Great day trip to Hampton Court on an escorted tour with our over 55's Sports Club members - The Invincibles. Our guide was amazingly patient and knowledgeable about the Palace History - Opulence, decadence, love, hate, wives, children, history, murder, politics, religion and triumph.
Impressive structure and grounds provide the framework of very complex men from Henry VIII to William the third. The first and foremost Henry, who nearly bankrupted the country, changed religion in England and built a palace that rivelled the great palaces with an overbearing masculinity. But the story is best told by the guides.
The tapestries are said to be second only to the crown jewels in value and are worth the trip alone.
And the tour is not complete without visiting the grounds, with their many faceted gardens and historic Maze, which unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit but we did manage to see the great grapevine, the largest and oldest productive grapevine in the world.
There is so much to see at Hampton Court. The magnificent Great Hall, the vast kitchens and the eerie Haunted Gallery where the ghost of one of Henry's wives has taken up residence.
We enjoyed a quick bite to eat in The Privy Kitchen. Did you know? Beef and Ale Pie is said to have been Henry VIII's favourite treat after a tennis match. I wonder if the Invincibles will be eating pie after their next tennis match!
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