Amy Across the Atlantic: Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court! This is my first visit to one of the royal residences since I've moved to London. Hampton Court was the main home of Henry VIII and other royals after him. We took the train out from Waterloo Station. My favorite part of going to Waterloo is always the Krispy Kreme stand. British bakery donuts are not as good as American ones, but Krispy Kreme is!

Hampton Court is a large complex with several buildings and gardens surrounding. This is the drive leading up to the main entrance...

And some nice little statues that line the front gate. I especially like the dragon.

The first courtyard had this fountain that originally flowed with wine for visitors to have a drink upon arrival.

They also had these odd little wooden statues in various places around the courtyard. I'm not sure what the point was, but generally they looked like they had frequently the wine fountain! And they made great photo ops. Aunt Helen made a new friend.

And so did I!

We toured the Henry VIII section of the palace that included the living spaces and public rooms that were occupied by Henry and his wife (wives, really, but only one at a time) during his reign. They had a pretty good audio guide that led us through the tour.

We also toured the kitchens, but I didn't end up with any great pictures of that. They have most of the original kitchens set up to give visitors an idea of the volume of cooking and the methods used during the time. There was a fire with about a dozen spits in front of it for roasting meat and pots that I could take a bath in. It was very impressive.

There was also a special exhibit about the Royal Bedchamber in the newer section of the palace. No pictures were allowed, but generally it was not as scintillating as it sounds. :) Finally, we toured some of the gardens, which were as beautiful and impressive as the bedchamber thing was boring. Look at these great sculptured bushes that almost look like cartoons!