Hampton Court Palace : The Great Hall

This is the last and the greatest medieval hall built in England. The 500- year-old tapestries depicting The Story of Abraham adorn the walls of the Great Hall.

The vaulted ceiling

The stained glass shows Henry VIII flanked by the coats of arms of his six wives

The following are the table manners applicable while dining:

Henry VIII

Hampton Court Palace

This palace was presented by Cardinal Wolsey to Henry VIII in 1528. After the reign of George II, no monarch has ever resided at Hampton Court. In fact, George III, from the moment of his accession, never set foot in the palace.

Trophy Gate

Base Court

The Astronomical Clock created for Henry VIII in 1540

Waterloo Station

We took the train from Waterloo Station to Hampton Court Railway Station.

Train to Hampton Court

Hampton Court Bridge

We crossed the River Thames which is next to the railway station on our way to Hampton Court Palace

Canary Wharf

We started the second day by visiting Canary Wharf. We took the light rail from Langdon Park to Canary Wharf and walked around the business centre before taking the tube to Waterloo Station.

Canary Wharf is one of the two financial centres in London; the other being the City of London. It is home to the world or European headquarters of many banks, financial and professional firms such as Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Clifford Chance, KPMG, J P Morgan, Morgan Stanley and many more. There are now over 93,000 people working here.

Dinner at Courtfield

We went to my favourite place for roast beef in  Earl's Court for dinner.

Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding

Albert Memorial

This memorial was completed in 1876 in memory of Prince Albert, the late husband of Queen Victoria (the man who called her "Vicky")

At each corner are four bronze statues depicting some of Prince Albert's interests: engineering, agriculture, commerce and manufacturing. At the bottom of the steps leading to Prince Albert's statue are four more sculpture groups representing Europe, Africa, America and Asia.

The frieze below the statue contains sculptures of famous people such Pythagoras and Chaucer

Royal Albert Hall

The money intended for the construction of this building was diverted to building the Albert Memorial. Funds were raised by selling permanent seats (999 year lease) each for £100, a considerable sum at that time. Queen Victoria purchased 20 of the 1,300 seats for £100 each, as well as the Queen’s box. These seats and the box are still owned by the Royal Family.  

 This hall was completed in 1871.

Statue of Prince Albert

View from Albert Memorial

A box was sold for  £1.2 Million in 2008. A box of 5 seats with 865 years on the lease is now on sale for £550,000-00. Any takers?

Victoria And Albert Museum

This is the world's greatest museum of art and design. The exhibits include glass and ceramics, textiles and fashion, metalwork, sculptures, painting and photography  from different periods and different countries. As it is impossible to see everything in the museum in one day, we concentrated on European sculptures.

Pluto and Proserpina

Old keys and locks

The Great Bed of Ware

Made in 1590 in the town of Ware

12' x 12'

Hers

His

Gay angels?

Connecting people

The reason for Achilles heel