Blenheim Palace and Oxford - August 20, 2016

Our first full day in Cambridge, and our first field trip away from the college. After eight pretty wonderful days weather-wise, we woke up to weather a bit more like what we'd heard we would encounter: gray skies, off-and-on showers, blustery winds, temps in the 60s. The rain - well, in Tallahassee we know rain, and this was no biggie. The cold and wind, however, was another story. Pretty much think December in Tallytown. Though we had our umbrellas, we shivered all day, but that didn't stop us!

SO - breakfast, load up on the small coach at 8:30, and we were off to Blenheim Palace.
Blenheim Palace is and has been the home of the Dukes of Marlborough since the first Duke led the British to victory at the Battle of Blindheim in Germany. John Churchill became the First Duke of Marlborough and was given the property as a reward from a grateful nation in the early 18th century. Today the 12th Duke and his family occupy the private portion of the Palace. A World Heritage site, it is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. (That last bit from Wikipedia.) This whole subject is fascinating and well worth an extensive Google search.

Blenheim Palace is the birthplace of Winston Churchill, son of Lord Randolph Churchill, third son of the 7th Duke (so Winston was never in line for the position). Blenheim was his childhood home and he loved it all his life. He and his wife Clementine are buried on the grounds.

Our OLLI group was treated to a private guided tour of some of the state rooms of the palace, which, incidentally, is termed a "country home." An American parallel to this bit of understatement can be found in Newport, RI, where the homes of the very wealthy are called "cottages." Soaring ceilings, beautiful works of art, tapestries, fine furniture, many sets of priceless china - all are treasures here.

For all its glory, the actual palace is almost outshown by the gardens. They extend for acres and contain two lakes and a beautiful maze. After a look at the Churchill exhibit (fascinating), we lunched in the cafe beneath the ground floor of the residence where we were able to see the gardens and, in the distance, the Churchill burial site.

At 2:00 p.m., we boarded our coach again and headed to Oxford. A short drive from Blenheim, it provided a pretty interesting contrast to the country estate. We were a little surprised - Oxford is quite a large town, filled with wonderful shops and pubs and lots of visitors. And of course it is home to Oxford University.

Our first stop was the Ashmolean Museum, the world's first and oldest university museum. Elias Ashmole gave a cabinet of curiosities to the University of Oxford in 1677, and today it contains five or six floors of fine antiquities, artworks, and, yes, curiosities. The Ashmolean was at the top of my list for Things to Do Outside of London, and here we were!

After the museum, our wonderful guide, Paul, led us on a walking tour of the town, pointing out the various colleges of Oxford. As avid fans of "Inspector Morse," "Inspector Lewis," and "Endeavor" on PBS, we became just a bunch of groupies, walking around the settings for those fine TV productions. (We've always wondered why it is that such a small town could have so many murders; now we know it's actually a bustling city, with plenty of opportunities for mayhem.)

We entered the grounds of Magdalen College (pronounced "maudlin," of course), explored its chapel, and then went into the grounds, which include a river and two deer parks, one for summer and one for winter. Paul explained to us that Oxford colleges have been blessed with grants of large tracts of land over the centuries and consequently have much room for this sort of thing.

Incidentally, don't forget that we are wet and cold this whole time. There's a solution for that - we headed for the pub. Never has a glass of red wine tasted so good! And chili, interestingly enough. As lovers of bar food, we have felt quite at home in England.

Oxford is, of course, Cambridge's major rival. They jockey back and forth for academic honors and reputation. They face each other in any number of collegiate level sports activities. But I will say that Oxford seemed bigger, bolder, older. No disrespect to Cambridge intended, of course. Who knows what the future may hold?

Now home to Cambridge! A two-hour drive and we are back in our room, aching feet up, tired legs resting. Our Fitbits have had a field day on this trip. Any day that doesn't exceed our recommended 10,000 steps is deemed a complete failure, and usually means we have either sat in class or sat on a bus. Tomorrow we visit Sandringham, home of Prince William and Princess Kate and the kids, then on to the Norfolk coast for some even wilder weather and some legendary fish and chips. And at least one more glass of wine.