gardens
Nothing is planted above the roots of the Great Vine	The Great Vine
The Great Vine	The Great Vine
The Royal Tennis Court	Tennis Racquets
The Royal Tennis Court	The Royal Tennis Court
Great Fountain Garden	We sat at a bench in the Great Fountain Garden and ate our sandwich lunch and then exited through Henry VIII’s kitchens.  His servants were kept busy cooking, baking pies, etc.
Henry VIII's Kitchens	Henry VIII's Kitchens
Henry VIII's Kitchens	The Rose Garden
We left Hampton Court and our group and walked across the Thames River and got on a train (National Railroad using our Oyster cards) to Wimbledon.  Then we walked the mile or more to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club - just to be there.  We were about 100 yards from the entrance to the Wimbledon shop when it started to pour buckets of rain.  We put on our rain jackets and used our little umbrellas and waited in the shop until it stopped raining.  We bought a couple of Wimbledon souvenirs, a hat for Marge and washcloths for our travels.         We took some pictures and then walked to Southfield to get on a Tube train back to Tower Hill and home.	National Rail car
Cute sign in the village of Wimbledon	All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Mural at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club	All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club	Spire of St. Mary’s Church from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club	Houses in Southfield
We detoured through the Katherine docks area behind our hotel to take pictures of the Gloriana - the Queen's Rowbarge (16 oarsmen and the Queen).
Gloriana - the Queen's Rowbarge	Gloriana - the Queen's Rowbarge
Gloriana - the Queen's Rowbarge	Gloriana - the Queen's Rowbarge
We were in time to see two large sailboats come in through the little walkway drawbridges.  It was fun seeing them in action.
Going out to the Thames	Interesting "manhole"

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