The Ball is in Their Court. Literally.

Today we visited Hampton Court, and even though it was our second time here, it did not disappoint. It surpassed.

We were surprised and delighted to see a group of Tudor-era singers and minstrels come waltzing into the main court and invite us to join them in the great hall. They put on amazing reenactments of imagined moments in history--Anne Bolyn and Kathryn fighting over the privilege to see the king's shirts, spies discussing alliances in a downstairs alley, staging a production of Hamlet for King George, and more. The performances were superb.

We we spent the entire day there, watching the performers, touring the apartments of Henry VIII, George I, and William & Mary, then admiring the grounds and the gardens. We ate a picnic lunch on a bench lining the seemingly endless back lawn.

We had dinner in the flat and went to bed early while the newlyweds ventured to the West End to see Les Mis.