HAMPTON COURT PALACE

This is the great thing about living where I do in London. Everything is a stone's throw away from my front door. It takes literally 10 minutes to get to Hampton Court on the train.


Hampton Court is the former home of King Henry VIII. I think even us Canadians know who he is. If you don't, he's that guy with all the wives that Herman's Hermits were singing about in the '60s!


Officially I went to plan the health and safety aspects of my class' field trip but we still had time to have some fun. We did the famous hedge maze with no problems!

Apparently Hampton Court gets about 50 reports of poltergeist activity a day, particularly in the wine cellar. A historian for the site said he has seen one of them twice; very friendly ghosts, who are just entertaining themselves apparently.

Hampton Court Palace is covered in chimneys. I’ve been told that at the time the palace was built there was a tax for chimneys so this was really showing off! Also during the Tudor Era, sugar was very expensive, and knowing that sugar decayed your teeth, poor women would blacken their teeth to appear wealthy and desirable (Note to my brother: sugar costs less than tooth paste today!).

With its beautiful gardens, state rooms and location on the Thames, Hampton Court Palace is well worth a look.