Hampton Court

This is a couple of short train journey's away so it's an obvious day-trip.

Hampton Court is pretty synonymous with Henry VIII and all that. At the same time, it is a very pretty Tudor manor set in magnificent gardens, not forgetting the maze (more of which later). Onward...

The main entrance.
One of the many courtyards.
A cut-away showing what the place looks like with everyone eating. Sadly, they didn't chuck their bones on the floor - but there was nothing to say that they couldn't grab hold of the serving whenches, so that's alright.
I only got one shot of the inside before being threatened with a suitably Tudor punishment for disobeying the no-photos sign. Something involving my gonads and a wild boar. Anyhoo, here's a painting of some people hanging out in a pretty landscape. Probably by some Italian bloke.
The gardens are a tricky call - they are all spectacular - and represent some different garden fashions though the ages. Here's a few random shots:

The wild end.
Bit more formal.
Very formal indeed.
A statue of a chick with her bum hanging out.
mutter mutter...nice house...mutter mutter...gardens...mutter mutter...where's the pub...mutter mutter

As you might have heard, Henry VIII had chick trouble. And plenty of it. When he wasn't divorcing them and cutting their heads off, he was prying them off one or another courtier. All in a days work for a Tudor king. If that wasn't bad enough, look at all the bad press. Wife No.1 was the French king's sister and, when it became pretty apparent she wasn't going to deliver on the successor front and therefore needed the elbow, the Pope (who was a puppet of the French court at the time) got all involved and pissed off. It's enough to make you want to out and form your own church.

Why, I ask, go to all that trouble when you have an obvious solution right on your doorstep?

Yes, the maze! Women, as we know, couldn't navigate their way out of a paper bag. All you have to do is lead her into the centre of the maze and make a run for it. Sorted.

Here's one I did earlier:

Is there a map I can rotate?

And that's the last I saw of her.

It's not all doom and gloom, though. I did get this in the shop on the way out:

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