When the sun is out and the weather is nice, there is a nice place to go in the suburbs of London. I visited Hampton Court Palace twice on a sunny day. Once it was very hot, but it was worth a visit. Hampton Court Palace is just 30 minutes by train from the Waterloo station. When you get out of the train, it is just a small stroll over the bridge and there you find the palace that Wolsey buildt. Ofcourse, the most famous person who lived there was King Henry VIII. The palace is a true beauty, in my opinion and the gardens are wonderful. For the children there is the Maze, where they can wonder and get lost. The gardens are beautiful aswell, but what struck me the most was the palace itself. There are different tours to take and each of them are full of great stories, and even ghosts. When I visited the castle for the first time, I found some rooms a bit chilly. It was over 30 degrees outside, and without coat, it was really cold in the rooms. I wonder what it was like to live there. Hampton Court palace is a nice day out for the whole family. If you are lucky you can meet the King himself. I had the luck on my last visit, and he was very nice to me.
Another nice part of the tours are a tour through the kitchen. On my first visit there were actors there, who really cooked the way they did in the old days. The smells and the heat were overwhelming, but it was great to see this. If you want to see this for yourself, I suggest that you visit Hampton Court Palace in the weekends. The actors are not there all the time, but on my first visit they were there, and it was fun to watch them cook and talk to them about the old days and the way people cooked then. The palace itself is overwhelming if I may say so, but it is a wonderful place to visit. If you are tired of all the history lessons you get through the audioguided tours, you can visit the gardens. A well worht visit. The gardens are huge, but it manages to stay intimate in some places. Ofcourse there is a flower show once a year, but the garden itself is worth exploring. You can sit on benches or under the trees in the grass. It is very relaxing. There is also a tennniscourt where people still play tennis the way they used to do in King Henry VIII's days. Hampton Court Palace is a nice day out for the whole family. As I said, I recommand it on a sunny summer day.
