London England and Windsor Castle

We spent a long weekend visiting England, the political motherland for our great country.

We started our weekend in the City of London, where we ran all around the city on the bus and underground, but also took a tour bus out to Windsor to see the Castle.

This is supposed to be the oldest and largest "occupied" castle in the world. Apparently, at least one English royal sometimes lives there, justifying its more formal name, "The Official Residences of The Queen And The Official Residence of The Prince of Wales."

Nobody explained why the "residences" are plural for the Queen but singular, "residence," for the Prince. Maybe the Prince only has one room? Or maybe it’s related to the fact that the Queen really does stay at Windsor Castle on the weekends, but the Prince does not?

Other than her statute, we didn't get to see the actual Queen during our visit. But our tour guide insisted that the Queen really does stays in Windsor Castle for the weekend. Apparently she commutes back to London for the workweek, where our guide says she works just like you and me.

I doubt that the Queen's job is much like you or me. Start with her job title, "Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith." Put that on your business card.

With a job title like that it nearly justifies earning nearly as much money as JK Rowling.

What can you say about the Queen’s place in Windsor?

Well, it’s a castle, and thats always fun. And it’s guarded by blokes in ridiculously impractical hats.

Our guide said these guards are actual live British soldiers, who rotate in and out from their various soldiering jobs. Not many left, she commented sadly, since so many have died in America's war in Iraq.

Of course, we road all around on the London Underground for sightseeing. I took a couple of morning runs through Hyde Park and Regent's Park.

We visited the mythical offices of Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective, at 122b Baker Street.

We also took advantage of London’s cultural diversity to purchase black hair care products, which are not generally available in Singapore.

Oh, and I got my picture taken in an English phone-booth.

Of course, we did a bunch of other fun stuff too. Its too much to write about here, but I have pictures posted online in our flickr account.