My classes are fantastic but sadly my schedule is much less so. I have only one class a day, and I am finished by 1 or 2 in the afternoon most days. I formerly had Tuesdays free, but then I suppose some sadist in the psych department learned of this and decided to crush my happiness by giving me a 9 am seminar on that day. So no free days for me this term.
Fortunately, my Friday class was canceled this week so it seemed like the perfect time to take a day trip. Two of my friends and I took a 5:42 am train (yes, 5:42
Fortunately, my Friday class was canceled this week so it seemed like the perfect time to take a day trip. Two of my friends and I took a 5:42 am train (yes, 5:42
a.m. I was not happy about this) to Oxford, then headed over to the breathtaking Blenheim Estate. It was not crowded at all, and it was an absolutely gorgeous day, so it was just perfect. We walked around the grounds until the Palace opened and it was unbelievably beautiful. Pictures do not do it justice at all, but here are some nonetheless:
This is Blenheim Estate. It is really old and historic, but most importantly, really, really beautiful. It was absolutely breathtaking. This is the view we got just as we walked in and we were instantly in love.
This is the one of the bridges over the water. Amazing, right?
Blenheim Palace, where Winston Churchill was born. (The palace is actually even more impressive than this image captures, but the lighting was bad). They have a very cool Churchill exhibit, including a recreation of the room where he was born, which I found creepy. By far the coolest part was the library. It reminded me of the library in Beauty in the Beast that is full of wonderful books that have barely been touched which is a travesty because they are such treasures- only the library at Blenheim has a giant organ (as in beautiful, gigantic musical instrument, not a part of a body).
Another shot of the lake (river? I'm not sure) on the grounds, this time with people in canoe.
This picture is for my mom: apparently they filmed part of the movie version of The Scarlet Pimpernel here, and though my friend could not remember exactly which part, this part of the palace really jogged her memory.
This is the incredible fountain/gardens outside the palace. The best part? The fact that there is a great cafe that overlooks the fountains where we ate lunch.
The Marlboro Maze!! It is the second largest maze in the world and so much fun!! All three of us split up, got totally lost, and then when my friend the amateur photographer was in the lead and made it to the tower first she took pictures of us being totally lost and trying to catch up to her (I came in second!). The bottom picture is the end of the maze. We felt very accomplished to have reached it.
My wonderful friends/travel buddies and I on top of the Carfax Tower overlooking Oxford. 
This is Christ Church College at Oxford. Many of the scenes in the Harry Potter movies are filmed here (you might recognize this spot from the 4th movie). Because I am a huge dork, I had been really excited to go and tour it but we got there just after they had closed to visitors. However, they were holding Evensong at the Church, so we decided to go to that and just before the service began I needed to "use the WC" which was really an excuse to sneak as many pictures as I could (which was sadly not too many, but we shall go back!). Evensong was beautiful, as was the chapel itself, but what I found interesting was that the audience was almost entirely tourists, with the exception of 2 or 3 older people who seemed to be regulars at services. The students were all getting ready to go out. What a difference from how they would have been 200 years ago!
It's so interesting to think about the rich history all of these places have. The town Blenheim is in is preparing for its 900 year anniversary. And Christ Church College is several centuries old as well. I am reading Oliver Twist right now (for fun, because I am a nerd) and often Dickens will mention a place like Barbican and I get really excited and think "I was just there the other day!!". But sadly I did not see any orphans being dragged out to perform crimes against their will while I was there.
Things here are going ok. I have not posted much lately, but I hope to do better soon, and I hope to have more to write about. I've un-privatized this blog because I realized some people were having trouble viewing it (ie those without Gmail). So I will not be using people's names or anything like that.
That looks beautiful! I wish I would have gotten to go there over the semester. Next time!
ReplyDeleteKatherine, you are so lucky! What a gorgeous place! Maybe your unfortunate schedule is just the price that must be paid for being surrounded by so much history and beauty?
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of classes are you taking?
I'm taking Organisational Psychology, Human Learning and Memory, Political and Economic Anthropology, and 19th and 20th Century Art in London Collections- the last one is pretty great because we go around to a museum every class and actually talk about the artwork there. Sometimes we'll see other people at the museum try to listen in to what we're saying, which makes me feel special.
ReplyDeleteOk, for starters: Blenheim = AMAZING! Wow, those first two pictures look like they came straight out of a fairy tale. The maze looks like fun - I would have gotten seriously lost. :) Second, I'm a big nerd too. If I was there trips to Harry Potter locales would soooo be on the agenda!!
ReplyDelete