Today we started our day by visiting Blenheim Palace. This palace is one of the most famous homes in England and has a very interesting history behind it. It was built in the early 1700s as a gift from Queen Anne to John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, after his victory at the Battle of Blenheim during the War of the Spanish Succession. The palace was designed by architect John Vanbrugh to symbolize British power and military success. Over the years, Blenheim Palace became the home of the Marlborough family and remained an important political and cultural landmark in England. It is also especially famous because it was the birthplace of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The palace sits on around 2,000 acres of beautiful parkland and gardens, and everywhere you looked there was something amazing to see.
The grounds were absolutely stunning. There were many different gardens throughout the property, including a secret garden that we walked through so we could take pictures. The flowers and greenery were so pretty and everything looked so well maintained. There was also a large lake on the property where it looked like people were taking boat rides. When we first arrived, there was actually a race happening around the palace grounds. I thought that was so cool because I love running and have always wanted to participate in a destination race somewhere beautiful like a national park. Running around Blenheim Palace honestly seems like it would be such an amazing experience because the scenery was incredible everywhere you looked.
We started our visit by walking through the inside of the palace and looking at all of the paintings, decorations, furniture, and ancient artifacts. Every room looked so grand and detailed. The ceilings were covered in artwork and the walls had huge paintings and tapestries. It was interesting to imagine what life would have been like for the people who actually lived there hundreds of years ago. My favorite thing I saw was a crown that was on display. It looked so old and detailed, although I honestly thought it looked like it might have been molding a little bit. I also liked seeing all of the portraits because they gave a glimpse into the history of the family and the important people connected to the palace.
After touring the inside, we spent more time walking around the gardens and taking pictures. The weather was nice, which made it even better to explore outside. I got some really cute pictures with my friends and it was definitely one of the prettiest places we have visited so far on the trip. Before leaving, I stopped in the gift shop because my family always collects magnets from places we visit to put on our fridge at home. I found a really cute magnet to bring back as a souvenir. There were honestly so many things I wanted to look at in the gift shop, but we did not have a ton of time. I definitely felt like we needed more time to fully explore both the palace and the grounds because there was still so much more to see.
After leaving Blenheim Palace, we took the bus to Oxford. Before exploring the city, we stopped to get lunch. I ate at a Greek restaurant where I got grilled chicken kabobs with chips and pita bread. The meal was so good and honestly one of my favorite meals I have had on the trip so far. Everything tasted really fresh and flavorful. After lunch, I stopped into a candy shop where they were giving out samples. I tried both milk chocolate and dark chocolate. The dark chocolate was extremely rich and strong. Every time I eat dark chocolate it makes me sneeze, and this time was no different, but it was still fun to try something new.
After that, our guide took us on a tour around the university campus. I thought it was especially interesting because he had actually attended the university himself, so he was very knowledgeable and shared a lot of personal stories and history with us. The campus was absolutely beautiful and filled with incredible architecture. My favorite types of artwork and architecture are older styles with lots of detail, so I loved looking around at all of the historic buildings. I also thought it was really cool that many of the buildings had engravings written in Latin. Since I took five years of Latin in high school, I was actually able to read and understand some of the phrases we saw, including the university motto, “Dominus illuminatio mea,” which translates to “The Lord is my light.” I thought it was exciting to actually recognize and understand some of the Latin throughout the campus. Overall, I really enjoyed all of the exploring we did today, but I definitely wish we had more time both at Blenheim Palace and to shop around Oxford because there was still so much more I wanted to see.