Hampton Court

Today's photography focus was on flowers while at our only destination for the day, Hampton Court! We took the tube and then the above ground train the Palace. There were self-guiding tours and after you pick one up, you are enticed by the racks of medieval-style sleeveless cloaks in green or ruby colors. First, I roamed around the palace, and admired the large tapestries which adorned the main mead hall. The stained glass windows were appointed throughout the many rooms in the main building; as were and the antlers of man, many elk and deer were mounted all around. 


At all times, there were various reenactments, with the actors themselves hip-deep in their characters. They gave their little histories with such a realistic flair that must commend them on keeping the tourist attention for long periods of time...In addition to the historical tours inside the palace walls, I had a great time snapping away at the much manicured gardens which surround Hampton Court. The diversity of the flowers inside the small, inner courtyard was not too extravagant, but there were these particularly dark-black varieties, which, upon closer inspection, were actually a deep, dark purple. 




The outer gardens, by contrast, were huge and sprawling. The impressive sight would be awe-inspiring in any era. They are pruned by hand and this specific attention gives the gardens a more authentic feel. There were all sorts of lovely wild flowers and I was sort of shocked to note there did not appear to be any roses! Another wonderful surprise came as I descended down the gardens to get a better look at this particularly green middle section, which was in fact, a gigantic fleur de lis cut out in a wonderful assortment of dark green shrubbery.  

Although I did not really have any overtly personal a-ha moments inside Hampton Court, I did get a little bit teary on the walk back to the train station as we passed yet another poster for a performance of The Tempest, which I blogged about at the beginning of this educational journey as being the first play my husband and I ever attended. That broke the dreamlike state I was in for most of the day. But, I know I will have a wonderful time tonight, discussing the events of the day on Skype and that seems to keep my spirits up!  

Diego looking through the peephole!