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cheshcat and I spent the day at Blenheim Palace with C&M. We arrived as they opened at 10:30am and left when they closed at 6pm.
Blenheim Palace was built in the early part of the eighteenth century for Sir John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough. He became a duke and got the palace by the wishes of Queen Ann, for saving England's backside in the War of Spanish Succession. In a nutshell, the English beat the French in Germany fighting over the Spanish throne. Another famous Churchill, Sir Winston, was born within its walls on November 30th 1874. However, not being descended from the eldest line, Winston was not one of the dukes of Marlborough. Tough break. The house is a tourist attraction, but is privately owned by the 11th Duke of Marlborough, who also lives there. In the interests of time, I will refrain from making political commentary on the ongoing aristocracy.
We visited an exhibit on the life of Winston Churchill then we took a tour of the palace. Twice during the tour, we were told after the fact by a guide that the current duke had just walked by us a minute earlier. I never saw the guy, and began to suspect that he is invisible. The last room on the tour was the library and organ room where the annual Churchill Memorial Concert was to be held later that evening. The keynote speaker this year, we were told, was Mikhail Gorbachev. Although he was scheduled to speak in that room later in the day, at the time we walked through, he had not yet arrived.
After the tour, we had a long and lazy picnic lunch on the grounds, relaxing and looking out over the Queen Pool at the Column of Victory. Then we went back inside to see an exhibit on the two Churchills (Sir John and Sir Winston) as war leaders. Next we made our way into the formal gardens and sat by the water terraces having a drink of Blenheim's own spring water. Then we took a stroll up past the Temple of Diana -- where Winston had proposed to his wife. Continuing on, we walked by the rose garden, the arboretum, and went as far as the grand cascade water falls before turning back. When we had returned to the house, we got ice cream at the Ice Cream Parlour.
The day was nearing a close, so we headed to the other side of the grounds for a quick visit to the Pleasure Gardens. We made our way through the twenty-five minute Marlborough Maze (second largest hedge maze in England) in only ten minutes, then spent a little more time in the lavender garden (everyone but me) and doing smaller mazes in the so-called adventure playground (me) until it was time to leave.
Before heading back to Oxford, we went on to Bladon, which is about a mile or so away. There we visited the church cemetery where Winston Churchill is buried. One of C's grandparents is buried there, too. Then it was back in the car and down to Oxford.
The rest of the weekend can be summed up rather quickly: Saturday night, after dinner, C&M came back over and we played Puerto Rico.cheshcat won, with 44 points (C had 42, I had 39, and M had less). Then they went home early due to feeling tired so, in lieu of a second game, cheshcat and I watched Babylon 5.
Sunday morning,cheshcat and I had one of those lazy mornings together in bed. Then the daytime was spent doing some desperately needed spring cleaning at Skullcrusher Mountain. In the evening, I went to St. Giles to ring bells for services and then went to the pool to swim another mile. Afterward, cheshcat and I ordered pizza and ate it while watching Ian McKellen in Richard III. And thus the weekend came to an end...
cheshcat and I spent the day at Blenheim Palace with C&M. We arrived as they opened at 10:30am and left when they closed at 6pm. Blenheim Palace was built in the early part of the eighteenth century for Sir John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough. He became a duke and got the palace by the wishes of Queen Ann, for saving England's backside in the War of Spanish Succession. In a nutshell, the English beat the French in Germany fighting over the Spanish throne. Another famous Churchill, Sir Winston, was born within its walls on November 30th 1874. However, not being descended from the eldest line, Winston was not one of the dukes of Marlborough. Tough break. The house is a tourist attraction, but is privately owned by the 11th Duke of Marlborough, who also lives there. In the interests of time, I will refrain from making political commentary on the ongoing aristocracy.
We visited an exhibit on the life of Winston Churchill then we took a tour of the palace. Twice during the tour, we were told after the fact by a guide that the current duke had just walked by us a minute earlier. I never saw the guy, and began to suspect that he is invisible. The last room on the tour was the library and organ room where the annual Churchill Memorial Concert was to be held later that evening. The keynote speaker this year, we were told, was Mikhail Gorbachev. Although he was scheduled to speak in that room later in the day, at the time we walked through, he had not yet arrived.
After the tour, we had a long and lazy picnic lunch on the grounds, relaxing and looking out over the Queen Pool at the Column of Victory. Then we went back inside to see an exhibit on the two Churchills (Sir John and Sir Winston) as war leaders. Next we made our way into the formal gardens and sat by the water terraces having a drink of Blenheim's own spring water. Then we took a stroll up past the Temple of Diana -- where Winston had proposed to his wife. Continuing on, we walked by the rose garden, the arboretum, and went as far as the grand cascade water falls before turning back. When we had returned to the house, we got ice cream at the Ice Cream Parlour.
The day was nearing a close, so we headed to the other side of the grounds for a quick visit to the Pleasure Gardens. We made our way through the twenty-five minute Marlborough Maze (second largest hedge maze in England) in only ten minutes, then spent a little more time in the lavender garden (everyone but me) and doing smaller mazes in the so-called adventure playground (me) until it was time to leave.
Before heading back to Oxford, we went on to Bladon, which is about a mile or so away. There we visited the church cemetery where Winston Churchill is buried. One of C's grandparents is buried there, too. Then it was back in the car and down to Oxford.
The rest of the weekend can be summed up rather quickly: Saturday night, after dinner, C&M came back over and we played Puerto Rico.
cheshcat won, with 44 points (C had 42, I had 39, and M had less). Then they went home early due to feeling tired so, in lieu of a second game, cheshcat and I watched Babylon 5.Sunday morning,
cheshcat and I had one of those lazy mornings together in bed. Then the daytime was spent doing some desperately needed spring cleaning at Skullcrusher Mountain. In the evening, I went to St. Giles to ring bells for services and then went to the pool to swim another mile. Afterward, cheshcat and I ordered pizza and ate it while watching Ian McKellen in Richard III. And thus the weekend came to an end...