WINDSOR WEDDING

My first friend in England got married and I was there to see it. :-)

As with any wedding everyone was taking photos; even the best man.

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This is the groom's family: my mate, his new wife, his sister (Lindsey) and her son (Max).

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I've known Max since he was born and I suspect he's going to be a charmer.

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Here's a posed photo for our parents.

The guests made their way (in the rain) from the ceremony venue to the lunch venue - a Thames river cruise boat.


Thank goodness the top deck was half covered so we could all enjoy the pre lunch tipple without getting too wet.

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And a couple of photos.

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This is the gang which we hung out with when we lived in Berkshire.

I never saw them so spiffy.

We headed up the river to Windsor Castle and saw some fantastic homes.

This is the largest brick built single span bridge in England. An engineering feat.

We also saw that the circus was in town and had set up in one of the only open areas of the river bank.

There are a lot of swans on this part of the river and they are cared for by the Queen's game keepers (well they are officially owned by the Queen even if she doesn't eat them). Here are a couple of her dutiful servants tending to one of her flocks.

When we reached Windsor Castle and the Royal Pier we turned around and headed back down the river.

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Throughout the journey we had to traverse 2 locks so the gang decided to ensure that everyone knew that our friend got married. As you can see they are a subtle bunch.

We all headed below deck to grab a spot of lunch and to toast to the happy couple.

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As with any good English wedding we headed to the pub for the remainder of the festivities.

I got alittle cool so Sir Mike (my knight in stunnning suit) draped his jacket over my sholders. A true gentleman.

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We were a tad concerned when we spotted this sign from the pub balcony.

I'm not sure what they are telling us. Maybe that if you drive off the edge there will be waves?

It's not exactly saying don't drive your car off the edge. I wonder how many people have done this to warrant a metal sign? A few more champaignes and we might see.

The sun went down so we encouraged the bride and groom to do their official first duty together by cutting the cake.

We caught the groom trying to have a piece of cake.

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Next was the first dance. As you can see I couldn't help gigling.

RICHMOND PARK

Richmond Park, at almost 1000 hectares (2500 acres), is the largest Royal Park in London and is home to around 650 free roaming deer.

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The pastoral landscape of hills, woodlands, ponds, gardens and grasslands set amongst ancient trees. Richmond Park is the largest Royal Park in London covering an area of 2,500 acres.

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We convinced Travis and Zoe to wonder around the park and in particular head towards Isabella Gardens.

To get to the Isabella Gardens we had to go through a living archway.

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From its heights there is an uninterrupted view of St Paul's Cathedral, 12 miles away. There was a telescope which was pointed through the gap in the hedge so you could see St Paul's.

This is our attempt at trying to catch this view.


Just in front of the telescope there was a few lines of poetry.

From here we walked passed the grounds keepers house; a beautifully thatched cottage.










The Isabella Plantation (http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond_park/isabella_plantation.cfm) is a stunning woodland garden which was created after World War II from an existing woodland, and is organically run, resulting in a rich flora and fauna.

In the garden is a lovely pond where I decided to feed the birds some stale bread.