Despite the fact that today was just about the coldest day of the winter, with temperatures hovering below freezing, we braved the cold and went to Windsor Great Park. The park belongs to the Crown, technically anyway: it's part of the Crown Estate, a 6 billion pound property portfolio (which also includes any large fish found in British waters). It's also known as The Royal Landscape, but everyone calls it Windsor Great Park.
The Great Park is indeed great: 1000 acres of parkland, gardens, and lakes, including Virginia Water. If you've ever flown into Heathrow, you've seen it from your window seat. It's right under the flight path. We watched dozens of aircraft take off during the two and a half hours we spent in the park.
The Obelisk Pond and Virginia Water, the largest man-made body of water in the British Isles, were almost completely frozen. While walking around Virginia Water, we heard a strange reverberating sound. It turned out it was someone on the other side, hurling ice chunks across the frozen lake. The sound echoed as the improvised hockey puck skated across the ice. It sounded like a strange bird calling its mate on the other side, who then answered when we tossed an ice chunk across the lake.
Fun times.
I don't think I remember a colder day here. My hands were so frozen I couldn't take them out of my pockets, despite two layers of gloves. So I didn't get many photos. But the dog had a new experience: walking on frozen water. She walked out across the ice, about ten feet before we panicked and called her back. We took some video footage with my camera. I'll try to figure out how to load it onto the blog—that may have to wait until Daughter Number Two returns from Paris. She's the video expert in the family.
Meanwhile, here are a few photos.
A piece of bread frozen under the ice fascinates the dog.
Virginia Water
Jesus Dog walks on water.
