Sunday, July 15, 2007

 

A day in Windsor...

I come to enjoy travel less and less over the years. But at least I'm managing to go to more enjoyable places. Today, I'm in England as I will be throughout the week. Quest Software keeps a beautiful office in Maidenhead, which is just a short car ride away from the majestic Windsor Castle, part-time home of Queen Elizabeth II of England.


The picture at right is taken inside the castle and shows the mote & bailey that surrounds the inner keep in the background. It's decorated with lush gardens and tinkling waterfalls.



Windsor is also home to Eton College, the all-boys prep school for the creme de la creme of English high society. It costs 25,000 pounds per year to send your boy there, and there's no quantity discount. Some families have four boys in attendance at a time - a whopping 100,000 pounds sterling per year - not to mention all the other expenses due for such a top-tier education. Eton is right on the Thames river and evidently started in late medieval times as a village for loading and unloading river cargo. "Eton" is an old English term for "a ton", harkening back to the days when the boatmen would yell out how much cargo they needed to load or unload.


Windsor itself has tons of neat little things to see and do, and way too much for me to show all of the pictures I'd taken. One picture I can't help but post is of the old Martin Cross House. It was built in 1660 of untreated, undried lumber. Consequently, it sagged badly when the lumber eventually dried. However, the house is sound and hosts a very nice little tea room today. Only in England!
Cheers,
-Kevin

Labels:


Comments: Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?