The weather was absolutely perfect on Day 4. A big, blue sky with puffy white clouds and lots of sunshine all morning. I don't miss Beijing AT ALL! I couldn't get enough of sky and grass and fresh air.
Taking advantage of the perfect conditions, I took a city bus out to Blenheim Palace and the village of Woodstock in the morning. Blenheim is the stately mansion where Sir Winston Churchill was born. I spent a few hours exploring the grounds...farmyard, gardens, lake, pathways...could have spent the entire day roaming. There happened to be a VW and Mini Cooper show on, so the drive leading up to the palace was full of cars on display and people milling around them.
Inside the palace there was a very well-done exhibition on the Churchills. The stately rooms in the palace were astounding...huge tapestries, gigantic painted ceilings, ornate furniture...no photography permitted!
I could easily have spent the rest of the day exploring Blenheim, but I wanted to walk around Woodstock (the quaint little village where Blenheim sits, full of ivy-covered homes and antique shops), and there were lots of places waiting to be explored in Oxford.
This was the day that Oxford really won me over, actually. To think of all the creative minds that have lived and studied and lectured here...including a few of my personal heroes...it was like walking through storybooks and biographies.
The highlight, for me, was probably Magdalen College, where C.S. Lewis and Oscar Wilde (just for example) studied. I loved the architecture, the gargoyles, the deer park, the river...If genius and creativity can be breathed in, this must be the place to do it. Unfortunately, I don't think that they can.
I also loved walking around the Christ Church Meadows, behind the colleges. The weather was still nice and lots of people were out exercising or picnicking.
I rounded out the day by popping into The Eagle and Child, a pub which is now famous for having been the regular meeting place of the Inklings.
Taking advantage of the perfect conditions, I took a city bus out to Blenheim Palace and the village of Woodstock in the morning. Blenheim is the stately mansion where Sir Winston Churchill was born. I spent a few hours exploring the grounds...farmyard, gardens, lake, pathways...could have spent the entire day roaming. There happened to be a VW and Mini Cooper show on, so the drive leading up to the palace was full of cars on display and people milling around them.
Inside the palace there was a very well-done exhibition on the Churchills. The stately rooms in the palace were astounding...huge tapestries, gigantic painted ceilings, ornate furniture...no photography permitted!
I could easily have spent the rest of the day exploring Blenheim, but I wanted to walk around Woodstock (the quaint little village where Blenheim sits, full of ivy-covered homes and antique shops), and there were lots of places waiting to be explored in Oxford.
This was the day that Oxford really won me over, actually. To think of all the creative minds that have lived and studied and lectured here...including a few of my personal heroes...it was like walking through storybooks and biographies.
The highlight, for me, was probably Magdalen College, where C.S. Lewis and Oscar Wilde (just for example) studied. I loved the architecture, the gargoyles, the deer park, the river...If genius and creativity can be breathed in, this must be the place to do it. Unfortunately, I don't think that they can.
I also loved walking around the Christ Church Meadows, behind the colleges. The weather was still nice and lots of people were out exercising or picnicking.
I rounded out the day by popping into The Eagle and Child, a pub which is now famous for having been the regular meeting place of the Inklings.
"From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put."
ReplyDelete~Sir Winston Churchill
He has so many quotable quotes (many of which Dad has read to me!), I went with this one for you. Of course, you know Churchill is one of Dad's heroes. Loves the tongue in cheek sense of humour he had, not to mention his greatness in the War. He has read much on that extraordinary man and is impressed you had the opportunity to see where he was born!
And, you got to breathe in your favourite author's stomping grounds! I always pictured it in my mind when I read his biography. How splendid that you are actually there, April!
(note the English spelling!) ;o)
Love you, miss you,
Mama
Yeah, I kept thinking how much you and Dad would have loved Blenheim! Really, you guys would just enjoy England in general. Drove through Nottingham and saw signs for Sherwood Forest today!
Delete"One of us! He looks like three of us!!"
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