Jolly Jaunt to Windsor

Upon cruising from Queensferry, the port for Edinburgh, we enjoyed two nights and one day of comfortable luxury aboard Caribbean Princess before debarking in Southampton.

Despite the fact that our flights wouldn't depart until the next day, we took the Princess transfer to London Heathrow Airport.

In the terminal, we found a public bus to take us to our one-night hotel stay at the Hyatt Place London Heathrow.  While it wasn't far, the circuitous route stopped at a few other hotels before arriving at our lodgings.

This is not our hotel.  It's Windsor Castle.

The hotel feels new and somewhat upscale.  Early check-in was available for a reasonable fee --- 15 pounds --- so we accepted without hesitation and went to unpack in our spacious, comfortable room.

After resting awhile, we summoned an Uber to take us to the royal city of Windsor.

Blessed with another sunny day, lots of other tourists had found their way to view Windsor Castle, including several school groups from China and other countries.  

Like other wonderful cities we visited on this trip, Windsor has beautiful, historic architecture.

A large statue of Queen Victoria, perhaps the most influential ruler and mother of all time was there to greet us.

Queen Victoria ruled almost 64 years.  The British Empire during this new industrial age included a fourth of the world's land mass at its peak.

She had nine children and 42 grandchildren.  Her offspring went on to rule much of Europe. 

We walked along several streets looking at menus before choosing The Ivy Royal Windsor Brasserie, an upscale restaurant with Victorian touches.

The prices were not unreasonable, with fish and chips for 19.95 pounds.  The aromas smelled good, and diners looked happy with their choices.

The staff wore white shirts, black slacks and with green bow ties and green vests.  They looked very sharp.  One woman who I presume was the manager or maître d' wore a green jacket.

Julie had told me to choose a place, and this was it as far as I was concerned.

When we asked to be seated, the hostess seemed a bit befuddled by their schedule.

I pointed to a great table for two in what to me was the prime location beside the streetside window.

"Do you have a reservation?" the hostess asked.

"No."

Whispers among three staff members, and then a server was handed menus upon reaching consensus to seat us.

I guess it was our lucky day.  Perhaps the person who had reserved what would be our table was late for a reservation.  It was, after all, about 1 PM.  In any case, we were shown to our seats and given menus.

Julie ordered the Ivy Burger that's served with chips, while I went with the Traditional Fish and Chips.

Our waitress proved to be very efficient, and we were served within ten minutes.

The beer choices were limited to three, so I went with Windsor Knot, a pale ale which to me had hints of tropical fruits like an IPA.  It had been originally brewed to celebrater the wedding of Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton at Windsor Castle, appropriate for the location across the street from Windsor Castle.

The servings were enormous.  We probably could have split the burger and fries and been sated.

As it was, my fish and chips were fantastic, with Windsor Knot proving to be the perfect accompanying beverage.  Julie added a Diet Coke to her combo.  And we managed to finish most of our meals.

Any thoughts I had about the waitstaff rushing our order to turn the table vanished when our waitress allowed us plenty of time to linger after our meal.

Off on an after-lunch walk, we looked through the gates at the castle, but we were really "castled-out" after Holyrood Palace and Cawdor Castle on our last two port days, plus Cardiff Castle during our pre-cruise trip to Wales.

We went to an old church that was quite proud of a painting of the Last Supper donated by King George III, the British king at the time of the American Revolution.

Having once again walked several miles that day, nothing sounded better than going to the lovely park along a road leading from Windsor Castle to stretch out under the shade of a tree.

When I was in college, for some reason I often got the urge to lay down in a green field on a sunny day when I needed to study for a test or writing a report.  I had no deadlines this day, so it must truly be perfect weather, not visions of shirking schoolwork, that tempted me after all.

We lay down on the lovely field.  Close by, dads and small children began having fun kicking a soccer ball around.  I enjoyed watching a bit and then hearing their laughter as I dozed off.

We headed back into town after our nap to find a coffee shop, but oddly we didn't find one that seemed suitable.   Instead, we'd make some coffee in our hotel room.

Catching an Uber proved to be harder than it should have been, but eventually we connected and made the 20-minute drive back to our hotel.

Not feeling like a meal after already having a huge lunch in Windsor, we walked to a nearby minimart to purchase some chips, Cornnuts and wine.  We settled in for the evening to watch a mishmash of programs on TV until lights out.

I found myself with a headache when I should have been sleeping.  I went downstairs, and the chap behind the front desk asked the janitor to make me a cappuccino in the bar, which had already closed for the night. Great service!  That late-night coffee plus a couple of Ibuprofen seemed to do the trick.

In the morning, we caught the U3 city bus right in front of our hotel and subsequently boarded our non-stop flight back to Newark.  Amy met us at Tops Diner for a nice visit accompanied by a tasty meal before dropping us at the station to catch a train to Philly.

More of Julie's Photos

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