A Much Needed Break

Last year for my birthday Himself got me one of the box sets for a weekend away, but due to him having had surgery complications soon after we were unable to use it until this year. Although he is still not well and awaiting another operation, we decided we had better get away as:-

 1) We needed a break 

2) It was nearly at it's expiry date

We thought it best to stay fairly local in case he was taken unwell again so we headed off to Windsor, which is approx an hours drive away and we stayed at The Union Inn which is a beautiful place and feels like it's in the middle of nowhere.

The rooms are lovely, modern, very clean with an en-suite and the bed was wonderful, the best two nights sleep I've had in a long time. My only grumble about the room was the lack of a bath, as after a long day on my feet a shower does nothing for my painful arthritic joints, but that's a personal personal preference on my part.

  

So beautifully clean and minimalist. 

The breakfast room was in the oldie worldy bar area with beautiful beams and lovely wood burning stove, I was very remiss and didn't get a picture of it, I still get very shy about taking pictures in front of people. The breakfast was fantastic, although a little large for us and we were unable to finish it 

Our first afternoon was spent wandering around Windsor and popping into the Tourist Information Office to find out what was available in the area, as there were no tourist information leaflets available at the hotel. 

The shopping arcade is in the old train station, and the Tourist Information Office was located in the old ticket office and had most, if not all of it's original features and well worth a visit in it's own right.

This train is called The Queen and is also located in the shopping arcade.

We found The Crooked House of Windsor which is a Tea Room quite by accident, sadly they were closed as I do love a traditional afternoon tea. 

It really is a very crooked building, although I don't think my picture does it justice.

What do you mean it's closed **sad face**

The next day we headed off to Winsdor Castle, I had hoped to go to Legoland that weekend but very pleased we went to the Castle instead. 

What a beautiful place, the staff were so helpful, one asked if I would like the use of a complimentary wheelchair, an offer I accepted and as a result we were able to stay all day, normally I'm so shattered after an hour.

This is where The Queen lives when at Windsor, the cars in the corner passed within 2 feet of us but we couldn't see who was in them as the windows were tinted.

Close up of Guardsmen in the picture above.

This is the beautiful garden of the part of the Castle you can see for miles around. It's in a dry moat and the garden goes nearly all the way around, the waterfall around the other side was beautiful.

We were able to get around and see everything, nowhere was inaccessible, we were directed to the disabled access points without having to ask anyone the way, we also had our very own escort in the State Apartments as we had to go into the private area to use the lift. The only down side was not being allowed to take any pictures inside as it is truly stunning.

We started to feel hungry around lunchtime but there aren't any cafe's or restaurants within Windsor Castle. We collected an armband each and went back into town for something to eat, so I recommend taking a packed lunch. It's not far to the town, but it is a hassle as you have to come back in through security, although it is fast track with an armband.

We then went along to the Chapel which looks more like a Cathedral and saw where the Queen Mother was laid to rest. Such a beautiful building with amazing stained glass. 

We then saw these chaps off to change the guard so like tourist's followed them to watch it. Even though it's something I used to watch most days at work when on gate duty and Himself has taken part in more times than he can remember, but it was different here the red jackets and bearskins are very impressive close up.

If you want to watch the full ceremony of the changing of the guard in the morning, you must arrive early. We were still caught in the queue to get through security when they marched up the High Street from the Bks to the Castle, it was an impressive sight but we missed the full ceremony which is what we had gone to see.

I totally recommend Windsor Castle for a day out, especially if you have mobility issues.

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