Windsor - England, United Kingdom

Today, like the days I took tours of the Dingle Peninsula and North Ireland, was quite structured, efficient, and involved a relaxing bus ride.

With the help of the hostel guy's directions I had no problem finding the departure point of my tour after breakfast. It was a shame I had to buy a tube ticket for today too though.

When the tour guide was taking tickets I was informed that I had been an overbooker. Somehow, because I was the last person to book the tour, I had taken a spot that wasn't really available. I was open to hearing the vouchers they planned to offer me, but in the end there must have been a no show because they never kicked me off.

Our first stop was the Queen's home (on the weekends anyway), Windsor Castle. Buckingham Palace is just "the office" Steve said. I had no idea that "Windsor" is the actual royal name, but then again there is a lot about English history and leadership structure I don't know about.

The Doll House here was pretty neat. Not exactly my thing, but impressive nonetheless. EVERYTHING was real and functional inside I believe. The thing even had functional plumbing (I can't understand why this is necessary haha...It probably just isn't haha). Although photos weren't allowed, I tried to snap a few with little success because the lights were dimmed for preservation purposes.

The real  gem during this stop for me, though, was the State Apartments. This is where the Queen receives very important people who are staying with her. I especially liked the rooms with paintings on the ceilings and the military room decorated with historic weapons in patterns on the walls. No pictures here either sadly.

I didn't follow the guide's story well on the bus (he wasn't allowed in the Castle with us, but we had audio guides), but apparently there is a 1 in 3 chances I saw Jack the Ripper's Tomb as well here in a chapel towards the end of the tour.