The Merry Kids of Windsor

Next gig on the Ward's farewell tour was a trip to Windsor and Richmond. We our friends Neil and Caroline, and their children Sophie and Callum who are very close in age to Issie and Max. The big event of the weekend was to be a trip to Legoland on Sunday, but first we headed out to Windsor itself as we knew that the Queen would like to say goodbye to the kids before we left her country.

Arriving in Windsor around midday, we had a lovely lunch at Browns, down by the river (where Max insisted on taking pictures and ended up with a not bad one of Gesa and I, and lots of blured ones of buses and traffic lights).

After lunch we walked up to the Castle. It's a long time since we'd visited,and never with the kids, so we'd forgotten how much there was to see and do. The kids got one of those audio tours where you press the buttons and listen to the commentary about each area or room. Max just enjoyed pressing buttons, whilst Issie was listening intently and passing on select comments to us - "this is where the King slept...."

We went through the State Apartments, and there was so much to see that we ran out of time and had to hurry the kids through the last few rooms and get back before our parking ticket expired. Although the castle isn't a cheap trip out, it was good value and we really enjoyed it. Her Majesty was at home, but sadly we didn't have time to stop and say hello so I guess we'll just have to drop her a postcard.

Back in Richmond, we were there early enough for the kids to play together before bedtime, then the adults went out for a nice meal and then went along the street to the local pub to catch the last few minutes of the rugby match. Approaching the pub all was quiet, an onimous sign and as we walked in, England were trailing France 8-9. Within minutes an England penalty put them ahead, and 10 minutes later, with a drop goal added to the tally, England were through to the finals and the pub was bathed in rowdy celebration. Neither of us are great sports fans; Gesa rarely sees a game and I'll only sit down for the biggest matches if I've got time, but this was a great way to see this particular game - all the excitement in the last ten minutes.