Starting off on an early note with our day we started our trip to Oxford for the day! After a long drive and possibly a small nap we arrived in the center of Oxford to meet up with our tour guide. We were lucky enough to have the same amazing tour guide from our day in Stratford-Upon-Avon. There is so much history here in Oxford that it’s hard to fit into only 2 hours but somehow I learned a ton from the time we had! One of my absolute favorite parts about being in the center of Oxford was the historical sights from where some of the Harry Potter scenes took place. It was also interesting to learn that before the famous Harry Potter took place, there was a ton of history relating back to people such as Winston Churchill. Once we had our first short walk through some sights we headed to the Church of Christ museum to have a walkthrough tour. One of the amazing parts of this tour was the ability to put in headphones and listen to the stories of each historic figure throughout. When we were inside I found the dining hall that had a ton of historic figures inside. This was by far my favorite part of the museum. In the informative videos, also said that this original dining hall was what gave Harry Potter this scene in the movies. Of course, the dining hall wasn’t the only place to stop! There were also places like the cathedral (which unfortunately didn’t open until later, however, we were still able to listen to the information on it and see pictures), a beautiful staircase, and so many other amazing features!
After our journey there we were able to do some local sightseeing and shopping! One of the stops along the way was this delicious sandwich shop that had amazing apple strudels along with a great panini sandwich. As a small group, we then went into some local campus stores that had a ton of Oxford apparel and small items. After these stores I felt like an Oxford student myself! We stopped and grabbed some local tea and chocolates too. Wrapping up with our time spent there we headed back to the Oxford center to meet up with the rest of the group!
Once we all met up we made our way back to the coach to head to the Blenheim Palace! We had a wonderful afternoon filled with some exploring and taking tons of pictures! Being inside this palace was crazy. This was another great historical landmark to learn about the Duke of Marlborough and so many other people in history. My favorite part about this experience was the gardens. It was absolutely beautiful to view the sights from both inside the palace and outside. It was nice to see and learn all of the past and current history throughout history. After learning all of this fun information we took a stop for some ice cream! It was nice to be able to sit down and enjoy the view as well. When we finished up our nice little break we then headed to the gift shop to admire the souvenirs. It’s always fun to go into places like this and look around at the little Knick Knacks.
Finishing out our time in Oxford we had to say our goodbyes to our tour guide, Tim. Our entire group had an amazing time today and the beautiful weather was a nice addition. Wrapping up our day with an early “knight” to prepare for our crazy day in London tomorrow! Only one more day on this amazing trip and it has flown by us!
