A Day in Windsor and Eton

Yesterday was an incredible and sunny day, so we decided to get out of London and go for a short walk in Windsor. I had only ever been to Windsor in the winter time (with Rashmi and Sidd!)so it was nice to be there when it wasn't raining and cold. We took the train from Paddington to the lovely city of Slough (featured in the English Office) and then from Slough to Windsor (six minutes).


Because we had both been to Windsor Castle, we skipped that part. Of course some of us didn't get to see the Queen when we went to Windsor Castle...but whatever. I stood next to a big tower before we headed towards the river.


We crossed over this bridge into Eton. It has some historical significance...I think it was the first bridge built from Windsor over the river toward London or something.


Then we followed the Thames path along the river. It really is unbelievable how different the Thames is in places that are not London. It's clean and people ride up and down on their boats, looking happy and not scared or suspicious and feeding the ducks and masses of swans.


This is not a very good picture that I took of Jim, with "unobstructed views of Windsor Castle" behind him (and some football players). He obstructed the views of Windsor with his head, but even if he hadn't, I don't think it would have turned out looking that good. I'll take Jim's head over Windsor any day.


Of course we hit a big, huge patch of nettles, but by employing the arms above the head technique, we were able to make it through without any stings. We also looked very cool.(actually, I'm not sure if Jim tried this technique. It may have just been me).


Upon making it through the nettles, I tried to squeeze through a gap in the fence that normally I would have fit through. I'm learning that nothing is normal these days, as my ever expanding stomach foiled efforts to skip the kissing gate. I am like a cat, except that instead of using my whiskers to determine what spaces I fit through, I use my gut.


There was a riveting game of cricket happening as we made our way back towards Eton. I have to admit that I don't understand cricket and I think it's boring. But it's not really a fair assessment because I haven't TRIED to understand it, so maybe it's really interesting. But it strikes me as something similar to baseball (boring) so I probably will never try to learn how it works.


And then we entered the grounds of Eton College--a fancy schmancy boys' school. We heard said boys in their dorm rooms playing what sounded like Guitar Hero. It sounded a lot like our living room yesterday afternoon when Joe and Maddy unlocked a couple of new songs. It was loud.


Jim made me strike a pose within the confines of Eton College.


And then we got some lunch and Jim told me lots of important things, which I have now forgotten.


Clearly I was paying attention.


This thing was funny.


Here's to sunny days in England! Summer is ending and we definitely noticed at 2:00 that it looked more like 4:00. Soon we'll be wandering around in the dark for most of the day, so we're happy to enjoy the nice weather while we can!