The end of Lent term can bring a lot of anxiety over approaching deadlines and exams you have to prepare for. I decided to take a Sunday off and relax before my last crazy week of the term started. A partner organisation with my home university had organized a trip to Hampton Court Palace and I met some new people who are also studying in London for the semester or year.

I took the train from Waterloo to Hampton Court, which was a direct trip and didn’t last longer than 40 minutes and gave me the perfect excuse to read a book for leisure instead of the usual research papers that have recently filled my days. The walk from the train station to the actual palace took about 10 minutes and once I got to the main entrance I joined the group of study abroad students. The program had organized for us to have a private tour of the palace and the guide explained the history of the palace, stories about Henry VIII, who is most often associated with the palace along with his wives, and gave us an overview of the daily lives of people who lived or resided for some time at Hampton Court. I found it particularly interesting to see the kitchens and hear about the elaborate system that was in place to cook for 600 to 800 people at a time. Hampton Court Palace is also the place where you can see beautiful (and priceless) tapestries and a lot of symbols used by Henry to invoke respect and admiration.

One of my favorite parts of the visit was the gardens. The weather was nice enough that we had the chance to enjoy a nice walk around the grounds and look at the flowers that had just started to bloom and the mushroom-shaped trees. A friend and I stopped at the café to get a quick snack and we continued on with the walk.

Overall, the visit to Hampton Court proved to be a very relaxing outing and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s interested in learning more about British history or simply wants to get away from the busy environment in London for a bit.