I can’t believe we’re already at the halfway point of this trip! Today was an early morning that consisted of a bus delay. All of what we did today was a little pushed back from the original schedule, but we carried on and were excited for our day in Oxford!
We drove about two hours towards Oxford from our hotel (and took a well-rested nap) to meet up with Tim again at Blenheim Palace. When we first walked up, you could immediately tell how extravagant this palace was going to be without even looking inside. The gold detailing and the way the palace was built were very overwhelming but breathtaking as well. You could tell each room had its own story and its own history, and it was quite interesting to see the themes and the individual pieces in each room. One object that really caught my eye was the baby carriage. Even that was so elegant and beautiful, and just showed the poshness of the dukes and duchesses during that time.
Then we went outside towards the water fountains, which overlooked a beautiful view of the lake. You could see the detailing in the structures of the fountains, and the maintenance of the shrubbery in pretty patterns was also very noticeable. We ended up walking to a secret garden, which was so cute and quiet. It felt so calm and was really beautiful!
After the palace, we drove a little way to Oxford. We walked up to the Carfax intersection, where you could immediately see the liveliness of the town. There were so many people walking around and so many cute little shops. We ended up getting lunch at the covered market, which had a bunch of small shops and little restaurants. After lunch, we walked over to New College, one of the oldest colleges of Oxford University, despite its name. Tim talked to us about how Oxford University is one of the oldest universities ever. While walking around, the architecture of the buildings was so beautiful and shocking that I couldn’t believe these buildings were made hundreds and hundreds of years ago. The ceilings were so high, and the detailing in the sculptures of the chapel was so fascinating. One fun fact that shocked me was that during examination periods, students wore their gowns and all their regalia to take the exam. I think that’s such a unique thing!
After our tour around campus, we got to do a little bit of shopping. We popped into some souvenir stores, and I bought a crewneck that says Oxford University on it. There were good tea shops that we looked around in, and also went to this chocolate shop that had a bunch of different fun flavors like chili chocolate, hot pickle, and more. We ended our Oxford trip with some gelato at a small stand and got back on our bus to head back to Birmingham.
Overall, today was a really beautiful day. I saw landmarks and places that had so many prestigious names to them that I never thought I would see, and it was so worth it. The buildings in Oxford alone were even more extravagant than I expected, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to have seen these places!