We left Stratford this morning and drove through Oxford. We didn't stop but continued on to Windsor. We parked near the railway platform and walked up the hill. On the way we saw some elderly people having a game of bowls (lawn bowling). We then walked around the town. We found several interesting shops, in particular a music shop which had some CDs we wanted, and a place selling Disney cards. Sonya got some nice pictures of the exterior of Windsor Castle, and some more of the town. She wanted to go in the castle but I stubbornly insisted the admission was too high. Silly me. We should have gone in. We ate at Burger King, then walked around the south side of the castle to one of my favorite scenes, the Long Walk.

Windsor

Windsor Castle

Market Cross House, Windsor

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle the Long Walk

We wanted to see the other end of the long Walk but it looked miles away, so we drove south to try to find a way in. We drove a bit, sort of lost, then found the Savoy Gardens, which appeared connected to the Windsor grounds. The admission was fair, so we strolled the gardens a while. We then started walking toward what seemed to be part of the Windsor property. There was a private house and the Royal hunting lodge. We came to a gate and found a sign warning not to cross when the deer are mating. We didn't know if they were or not (didn't see any) so we cautiously walked on. We walked and walked and finally made it to the statue of King George on his horse, which is at the far south end of the Long Walk, and can be seen from Windsor Castle. It was getting late, and we wanted to get a room somewhere near the airport. We drove and finally found a Travelodge (#708) in Five Oaks. Not exactly close, but it was available. Since this was our last night, we decided to try one more pub instead of eating at Little Chef. We found a pub not very far away called the Five Arms. Very casual. Mixed crowd, a few young people and an elderly gent who later walked over and played a few numbers on the piano. Sonya had cottage pie, and John ordered a ploughman's which when it arrived consisted mainly of about 1/2 pound of Cheddar cheese, which was fine, but took a while to finish.
We then headed back to Travelodge for what would be our final night in England for a while.

Bowling Green Windsor

John dwarfed by foliage in Windsor Great Park (Savill Garden)

King George III statue in Windsor Great Park

End of Long Walk as seen from King George statue. Windsor Castle is 3 miles from here

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