England - Windsor Castle

Sunday, March 9th, 2014

Arrival at Heathrow and Windsor Castle

I flew from Toronto and arrived at Heathrow early in the morning. John picked me up and drove me to Dottie's house. She lives in Great Missenden which is north west of London. On route he related to me that Dottie's house had been burgled while they were in Spain. They stole both of their computers and John's Mercedes! A good friend of his had lent him the Volvo we were driving in. Dottie lives in a beautiful house outside of London in the country. It was great to see both of them! Dottie made us a big late breakfast and we sat and caught up with each other. I should take lessons from Dottie as a housekeeper, her home is immaculate, well-appointed and quite minimalist, especially when you consider she has a seven year old.

After breakfast, they told me they were taking me to Windsor Castle. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day, apparently the first in a long time, as the weather has been cool, wet and miserable until I arrived. We drove to Windsor and had a tour of the castle and the grounds. It is massive and stunning. It was first constructed by William the Conqueror in the eleventh century and has been added on to a number of times during history. It has been the home of 39 monarchs and is one of the official residences of the Queen. We had an inside tour and visited many of the rooms including the section that burned down in 1992.

When we left the castle we walked into the town and sat at a cafe and enjoyed a drink and the warm sun. Back at Dottie's house for dinner where I meet Innie, Dottie's daughter, for the first time. She is a very precocious seven year, with blue eyes and white blond hair. We had a good dinner, relaxed and chatted away the evening.