Day 1 - London, Windsor Castle

Outside the bus at Windsor Castle

We then boarded the bus the boys piled into the back and most of the parents were in the front with Coach In-between. Our driver, Dave Robinson, introduced the group to the bus and was quite funny in a dry sort of way describing the bus facilities and their appropriate use. He also noted that waste from the bus was not jettisoned onto the open highway. He told the group that we would have frequent stops. Dave is the English version of a military brat. He was born in England and lived the next 9 years in Germany. His father owned a taxicab company. About 16 years ago he decided to upgrade his earning potential and obtained a license to drive a tour bus. He has driving ever since.

It was a 30 minute drive to Windsor castle. We arrived just in time to catch the tail end of the changing of the guard formal routine – complete with a marching band. The line to enter the castle was long; however, since we were in a group we missed the line and went through the group entrance. We were the only group.

Windsor Castle

At Windsor Castle each person could choose to take an audio tour or just walk the grounds. The grounds were beautiful. The castle was designed as a fortress and has been in continuous use and operation for the royal family for 100s of years. There were displays of amour, paintings (the Waterloo room contained paintings of all the victorious English Officers painted by the same artist) -- with the Duke of Wellington’s portrait in a prominent position. There were rooms with painted ceilings and ornately carved fixtures. The royal family owns thousands of paintings which are rotated in and out of the display (Rueben’s, Van Dyke, etc.) Different ruling kings/queens had distinct tastes. There were portraits of King Henry, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Victoria among others.

There was a display of the Knights of the Garter colors through –out the years. It gave me a better appreciation of where the Maryland State Flag ago. Most of the colors were in the four block style like the Maryland flag.

Interred in the chapel were monarchs from various eras – we were able to walk over the grave of King Henry VIII. The organ was dazzling in gold and patterns. The Knights of the Garter still meet there. You can still attend church services at St. George’s.

From Windsor Castle the group went to the hotel. The guys had a training session with an English coach, David Byrne, from Watford. The session was a good one. He worked with the guys in small groups and worked with our players on the importance on keeping their heads up and working on their form. The guys had a full day of site-seeing and soccer with little sleep, we will all sleep well tonight.

On Saturday the group will leave at 9:00am for a tour of London and tower of London.

Kathleen