An Amazing Day

Today I blew off work again and went to Blenheim Palace again, this time with Lauren N., Brenna, Shelby and Jenn. Such an amazing day, one of my favorites here. We left early in the morning so the girls could buy tickets, grabbing breakfast from a local shop while we waited for the store to open. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm without a cloud in the sky. We reached Gloucester Green at the perfect too, arriving just as the bus was about to depart. Blenheim Palace was a lot busier this time than when Mom and I were here, most likely a combination of it being such a nice day, our arriving earlier, and it being a Saturday. There was a long line of cars as we walked up, and the kiosk where Mom and I exchanged our tickets was really busy, and no one said anything as we walked right by it. There was still a sense of awe walking into the palace courtyard, and being with people who had never seen it before made that feeling all the stronger. We had a little bit of trouble getting into the palace because we hadn't traded in the tickets where we were supposed to, but that was sorted out soon enough.

We went through the Churchill exhibit and tour first, the second time I did it. The guide this time was not as informative as the other one I had. When we reached the end in the library, all of us talked about how we would love to have one just like it. It's so much fun being with book nerds just like me. After the tour we went outside, and since it was so gorgeous out none of us were in a hurry to be back indoors. We spent a while taking pictures iin the first garden before we finally walked down one path, which didn't last long before the girls decided to lay down in the grass and bask in the sun. Eventually we convinced ourselves to move, and we headed off to the Rose Garden, passing some ancient trees, sheep, and tons of wild daffodils along the way. Sadly the Rose Garden wasn't in bloom, so it was just a metal circle, but we spent more time just sitting in the grass. From the Rose Garden we decided to take the long way round that went by another part of the water. At one end of the path there was a beautiful waterfall where everyone was taking pictures, so we had our own little photoshoot. We also had a little banter over my preference for taking pictures instead of being in them, since I was the one taking most of the group shots there with everyone's cameras. After finally tearing ourselves away form the waterfall, we started along towards the Secret Garden. Along the way we saw a herd of sheep, but there was a creek between us so we couldn't get close, and since some of the girls were in skirts and dresses, they really were not up for trying to jump over it. Along the way we decided we were hungry, so we took a detours across the South Lawn to the cafe for lunch. There weren't many choices available, especially for a reasonable price. I got a ham and cheese sandwich with onion pickles and a victorian sponge cake. The onioin pickles tasted different, and while they weren't bad, it's not something I'd want on a regular basis. Lauren and Jenn decided they didn't like it at all, and wound up scraping it off their sandwiches.

After we finished eating we started heading in one direction but then decided instead to do the other half of the house tour. It was a neat automated tour, with animatrons and video screens that told about the history of the house under its various Dukes and Duchesses. They did a cool trick where they had the animatrons looking in mirrors, and then the reflection was a screen so it was like they were actually talking to you. It was fun, but definitely a Disneyinsh tourist attraction. After that we wanted to go back outside, so we headed over to the Pleasure Garden. Sadly the train between the garden and main house is out of operation for maintenance, and the buggy was really full, so we decided to walk over. Again the scenery was nice, and we were joking and laughing the whole way over.

The Pleasure Garden was a separate enclosure designed more for families to enjoy themselves rather than show off the magnificence of the palace. There were a lot of shrubberies and benches set-up for people to relax, most of which was pretty full. The first area we went to was the butterfly house, which was awesome, though extremely hot and humid. The first area was a little explanation room about the different types of butterflies and how they were cared for at Blenheim, and then you entered a long room with two aisles full of various types of flora, all labeled, with butterflies everywhere. Quite a few people were in there, and many people were trying to get a butterfly to land on them. Aside from butterlies, there was also a little koi pond full of fish under a bridge and a couple of birds flying around. There were also a lot of signs asking people to not take anything out with them and to be careful when exiting so nothing got out.

After being in there for a bit, we made our way out, with the exit of course being through a giftshop. Then we went the next big area, which had model homes of the local town along the edge of the walkway as you entered. We spent a while playing with the sundial circle, then went over to do the hedge maze. Honestly, this one was much more challenging and better upkept than the one at Hampton Court. We tried dividing into two teams and racing to the center, but we kept crossing paths and the teams got all mixed up. Eventually Brenna and I were the first two to make it to the center of the maze. We had to wait a few minutes for the others to catch up. We took a couple of photos, and then went through the exit. That was pretty much the extent of what there was for adults to do in the Pleasure Garden, so being mature we went over the little kids' area to have fun. There were ground mazes and different games on the ground, and a couple of giant chess and checkers boards. Brenna and Jenn started having an epic checkers match, and while the rest of us were watching a couple little toddlers came up and started stealing the pieces, and none of us had the heart to yell at them. They gave the girls a couple of chess pieces to replace them, but they decided to call it quits. We left through another area we thought would be fun, but again it was meant for little kids and there were signs saying no one over 4ft or so (it was in meters, I'm not sure how that converts) was allowed on them.

Again the buggy was really full, so we walked back towards the exit. We tried being energetic, but by this point we were all pretty worn out. Upon reaching the crossroads, we decided there was no real reason to go back to the palace, so we left. Had to wait a little bit for the bus, so we looked over some of the souveniers we'd purchased while we waited. When the bus came, it was the same driver we'd had that morning, who even remembered us and asked us how are day had been. We stopped at Tesco on the way back for dinner, the girls got mostly health stuff while I picked up a couple frozen pizzas. I also grabbed a couple bottles of Oasis, which I am definitely going to miss when I get back home.

After getting back to CMRS I went to my room and checked on Facebook for a little bit before heading down to the kitchen to make dinner. The four girls who went to Blenheim were there, along with a few other people. Kelsey even commented that I looked a little tan, I guess we were outside quite a bit. Ate in the common room, and while I had intended to get some work done tonight, that never happened. Wound up watching a movie with the group while scrawling this entry in my notebook. Blowing off work was totally worth it. This has been by far one of the best days I've ever had. I definitely smile and laugh a lot more while I'm here, and I really am not ready for this semester to end.