London 2016 – Day 8 / Windsor

Steps today: 20 713

Is it my imagination or is the room MARGINALLY better tonight? Could it be I am just used to it?? Don’t get me wrong, it’s still uncomfortably warm - imagine putting on your face cream and it being warm to the touch. It’s gross!!  But tonight I don’t feel like I am in the process of melting into a puddle.  When we got back to the room at the end of the day, our cards were demagnetized and while we were at the front desk getting them fixed, we were listening to another guest complain about the horrible heat in her room. Seems to be a hotel-wide problem!!  Yet the room they gave us access to to shower before we changed over was FR-FR-FR-FREEEEEZING!  So whatever.

Today, we went to Windsor and we had a marvelous day! My first priority upon arrival was to do The Long Walk before it got too hot, and we went further along it than I had ever previously walked to date – it was terrific!

After, we explored St George’s Chapel (which is amazing! such a shame it’s no picture’s allowed), Queen Mary’s Doll House and the Castle Grounds. We skipped the State Rooms since we just saw State Rooms at Buckingham Palace and so it felt redundant.

We ducked out of the heat with a 3-hour lunch and a beautiful restaurant with great views of the Castle Walls.

We especially liked this painting on the wall of the Castle and The Long Walk:

We were done eating by around 4PM, STUFFED, yet happy to have avoided the hottest period of the day. We spent about an hour strolling around the village before heading back to London.

Back in London, Paddington Station:

I wanted to go to Aqua Bar in The Shard to get some Night Shots of London from the 30-somethingth floor. We went for drinks last year and the views were great! Sadly, I did not pass the dress code this time. The lady said to me: “We’d love to let you in Madam but we have a dress code and it’s Smart Casual. We’re a little more flexible during the day, but in the evening we have a dress code.”  Ok fine, fair enough.  I am the first to admit I don’t really make an effort to dress up on vacation, but I have to admit that it was a little embarrassing!

So instead of Night Shots from above, I had to content myself with the views from below… and they did NOT disappoint!!! (We took these while on Millennium Bridge)

Which do you prefer?

Camera (keeping in mind I am lazy about adjusting the settings)

Phone (point and shoot)

Before calling it a day, we searched around for a quiet-ish place for night cap. Our lunch marathon meant we were nowhere near hungry for dinner, but a drink and maybe a little nibble felt like a good idea. It was about 8PM by then and the pubs were all too loud and crowded so we ended up in a restaurant with good intentions but it turned into 2/3 of a bottle of wine with a cheese plate, cured meats and olives.  I’m having a lot of difficulty moving now.

My bites are fine, despite my allergic reactions making them extremely unsightly, they’re healing and getting better every day.

The heat wave is theoretically over, temps are supposed to fall by 10 degrees as of tomorrow! YAHOOOOOOO!