During our trip to England, we went on a bus tour that stopped at three different locations. The first one being Windsor Castle located in the Berkshire province in the city of Windsor.
Windsor is a royal residence and the favorite of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The original castle was built in the 11th century and has been used since Henry I, who used it in 1100-1135. This makes Windsor Castle the longest-occupied palace in Europe.
The castle was constructed in three wards surrounding a central mound. Over time it has been surrounded by stone fortifications, giving it its present-day look.
Since the castle is being used by the royals, access to the public is limited and sadly no photos are allowed inside.
While we were on the visit we walked around the castle grounds to St. George’s Chapel, visited the state apartments and saw Queen Mary’s doll house.
St George’s Chapel was one of the most beautiful churches we have ever seen (and that is saying something because we see A LOT of churches over here😉), built in the late medieval gothic style. Harry and Megan got married in St George’s Chapel, likely because it can only seat 800 people instead of 2,000+ people that larger, more formal royal wedding venues like Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London can.
Queen Elizabeth II is also laid to rest in St George’s Chapel at Windsor, which makes sense because Windsor Castle has been said to be her favorite of the royal residences. We were able to see her tomb in King George VI Memorial chapel.
The State Apartments were extremely beautiful and ornate. We saw ceremonial rooms that are still used today by the Royal Family and saw historical rooms that were built for Charles II and his Queen, Catherine of Braganza (1660–1685).
Queen Mary’s Doll House is said to be the largest and most beautiful doll house in the world. It was built from 1921 and 1924 as a gift from Sir Edwin Lutyens. The dollhouse is massive and 1,500 of the finest artists, craftsmen and manufacturers of the time helped contribute to it. It has running water, electricity, real champagne in the champagne bottles and books that were written down to scale (i.e., you could actually read the tiny books with the magnify glass).
The Jo Show 