6/24 - Hatfield

We slept a long time at the hotel. Hatfield was only 30 minutes away, and it didn't even open until 10:30. A no alarm morning was nice.

Hatfield was where Elizabeth I and Edward VI spent much of their childhoods. Mary I was also there for a while, and later it became one of Anne of Cleave's estates. I was really excited about so many Tudors!

A lesson we learned today - make sure that the address the GPS has for your point of interest is the same one on the website. Bruce took us to what may have been an entrance to Hatfield once upon a time, but is now a tiny little street with no easy way to turn around. Luckily, I remembered that the train station is right across the street from the entrance, so I had him get us to the train station. Of course, I had driven right past it on the way in. Ah, well.

Hatfield was lovely. I was rather disappointed to find out that the big palace-looking thing is not, in fact, where Elizabeth lived. It was built later, during the reign of her successor, James I. It was built by her chief advisor, though, so that was cool. Only 1/4 of the old palace remains, and we didn't get to see much of that. It was being prepared for a private function, so we could only see the main room from the doorway.

The house and gardens were very nice, though.

The story goes that Elizabeth was sitting under an oak tree in the park when she got word that Mary had died, and she was now queen. According to the guide, we could go see where that oak tree was. Well, it was vaguely enough written in the guide, apparently. What we got to see was an oak tree that had been planted on the spot of the oak tree where Elizabeth was sitting. Not worth the walk all the way out there, but still cool.

The drive back was blessedly uneventful. :)

It has taken me about 3 hours to catch up with email, facebook, and blogging. I'm going to bed now. :)