Johnny Depp Meets Henry VIII

Sarah and I took an epic train journey to Surrey, just southwest of London, last Thursday. We were on our way to visit Hampton Court Palace, the former home of Henry VIII. The walk to the palace from the train station was just over a bridge, and when we reached the other side Sarah suddenly said, "P4 Trucks! That's a Pirates sign!" Blackbeard Productions was indeed filming Pirates of the Carribean 4 on site! Sarah had tracked them down in west London earlier this fall and we just happened to be in the right place at the right time that day, too!

Sarah was beyond excited, and it was pretty cool to be there when they filmed something people around the world will see not too long from now. It was annoying that the usual routes around the palace were blocked because of the production setup, but we were able to see everything we had planned to without much disruption.

Here's Sarah with the production crew!

Here's Sarah knocking on every door she could find and calling out, "Johnny?!"

We got to the palace right when it opened, so we were able to walk through the rooms on the tour with minimal crowds.

Center Courtyard

Reflected in a huge gilt mirror.

Sculpture Hall

The palace was beautiful, and the grounds even more so (photos to come!). It was such an interesting place, steeped in history, and I wish it hadn't gotten busy and congested as the day went on. It would have been nice to spend even more time there. I was excited to walk in the footsteps of Henry VIII (and Elizabeth I) and to be in a place so filled with Tudor history. We didn't find Johnny, but we had fun anyway!