July 29, Windsor

Today was the day of must-do walk in Windsor, and I would love to be super excited about this, but it was, in the main, rather tedious. Before starting out in earnest, I did some exploration about town, 

Very hip hip hooray and all that.

Some people will be remembered forever:

I explored the shopping area, which, at 6:00 a.m., the hordes not having yet descended, you can actually see.  And a good thing I dilly-dallied because when I approached the main gate, shortly before 7:00, the Park Warden was just unlocking it. 

 "I thought the park was open 24 hours a day."  He looked at me in horror, "Oh, no.  Why did you think that?" I thought I had read it, but clearly I got that wrong, and he'd be out of a job were I not.  

First there is  The Long Walk.  Look at the professional, touched up photo and now look at mine:

2 1/2 miles of straight-as-an-arrow walking and my audio-book had not downloaded.  Also, not a deer was to be seen in the Deer Park.  I thought I would take a diversion:

Sights en route included:

The Copper Horse.  Wikipedia tells us:

The statue depicts George III on horseback, in the style of a Roman emperor, wearing a laurel wreath and toga, riding without stirrups. The statue is reminiscent of the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome.The high stone base also leads to comparisons with the Bronze Horseman, an equestrian statue of Peter the Great unveiled in Saint Petersburg in 1782.

Now that is yichas, or not, depending on how you look at it.

and also:

The base bears the ironic inscription Georgio Tertio / Patri optimo / Georgius Rex, which translates as: 'To George the Third / the best of fathers / King George [IV]'. Like so many father–son relationships in the Hanoverian family, however, George III and George IV were known to have despised one another.

There is nothing like some good family gossip. 

Struck by lightening?

Arborist needed:

The highlight of the day was  Savill Gardens  

They sure know how to acidify the soil:

But only if they want to:

Pinks and purples:

And yellows and oranges:

The gardens have lots of trees:

Goose-Poop-Bridge

A culprit looking cute, indeed:

Yes, I do want my picture taken, which is why I am sitting perfectly still:

Walking down a path, I saw a small bird banging an object over and over on the hard gravel.  A couple, walking in the other direction also stopped to watch. The bird was very persistent.  Bang bang bang!  After a few minutes the people walked toward me and told me that the bird, a thrush, had a snail and was trying to crack open the shell.  I hope it was successful!

Another famous site in The Great Park is the obelisque:

This imposing monument was built in the early 1750s by King George II to honour the military successes of his son, William, Duke of Cumberland. Known to many less favourably as 'Butcher Cumberland', for his brutal treatment of the Scots at Culloden, the Duke was appointed Ranger of Windsor Great Park in 1746. Over the next fourteen years he transformed this landscape, creating Virginia Water, commissioning many buildings and bridges and planting substantial collections of native and exotic trees.

Now there is a father who loves and honors his son, the butcher.

And, finally,  monument wise, there is the 100 ft high  Totem Pole  (worth reading about):

A while after I began the trudge back, I came upon a polo match:

But the game was way on the other side of a huge field, so I could only see the occasional horse gallop by and let me tell you, they gallop at full speed.  After a full out gallop, a horse will be walked off the field:

Plenty of others are in reserve waiting their turn:

I bet it would be fun to really be able to watch a match.  It is one fast game!

Many people were on the Long Walk when I returned in the early afternoon.  

How much of it they walk, I do not know, but doubtless, they are way less critical than I am! It makes me think of the Long Walk of Infamy or something like that. Sections of the Great Park were quite lovely, the Savill Gardens are gorgeous, and the polo was quite fun, so maybe  a 3 star day. There was a lot of trudging in between the good parts, a definite 2 star demerit.