Started my day on a walk through Hyde Park over to Kensington Garden. Windy, damp and overcast. 

Took the train from Paddington to Windsor (changing in Slough), dropped off my bag at the hotel, and had a quick lunch at Monty before heading to Windsor Castle. 

I loved Windsor Castle…the extravagance, the history…the audio guide was very good and plenty of knowledgeable staff on hand to answer questions. I stared at the corgi merchandise in the gift shops for ages! I was chatting with a shop keeper inside the grounds when a man walking his hound came over to say hello. It was obvious he lived and worked on the grounds, and one thing led to another, and it turns out his hound played with the queens corgis that very morning. So I pet a dog that rolled around the queens dogs…that’s like six degrees of separation from royalty, right?

As I wandered around the shops and side streets of Windsor that afternoon, I found myself on the Eton College campus. I knew of their prestigious alumni but totally had forgotten about the tailcoats! I kept thinking of D not wanting to wear a collared shirt because it looks too fancy, and here these future husbands for Miss M are so properly dressed.

A lot of private primary schools here with little ones in uniforms as well. There were not many tourists in Windsor so it was wonderful. Lots of shops and cute streets and pubs. I felt like I was intruding on the life of Windsor residents, as most people come to the town, see the castle and leave.  Walking around was a great experience.

My colleague lives in Windsor so we met for dinner at Two Brewers. I enjoyed house made pate to start and fish cakes with frites for dinner — delish! It was wonderful to hear about her life in and around Windsor. 

At the end of the day, I ended up walking ten miles…phew!