Royals, schools, shops and music

We have had a busy 2 days! Yesterday (Thursday) we did the "Windsor and Eton" walk from 'the book'. By train to 'Windsor and Eton Riverside' and then a walk past Windsor castle (yes, the queen was there, her flag was flying) and then over the river (Thames) to Eton, the most exclusive and famous boarding school in the UK. The boys wear black tail coats as school uniform and the masters (teachers are called 'masters', even female ones) wear tail coats AND white bow ties (maybe not the female masters). It is a big place, with 1300 boys and it has the feel of a university campus. As it was founded in 1440, it is full of interesting history. (in case you are interested, the fees are around 30000 Pound a year, which includes tuition, board, lodging, laundry, most books and extramurals - but not music lessons which most boys seem to take. scholarships available but hard to get!)
Today we did another walk: through Kensington Park and Knightsbridge, which means you pass Harrods, a very big (and exclusive) department store. Of course we had a look inside. It is said that at Harrods you can buy anything from a bag of potatoes to an elephant. We did find the department where they sell the potatoes (in the 'food halls', which must be seen to be believed), but not the 'elephants department'. We did resist the urge to buy a writing desk, not only because it was too big for 'Onbekommerd' but also because the price (23000 pounds, yes that is a quarter of a million South African Rand) was a bit beyond our budget (it was NOT the biggest and most expensive desk). Also the grand piano at 91000 Pounds (a cool Million Rand) is still in the shop. Even the fish and chips we had to pass, at 25 pounds a head that is about 5 times as much as at the "Garden Fish shop" here around the corner. We did ask them about a book Lyn wanted, but it was not in stock (so one wonders about the elephants!). But it sure was fun to walk around. We saw someone buy a framed picture of Harry Potter, signed by Harry Potter (or maybe the guy who plays him in the movies) for 2500 pounds - and Harry Potter does not even exist!
We ended off today by going to a concert in the church on Kew Green, about 20 minutes walk from here. It was in aid of a new piano for the church and the programme included the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and the Mozart C major Piano Concerto, so that was really nice.
We are off for the weekend, more on Sunday night or Monday morning!