Final England Post . . . Oxford and Blenheim Palace

We spent our final full day in England in the beautiful city of Oxford. We were both charmed. We kept trying to figure out if there was any way that Brad could do one of his rotations in Oxford. We could really get in to spending 6 weeks there.

We started off on the right foot in the morning because the night before we'd gone to a grocery store and stalked up on hummus, cheese, fruits, Schwepes Bitter Lemon, Lilt Zero, etc. for a dinner in the hotel room with the family. It was so nice after several heavy meals to not feel like I weighed ten pounds more at the end of the meal.

We began the morning with a walking tour of the city. This proved to give Brad his bearings for the rest of the time we were in Oxford. Unfortunately, it had no such effect on me, but I did enjoy seeing the city this way. We walked by several of the colleges. Apparently there you have to be admitted to a college in order to be accepted to the University, some colleges are more prestigious and some are less prestigious.

We also walked by the Eagle and the Child (nicknamed "the Bird and the Baby") which is a pub where C.S. Lewis, Tolkien and some of their friends frequented to discuss ideas and exchange their writings. We went in and it was as smoky and dingy as ever.

We ended our walking tour with a punting expedition. This was an essential thing on my list of "to do"s in Oxford. I went to Oxford with my parents when I was 17 and I thought punting looked so charming, but it was super expensive, so my mom assured me that if we watched the punters, took a picture by the punting, and then looked at the punting book later, it would be the same as if we'd gone punting. Right. So on this trip we actually went punting, and I LOVED it!

Let's be clear, I didn't do any of the actual work of punting, but (maybe because of this) it was so fun! Brad started off punting in our boat. Steve (my brother-in-law) assured him that punting was the culmination of all of Brad's P90X workouts, and in a lot ways, it sort of was. He used his strength and balance. The pole kept getting stuck in the mud and he'd have to yank it out without losing his balancing and falling in or tipping the rest of us over. Brad sat down and Steve took over. Brad commented that when you're up there doing the work it feels like you're cruising, but sitting in the boat makes you realize how you are just meandering along.

After about ten minutes of Steve's turn (we only had the boats for an hour), we ran into a road block of sorts. There was a group of Indians who had all recently finished their MBAs in England who were touring the country before they went home. They mastered business administration, but not punting. Their boat was completely perpendicular to the river and spanned the width, so there was no way to get by them. They were about to resort to trying to pull it along from the side when Brad jumped out and offered to punt them in. You'll be happy to know they are now facebook friends. Brad was a hero!

We split up after that to let people do their own thing. We got yummy sandwiches for lunch and then climbed to the top of St. Mary's cathedral to get a view of the city. We walked around the Radcliffe Camera, the Bodleian Library, and Blackwell's book shop. All in all a fantastic trip to Oxford.

We spent the afternoon at Bleinheim Palace. This is where Churchhill was born - he was part of the Duke of Marlbourough's family. The current Duke still lives in one part of the palace. The palace really was amazing. The grounds were extensive (2100 acres) and beautiful. We also happened to have one of the best tour guides I've ever had. She knew so much more than just the prepared script about the house. She was fun and gave us a taste of her political views. She also introduced us to the the term "damp squib". Google that. :)

It was very sad that night to realize that the trip was at it's end and that we had to go home to face reality again. We loved this trip! Thanks Mom and Dad!!!