Windsor Castle Taxis are not common for me but there is virtually no way to get to Windsor from the hotel without a car. So with a little advice from the concierge, off I went in style with a lovely day and a driver from Pakistan named Kalid. Windsor is as picturesque a village as one could wish for, surrounded by fields with lambs and charming.

There is security to pass through after buying the ticket, but everyone is extremely pleasant and then up the cobblestone road and we meet with Warden Nancy, and tour the gardens and the exterior buildings. It is truly lovely and one can understand why the Queen calls this her home.

Surprisingly, it is not the table of silver, the walls of silk, or the paintings from the masters that boggle my mind. It is the gallery of weapons, gifts of state, jeweled swords, many were the symbol of conquest. Forty pistols arranged in careful patterns to the soaring rafters, where ceilings are vaulted.

I asked a resting traveler to take a picture of me with my hand on the walls of the apartments that were the private living quarters of Elizabeth I. This is where she decided to attach Portugal, to face the Spanish Armada. Where she danced with her Earl of Leiscter and then his successor in her affections, (nice phrase, no?) the Earl of Essex.

Also some pictures of the flowers above the pubs, some fun fashion, a wonderful cello player that performed in the Concourse. Amplified- so sweet and so touching.. included of course Winter from the Four Seasons, The swans you see are on the Thames. We shared my sandwich. I walked for miles. As the day came to an end, the rain started and Kalid picked me up at one of the two train stations. This was the day of the worst natural disaster in the history of Pakistan. The earthquake is thought to have killed 20,000.

The contrast- -- sometimes I think we are going to Hell a drip at a time.