Today was our seventh day in Birmingham! We woke up super early today to catch our bus for 8am, however when we got down there, there was no bus to be found. Turns out our driver thought that the pickup time was 9am despite the confirmation we received being 8. So, we all went back to the hotel and were able to eat some more breakfast before officially going on the long bus ride to Blenheim Palace then Oxford after. When we arrived at the palace, I was not entirely sure at first what the origin was behind it until our tour guide from Stratford Upon-Avon showed up, Tim. He told us that this was the Winston Churchill’s palace and his birthplace. To say the least, the palace was absolutely massive and was filled with gorgeous rooms full of paintings and sculptures and surrounded by magnificent gardens like the secret gardens. As we went through the palace Tim answered all of the questions we had about the significance of various paintings or rooms as a whole. This allowed me to create a mental image of what I could imagine how living during this time period would be. Honestly, the place was so massive I could not even begin to believe that someone actually lived there. My legs started to hurt just from walking around the palace I could not imagine doing that every day.

After we finished up at the Blenheim Palace we went back on the bus and headed to Oxford. When we got there the first thing we did was receive a brief tour by Tim on the most historical and important buildings in Oxford. The buildings we saw were stunning and timeless; I also loved being able to see the different areas that they used to film certain scenes for Harry Potter. As a huge Harry Potter fan, I thought it was so cool to know that Daniel Radcliffe once worked on the movies there. After our brief tour we got let loose for a bit to get lunch, however my top priority was finding a bathroom. I ended up splitting up with my group to find one and once I finally did there were about 30 people in line. I along with others in the back of the line walked to the McDonalds instead of waiting there. The only issue was I had no idea where I was, and I had zero cell service so I could not contact anyone from my group to see where they went or even plug in directions. During this time with no internet connection, I went to a gift shop and bought a hoodie then eventually I found a spot where my phone got a bar and was able to get help from Dr. Marks who guided me back to the rest of the group. Once I was with the group, we had another tour being able to go inside of some of the buildings apart of Oxford. After, we got let loose again to do some shopping and I got a couple more souvenirs and had my lunch at a cafe where I got a sandwich, croissant, and lemonade which was delicious.

Once our time at Oxford had concluded, we headed back to the bus, and I slept for the entirety of the bus ride. Then once we got back to the hotel, I decided to stop at Tesco to pick up a quick dinner and then stay in for the rest of the night. Overall, my day at Blenheim Palace and Oxford was full of adventure and despite getting a bit lost I still had a great time. I am so excited to eventually go to London to see what I am looking forward to most on this trip, seeing Mamma Mia!