Today was an exciting and rushing day. We went a couple hours by bus until we got to Blenheim Palace. When we got there we met our tour guide, Tim, who right away was share his knowledge. He led us around the grounds and taught us about the history of it all. Blenheim palace is a beautiful monumental country house built in the early 1700s and sits on about 2,000 acres of land. It was presented to the first duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, by the English Nation. The palace was such an extravagant task that funds provided by the queen went out and John had to agree to continue to pay for the remaining work. John died in 1722 never seeing the palace complete, however his wife hired the original architects to continue the project. The palace is also the birthplace of sir Winston Churchill. We only had less than a couple hours to try to tour the castle, view the gardens, and go to the gift shop. The architecture is stunning and it’s interesting to imagine living there hundreds of years ago. There’s a secret garden which is beautiful and calm. It feels as though everything instantly goes quiet and you can just hear the birds chirping.
Next we went to Oxford university. Oxford is rich in history and has buildings that date back to the 11th century. It is actually the oldest city in the UK. The university is broken up into many smaller colleges, that have their own self governing student population. Me and a few other students grabbed lunch at a greek restaurant. Then we walked around and began touring around the campus. We saw New School which isn’t actually new, but very old. The oldest building on the campus is the Divinity School. All of the building are built of the same or very similar stone. We learned that lectures are not mandatory, because you often meet in smaller groups with a tutor as a main form of learning. Theres many famous authors who have went to Oxford such as J.R.R Tolkien, C.S Lewis, and Oscar Wilde. We went into their dining hall which is completely different from any dining hall I have been in. Its all wooden long connected tables and chairs. Harry Potter has scenes filmed in this dining hall. We saw the hall where students take all their examinations. Which there’s many scened filmed at Oxford. Freshmen and Seniors have extra pressure, because their exams determine if they are getting an honors distinction or not. There is many cobblestone roads that add to the old charm and are fun to walk on. We also had time at the end to go to the gift shop and me and many students bought sweatshirts. Overall, today we learned a lot about history and the UK. We went to places that make you reflect on the different circumstances and times people are in and born in, the life that some people can have with opportunities. I was glad to see some of the beautiful architecture and landscapes that are in the UK.
