Hampton Court Palace

Tony, Matthew and I went to Hampton Court Palace which is the palace that Henry VIII called home. It was a warmish day (a rarity), so we got to break out the shorts!






It is a beautiful red Tudor style palace that looks more like a mansion than a fort. It was art directed by Cardinal Wolsey, and was a "gift" to the king.




I'd ridden past it a couple times on bike rides, but not had the chance to go inside until this day.












Covered with hundreds of whimsical spiraling chimneys, it is one of my favorite palaces that we've had the chance to visit.






It is full of history and has been done up in period majesty. Some may feel it a bit touristy, but it is also a grand experience to see it.






Knowing that this is the palace of Henry VIII, one would expect it to have a massive kitchen. As foodies who love to cook and entertain, this was definitely a highlight of the visit.




There are food historians present in the kitchen to talk about the food from that period as well as how it was prepared and served.









The king was very fond of Meat, and Meat Pies, so we have that in common. Evidently in those days, the crust would not have been the tasty flaky crust we know today, as the intention was not that it would be eaten. It was mainly used to hold the meat as a cooking vessel.



The main drink served was not wine, but beer. The king evidently also loved his beer. We'd also have that in common to talk about. The wine would be comparable to a Beaujolais Nouveau. He had a huge cellar with tons of both.



We also visited the main Banquet Hall where Henry VIII would have his lavish parties and entertain his guests. It is magnificent.

When no one was looking, Tony and I stole a chance to sit at the Kings Table like royalty.



An unusual thing about Hampton Court is that many years later, the new King and Queen wanted to tear it down and have a new contemporary palace. They managed to build the new Versailles inspired palace onto the back of it, but never tore the older palace down.




As someone who has endured a couple home improvement projects, I understand what the royalty must have gone through doing the major renovations that they did. Of course, they probably just moved to one of their other palaces while the renovations were being done.



The new palace was built by the British Architect of note, Christopher Wren. I think he has really good taste, but then again a lot of his work was based on the classic symmetrical structure canonized by the italian architect and theorist Palatio.



It was a grand day out, and as we made our way to the train for our ride back to London, we stopped and had Soft Serve Ice Cream. They do that very well here.