Jared LaVigueur is a senior from Winthrop High School. This past April, he and twenty of his classmates traveled to England, Ireland, and Scotland with Explorica. While the trip overall was very enjoyable for the group, many of the students say that their experience at Windsor Castle was the most memorable.
When I first looked at our trip schedule on the Explorica website, I didn’t really pay too much attention to the Windsor Castle tour on April 21st. Of course I was looking forward to it, but what event on my schedule was I not excited about? Much to my surprise, Windsor turned out to be my most memorable day of the trip.
During our time touring other parts of England, our tour guides informed us that the queen may be at the castle on the day we would be visiting. We didn’t really realize how big of a day it would be for us until we walked past the shopping plaza and up the stone brick road to the castle.
I was taking pictures of the unique flag which only waves on the queen’s birthday, when I heard several shrieks coming from the people in my group. I looked up to see my friends running to these two women, whom I somewhat recognized. They were wearing long dresses with tall heels, and a lot of makeup. Walking in between cameramen, our group got right up next to them, and asked for a couple of pictures.
A group picture and a few selfies later, we walked away to the entrance of the castle and waited in a long line before receiving out tickets. While in line, I learned from the chaperones on my trip that the celebrities that we had seen earlier were Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, co-hosts of the Today Show. Now I did not really feel too lucky for having met them when it happened, but after texting my family and telling them that we took a picture with two famous women, the many “What?” and “Lucky!” texts made me realize how special of a day it had become.
From that point on, the tour only got even more exciting. To start, we walked through the opening arches of the castle, through Queen Mary’s Doll House, and down the path to St. George’s Chapel.
As soon as we heard the name, my friends and I remembered its importance. During each tour we went on in England, our group was reminded multiple times that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding was going to take place there. So, after walking silently by all of the murals and fancy decorations, my group came to a long aisle that we were able to walk down.
At this point, my friends and I decided to sit on the benches along the aisle, just in case someone from English royalty was going to sit there in a month. And sure enough, we were in those exact seats. A month later when I was watching the wedding with my mother, Prince Charles was shown on the TV and he was sitting in the exact same seat where I was! Now I know it’s just a bench and should not really mean anything if someone else sits in it, but I felt very lucky and honored to have been able to sit where he was.
Finally, before my day at the castle had come to an end, my group was fortunate enough to witness a special changing of the guard, held in the courtyard, for the queen’s birthday. Hearing the trumpets and loud clicking of the guards’ boots was astonishing to witness, and one of my favorite parts of the trip.
I enjoyed seeing how so many people come together in one collective effort just to honor one person as special as the queen. During our time there, my friends and I even became obsessed with her, sprinting about the grounds hoping that our “Grand-Mama” would actually make time to see us. While we probably received a few awkward glances when doing so, it made my experience at Windsor Castle so much more enjoyable.
Had it not been for our tour guides and the staff at Explorica, I doubt my group would
have had as much fun at Windsor Castle as we ended up having. Whether or not the people who created our trip schedule knew about the queen’s birthday and her presence at Windsor on that day, the people that we ended up meeting were probably not expected. We ended up with great pictures for the Explorica Photo Contest, and more importantly, great memories for the rest of our lives. So, when going on these trips, never expect any tour along the way to be boring and not leave you with a memory to last you a lifetime.
If Jared sounds excited, imagine what it would be like to take your students on a tour of beautiful Windsor Castle! Check out our tour to England, Scotland & Ireland.