Hampton Court

Hampton Court: (Friday 2/11) After visiting Windsor Castle, went to Hampton Court, which was also amazing, but truthfully paled in comparison to Windsor. I told our tour-guide it would have really been a better idea to tour Hampton Court first and then go to Windsor Palace and she laughed and said that people always say that but it works better logistically to do Windsor earlier. Anyways, at Hampton Court we toured various rooms and learned all about King Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey. The Palace was originally built for Wolsey, King Henry VIII's most trusted advisor and a powerful figure in the church; however Wolsey failed to help Henry annul his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, which led to his downfall. King Henry VIII took back Hampton Court and removed most of the traces of Wolsey, including his coat of arms, replacing it with his own. One of my favorite parts of Hampton Court, in addition to the arms displayed in beautiful patterns on the walls as they were at Windsor, was the astrological clock on the Tudor gatehouse, showing the current date, time, astrological sign, and moon phase in beautiful gold, red, and blue colors. My other favorites were the Fountain Court, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and the magnificent gardens that we were able to walk through and take pictures of. The picture of me jumping in my blog is in front of the fountain in the Privy Garden.