The Circle line of the Underground is not available this weekend so we had to take the District Line to to Tottenham Court Road so we could take the Northern Line to Waterloo Station. At the Tottenham Court Road stop it was announced that the Northern Line was not available. We got off and took the same line back one stop to Oxford Circus and took the Bakerloo Line down to Waterloo Station. After that is was easy to get the train to Hampton Court.
It was only a 1/2 hour train trip to Hampton Court Palace and easy to get from the station across the bridge to the palace. The grounds were beautiful and the palace interesting as it is part Tudor and part Baroque in style. There must have been hundreds of chimneys. We started with an exhibit on Henry VIII as a young man and saw his apartments. We also visited the Fountain Court, chapel and Great Hall among others and, as we did at Versailles years ago, spent a lot of time in the gardens. They were beautiful even in autumn. There is a giant grape vine that was planted in 1768 and still bears fruit that is sold at the palace in August and September. It was so lovely outside we enjoyed an ice cream cone break.
After a full afternoon we headed back to London around 5pm. At Waterloo Station we decided to walk to the London Eye to see how long the wait was. The area was an absolute zoo of people. I'm sure every tourist in London wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather on a Saturday evening. We did get some great photos. After fighting our way through the crowds we crossed Westminster Bridge then headed home. We picked up a couple of panini sandwiches at a small Italian place near our apartment and are enjoying a quiet evening at home.
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