On the road again...

Blenheim Palace

              Blenheim Palace is truthfully one of the very most beautiful places that I have ever been to in my life. It was the birthplace and home of Winston Churchill and some of his family actually still lives there. Its the only non-royal country home to be called a palace which I think its really cool. Another fun fact is that this is where the new "Cinderella" was filmed. When you approach the palace you see this amazing river that has the most amazing bridge then when you see it you honestly cannot believe that you're seeing it with your own eyes, it looks like something from a postcard. We were able to go in and tour a wing of the palace and see the Winston Churchill exhibit which was cut short by an alarm that caused us all to be evacuated which actually freaked me out so much, but it turned out to be nothing. We were also able to see the Italian style gardens which were so grand, there is so much land to cover but between the body of water, the grand gardens and the endless amounts of rose bushes I was so happy to have seen it! I would go back in a heartbeat.

Stratford upon Avon

           We had the pleasure of going to Stratford upon Avon and seeing a bunch of Shakespeare sites.  It is such a weird feeling learning about someone in a history book your entire life and then going to their home town, seeing where they were born and where they are buried. Shakespeare is such a universally known icon and it was truly a once in a lifetime experience to come to these sites.

            When we got off the bus we went to watch a little introduction video and then we proceeded to go to his birthplace. He was born there and grew up there until he was about 20 years old and moved to London. This house was definitely my favorite of the three we visited today. The second home we went to was the “Harvard House” there is a lot of neat history in that building as well, we also went to a sister’s home that was large and amazing. I learned a lot about how the houses were built and how you can see the wealth in the way the homes were built. The last house we went to was clearly built in a very wealthy time because there are many more supporting beams than needed and then there is also tile.

            One of the most amazing things was going to the church where William Shakespeare was baptized, married and buried. He is buried at the end by the Alter near some other poets alongside his wife, Anne Hathaway. The church was beautiful and had some of the most beautiful and intricate stained glass that I had ever seen.

             I am so fond of the story book feel of the quaint streets of Stratford Upon Avon and I know that growing up in a place like that must've really influenced his writings and life. We went and saw "The Merchant of Venice" which we had just finished reading in class that night. We all stayed in 3 different bed and breakfasts in Stratford which was kind of fun to get out of the center for a night.

Oxford University

        Oxford was so awesome. The architecture is so intricate and old and beautiful. Between touring the campus, finding some Harry Potter sites and punting it was a really good day. Punting is actually pretty dang scary. The boat is almost level with the water and I was convinced the entire time that the boat was going to tip over. But it was really pretty and fun. There were also so many ducks that wouldn't leave us alone and i was terrified that they were going to attack. (Birds here for some reason are so not afraid of people. They get all up in your face and will like hit you with there wings because they get so close. I'm sure its because they get fed all of the time.) We of course all got matching maroon crew neck sweatshirts! Now it just needs to be cold enough so that we can wear them!

This weekend London had a little bomb scare when they found a WWII bomb in a construction site that never went off,, and the Tube workers all went on strike so I was happy to have been out of town for all the drama. Now we are back in London and me and a couple other girls are basically on our death beds with colds. I feel bad because there is no escaping this for the girls who aren't sick yet since we all live in the same room. I also wish that we had air conditioning more than ever today. When youre sick you dont really want to be overheated and sweating!!

Xx,

Mackenzie