A Visit To The Palace
The Munchkin has just received her first history lesson, and boy did we do it in style. With little in the diary and a small yearning for the educational of we went to Hampton Court Palace.
‘Specialising’ (I fear not an entirely honest use of the word) in the Tudors during my turbulent A-Level years it was time I revisited my past, dragging the Munchkin and Husband with me. Surely that’s what rainy days are for ?
Convincing the Munchkin she would meet the Queen, and secret hoping Catharine Howard’s ghost would conveniently put in an appearance we bundled into the car and headed down Hampton Way.
Admititably the sixteenth century kitchens were a little hard to bear at 10.30 in the morning. A jolly old fellow, in full Tudor garb talked us through the running of such a cucina, Tudor style. All while boning a pheasant.
Not usually one for audience participation, I was a little alarmed to see it was the road the palace had decided to travel. Quickly I realised that they’d managed the near impossible - they had absolutely struck the right balance. Easy to avoid should you so choose there was something charming about their performers. They imparted great chucks of information with ease and humour that few could achieve, and when you felt you’d had enough, you simply didn’t have to play any more.
Another bonus about these ‘role plays’ was that the Munchkin was able to meet the Queen. While sadly no Henry VIII waddled through the corridors, Katherine of Aragon and her ladies in waiting where happy to pass the time of day. Best of all, the Jester’s show, which I’d initially sniffed at, proved a huge success, with fire eating and stilt walking galore.
Then there was the Maze. The Munchkin ran and ran and for a while there, the Husband and I thought we’d never get out. Narrowly avoiding a sense of humour failure, my homing pigeon ability to head for home soon had us back on the right track.
A walk around the grounds, and a delicious lunch in the Tiltyard Cafe completed the day. We collapsed into the car, the Munchkin having been carefully being steered well clear of the gift shops feeling as though we’d had a proper, old fashioned family day out.
