Ghosts, Blenheim Palace, and Radcliffe Square

Having exhausted ourselves of Oxford entertainment (for the time being), we finally took a bus ride to sight see outside of Oxford this weekend. Granted, we did our fair share of Oxford sightseeing and I must have taken 500 more pictures.

We started Friday night with “Bill Specatre’s Ghost Trail”. It is a three and a quarter hour walking tour of the most haunted sights in Oxford. We gathered at dusk and walked around well after dark into some small streets and alleys and heard some interesting stories. The tour guide, Bill, really seemed to enjoy acting everything out. Apparently he does this all year round, ever Friday and of course on Halloween.

Not that we are huge Halloween fans but I was glad to see people will be attending fancy dress (costume) parties and the shops selling pumpkins to carve. It is not nearly the celebration it is at home and I doubt there will be any trick-or-treating…

Saturday was our first day outside Oxford since arriving. We took a short bus ride to Woodstock to visit Blenheim Palace. The land, once royal hunting grounds, was given by Queen Anne to John Spencer a general who defeated the French in the Battle of Blenheim. And of course the palace, then just a meager mansion was also part of his prize.

They began building in the early 1700’s and finished 28 years later.
The current 11^th Duke of Marlborough currently lives in a wing of the palace with his family. The rest of the palace is open to the public for the most part. Winston Churchill was born here and they had a ton of memorabilia, plus some if his paintings of the grounds at Blenheim. I never knew he’d painted…but once I saw the rose garden, pleasure gardens, and water-gardens, how could you not? Leave it to me to be taken to a palace— and be more in awe of the trees and gardens. I’d rather just live outside. There were trees that just took my breath away this one in particular (can you see me there?). Ben said it reminded him of the trees the Ewauks lived in. While it reminded me of the 100 Acre Wood where Pooh lived and we must have walked 10 miles that day taking it all in. It has us considering taking some hikes into the Cotswold’s.

As you will see all the pictures are of the outside, indoor pictures were not allowed. But the craftsmanship and artistry oozes out of ever corner in the Palace. If you visit their web site I am sure to can get a glimpse of the indoors.

Come Sunday we were pretty sore from all the standing and walking but still we wanted to go to Radcliffe Square, a part of the city centre we’d yet to visit. And what a trip that was! Guess what we found…more stairs! We climbed up the tower of University Church of St. Virgin Mary the Virgin. The view was SPECTACULAR and worth the leg cramps (that's the Radcliffe Camera from the top). Of course there are pictures…because I don’t have the words to describe just how beautiful everything we saw this weekend was…I don’t even think the pictures do them justice.

We did meet all of our neighbors this week. We have a few Ohioans on the ground floor (Michelle and Eric from Cleveland), Ferdinand and Kate from Canada, and Siah from China (who was previously studying in Birmingham for 5 years).

OH! And I finally caught the weekly open market day just down the street from us. You wouldn’t believe all the antiques, jewelry, and furniture there. The other half is a farmer’s market and I am looking forward to going back next week.

My job search is still ongoing. We are still without broadband service at home (the setup date a few weeks away) which is slowing it down a little. I don’t know if we will bother with getting a TV, as most of you know we’d have to get a TV and a license. Ben is sorely missing the NFL and we are both (ironically) relieved that the Cubs are out of the playoffs— because how dare they go to the World Series without us there, right?

Hope everyone is doing well! Let me know what you think of the pictures! Miss you ALL!