Since Morrie and Dawn had never been to Blenheim, and Mark and I were there some 13 years ago, we decided that we would spend the morning there. Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim, but since his father was the younger son in the family, he didn't live there. However, he was married and buried there. Blenheim is a palace. Actually, it is a Palace--the only such designation in England for a home not lived in by royalty. It was given to the 1st Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, by Queen Anne for winning an important battle (and thus the war) of the Spanish Succession which was fought in Blenheim, Germany. John Churchill was the great-great-grandfather of Georgiana Spencer Cavendish--sorry to keep bringing up her name, but everyone seems to be related! I am now going to go home and finish the book I started about (and by) Consuelo Vanderbilt who married the 9th Duke of Marlborough in the early 1900s. It was not a love match, the Duke's family needed the Vanderbilt money to renovate the Palace. Anyway, of all the stately homes we've been in, I think that I liked Castle Howard the best, but Blenheim is probably my second favorite.
From there we went on to Oxford for the afternoon before checking into the Airport Sheraton near Heathrow and returning the rental car on which we have put some 1300 miles. Upon arriving in Oxford, we had lunch at another pub called The Eagle and Child, where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein would meet to discuss.... I don't know, whatever authors discuss.
Then we were off to see all the colleges that make up Oxford University.
We mostly viewed them from the outside since a lot were closed to visitors, but we did go inside Christchurch and go into the dining hall which was used for the Harry Potter movies.
It was packed with tourists and the lighting was bad, consequently not very good pictures.
Here is the stairwell.
This is a picture of the Radcliffe Library which has no significance, except it just looked cool. And the sky was brilliant.
This is our last day in England. We will be sad to leave a country where when the waiter asks you what you will have and you say something like, "I think I'll have the steak" they exclaim "brilliant." Or "fantastic." And when you leave a shop, they say, "cheers." But it will be good to get home to our own beds and our own stuff. It's been a great trip.
Then we were off to see all the colleges that make up Oxford University. 
We mostly viewed them from the outside since a lot were closed to visitors, but we did go inside Christchurch and go into the dining hall which was used for the Harry Potter movies. 
It was packed with tourists and the lighting was bad, consequently not very good pictures. 
Here is the stairwell.
This is a picture of the Radcliffe Library which has no significance, except it just looked cool. And the sky was brilliant.
This is our last day in England. We will be sad to leave a country where when the waiter asks you what you will have and you say something like, "I think I'll have the steak" they exclaim "brilliant." Or "fantastic." And when you leave a shop, they say, "cheers." But it will be good to get home to our own beds and our own stuff. It's been a great trip.
1 comment:
Just so you know...that stairwell is of great significance for HP fans as well, they have done a number of shots there including a flashback with Tom Riddle and...okay I'll stop. No one cares haha.
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