I want a sword

Man, I can't wait till I can have a nice, relaxing day. Maybe I could walk up the river. Or take a 12 hour nap...
Today we went to Windsor and learned even more fun new stuff. I had the same tour guide too, which was cool :D
Ever since William the Conqueror built it in 1066, the castle has been constantly kept up and added to - every monarch has done something.
When William the Conqueror took over London and built the Tower of London, he became paranoid and set up outposts that were each 1 day's march from London to protect himself. Off to the west, he found a hill and chose to station one there - you have to watch out for those attacks from Wales. However, this hill wasn't tall enough so he had another mound added on top of the hill and the tower was built on top of that mound. Today, the tower on top of the mound flies a flag and houses a bell that only rings when a monarch dies.
Windsor is a fairly unique place in origin - normally the town comes first and then somebody comes along and decides to build a castle there. With Windsor, there was a castle a days march from London and a town sprang up around it. Another interesting fact is that there has never been a successful attack on the castle - it's very well fortified.
Nell Gwynn, the favoured mistress of Charles II, lived down the street from the castle. Legend says that there was a tunnel built from the castle to her house for Charles II to use. I don't know why he didn't just have her live in one of his 4500 private apartments. Ok, maybe there's only 200 something...
We got to see the state apartments and they were simply stunning. I'm no art or furniture enthusiast, so I'll just say that there was a lot of both and to my untrained eye they looked spectacular, but what I enjoyed looking at were the suits of armour and the swords. There were so many beautiful swords, I wish I could've taken picures. Some of them had to be ornamental though - they had jewels and engravings all up and down the hilts and I can't imagine that those were very comfortable to fight with. I wish I could get one like some of the ones that I saw, but I know that I'll never be able to afford anything like those. In the royal bedchamber, there were the two main doors that the king's entourage used when seeing him to bed and waking him up in the morning, but there was also the subtle door in the corner that enabled him to get out and see his mistresses. It was so subtle, it was even propped open.
Across the Thames from Windsor was a town called Eton. Eton was a cutle little town, but the dominating feature was Eton College. In the UK, colleges aren't like colleges in the US. UK colleges are prep schools that prepare the students to go to university - like US high schools. The boys that attend Eton generally go on to Oxford or Cambridge. Originally founded as a school for poor boys, today it's one of the top and most expensive colleges in the country. Princes William and Harry both attended Eton - that was where Prince Harry cheeated in his art class, of all the classes to cheat in - and apparently Captain Hook also went to Eton. There's a sense of pride amongst the Etonians, a sort of brotherhood. Although, evidently Etonians either move on to do great things in life or become drug dealers.
Our tour guide just learned this recently, but she said that a law Oliver Cromwell introduced is still in effect today - it's illegal to eat mince pies. So, every Christmas, about half the population breaks the law and has their traditional Christmas mince pie.
It was a good day, but a lot of walking. about 10 minutes into the drive home, three quarters of the bus was passed out. When we got back, Nicole and I decided to watch Psych and get some Snog for dessert - it's been a good evening :D
It's 10.15 - positively early compared to recent nights ;] Nicole and I have been planning out all the places we want to go see, and tomorrow should be Kensington Palace unless something happens.
Till then,
-Carly