Who knew that Henry the VIII was handsome before he became ugly and fat...

I sure didn't know that. To me I always thought Henry VIII was huge... haha.

Anyway...

Feb 18, 2011

Hampton Court. If I could describe Hampton court in one word it would be... stunning. It seriously was. It was one of Henry VIIIs favorite houses that he owned, and they sure played that up when I visited. Henry VIII paraphernalia was everywhere... a tea towel with all of his dead wives. Yup. Pretty crazy.

Anyway, we were basically set loose to explore any part of Hampton court that we wanted. We even got to get audio guides that came with these awesome velvet robes. Don't worry, Emily, Jaynann, Katie and I definitely took them up on that offer. I felt like a jedi master. Pretty awesome. Inside we got to learn more about court life and we got to see all the gaudy decoration. It was actually really beautiful.

Katie and I in our Jedi robe/Hampton court attire. 

After exploring inside, we had to relinquish our jedi robes (apparently lots of people steal them?) before going into the gardens.

The gardens were beautiful. The paths were lined with well groomed hedges and there were fountains and wild tulips everywhere. It was wonderful. I could have spent a lot more time there, that's for sure!

Funniest set of pictures ever. I love emily's face.

After Hampton court we left to go to Charles Darwin's house. In my literature class we had just read a non-fiction book about him and his relationship with his family and Emma (his wife). I loved the book and my admiration for him grew quite a bit. Needless to say, I was very excited to visit his house. I was not disappointed. It was nestled in the English country side and it was seriously so beautiful. I wish I could've lived there! They had turned the inside of his house into a museum and I got to see the wedding ring that he gave to Emma (super cute) and I got to walk on the sand walk that he had in his backyard. This is where he used to walk in order to ponder on some of his most important theories. It was so awesome! My bunkmate and I discussed our feelings on evolution while we walked on the sand walk. I loved this visit!

One the Darwin Sand walk!