Day 13: Henry VIII: lucky in real estate, unlucky in love

Hi!
Today was another Emory event; an all day trip to Hampton Court Palace. The estate is located right on the Thames, about a 45 minute drive out of London. This is a beautiful palace built by Cardinal Wolsey, one of Henry VIII's chief advisors. Henry got jealous of its splendor and Wolsey was essentially forced to give Henry the palace as a gift (that's just the kind of king Henry was). Five of Henry's six wives spent time here before he got rid of them and it was also a home for Elizabeth I, James I and William and Mary most famously.
I must say it was a pretty impressive place as palace's go. The compound has over 300 rooms that would have housed Henry, his family, his courtiers and their families, his servants and his soldiers. It is just spectacularly huge. We of course didn't see it all, mainly Henry's entertaining rooms including a huge great hall and a room full of nothing but the antlers of various animals. One room is the haunted hallway where teenage Catherine Howard is said to have chased after Henry begging for mercy before she was sentenced to execution for her infidelity. I stood there awhile trying to pick up some supernatural vibes without success. There was an incredible chapel designed by Christopher Wren with a gold guilded ceiling. We also saw some of the private chambers, mostly belonging to the monarchs after Henry who used the palace. Apparently there used to be many many palaces lining the Thames, but most of them were knocked down to make way for housing developments and other more useful things. Could you imagine actually making the decision to knock down a palace and put up condominums? What a shame.
Unfortunatly they didnt allow photography inside the apartments, but I was able to photograph my favorite parts- the gorgeous grounds and gardens. When we first arrived it was pouring rain but by the end of the afternoon it was bright and sunny. London weather is the strangest I've ever seen, one minute it's pouring, the next it is sunny, the next it is sunny yet still somehow pouring rain. You pretty much just have to get used to getting wet. The oddly landscaped bushes and trees looked like something out of Alice in Wonderland. There were beautiful fountains and geese waundering around. There was a maze, which was actually original to the house. We waundered around in it, here is a picture of me lost. Eventually I found my way though. I wish I could post more pictures up here, this house was the most beautiful thing I've seen in London thus far. I really like Emory's study abroad program coordinator, Rachel, she is extremely knowledgable about everything we see. This trip made me very excited for the next Emory trip, an overnight to Dover two weeks from now.
Classes start tomorrow, very exciting! However I have no classes tomorrow so for me this mean catching up on sleep, laundry and grocery shopping. That may be the closest thing I've had to a normal day yet...