Hampton Court - Palace

Mixing the internal tour of the palace with the external events and sights was an excellent idea - the coolness and description of rooms and the characters provided a marvellous atmosphere.

Straight into the Great Hall
It was a lot more ornate than I expected

Remarkable work on the stain-glass windows

The top table

Symbols and symbolism was everywhere,
ingrained in the very fabric of the walls

And many ceilings, too!

More wonderful windows. It would take ages to recognise and understand all the images and symbolism. Well, for me it would, anyway!

We heard a talk on, and saw illuminations of different aspects of this ancient tapestry. At first I thought it was just a big screen displaying the work. Only at the end did I realise it was the actual work, being illuminated from behind. Clever idea. We then inspected it more closely.

Part of the display described the creation, care and restoration of such things, and I finally learned about warp and weft. And about gold thread, which seemed unbelievably minute and painstaking in construction. So that was very useful.

Onwards, we saw many ornate furnishings, often almost the height of the ceiling

Talking of ceilings, many were wonderfully decorated.

Another partially-panoramic attempt: a richly decorated room indeed

I waited some time to get a clear shot of this walkway :)

Do you think they used it as a trampoline to try to reach the top?

I may or may not have set off an alarm, leaning over some ropes to take a picture.

While the decibels pounded our ear-drums, I sauntered away from the scene of the non-crime and snapped this wonderful panelled dome.

Many walls appeared to merge in the each other or the ceilings above.
I learned a new thing today: Trompe L'Oeil - the 3-d illusions

I bet this staircase was a wonder and a joy to climb.

At first, anyway.

After a few times, you'd just wonder.... why?

The artist emphatically answers the age-old question:

Will it blend?

Another panoramic attempt in the armoury
Blimey there was some gear in there...

A big chair

Another big chair - with plumes above, no less

Don't mention the dust

At this point we grew rather hungry and went for a bite