A Palace and small villages

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Geo: 51.9301, -1.72382

So, yesterday we headed out to Blenheim Palace to look around. It was about a 25 minute drive. So far, I have not hit anything, including Stacy. Ha,ha. I did make one error though. A woman slowed so we could turn right from a side street. I was so intent on watching her that I just turned without looking to the right. A van was coming and he braked and honked at me as I pulled out in front of him. Whoops!!! We arrived at Blenheim Palace in one piece and went inside. This palace is the only palace that is owned by a private citizen. Actually, Winston Churchill was born here. His parents were visiting the 9th Duke of Marlborough at the palace when she went into labor. Winston Churchill is buried not far from there. The 11th Duke of Marlborough still owns and lives at the Palace. It has over 150 rooms and a 2,000 acre garden area with over 700,000 trees on it. They originally owned over 200,000 acres, but now it is just 20,000 acres. A nice little home! We spent about 6 hours walking around the house and garden. We then drove back to our hotel, took a nap and headed out to dinner. This morning, we got up to heavy fog. We ate breakfast, then headed out to tour some of the small villages that the Cotswolds' are famous for. We couldn't see the beautiful countryside because of the fog. It finally burned off around 1:00 in the afternoon. Here is a list of the villages we visited. Morton-in-Marsh, Chipping Campton, Upper and lower Slaughter, and Borton-on-the-Water. Yes, they are silly names. This area was used for raising sheep and feeding the wool industry. When cotton and synthetic materials became the norm the villages turned to tourism. The villages are really cute, with centuries old houses and churches. We have lots of pics. Stacy is way ahead of me. She has about 750 to my 400. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice, but cool, around 64 degrees. We are going to hike around our village and maybe visit a few others.

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Photos

Door knocker
Is the Duke in!

Comments

[Aunty]

I have always been fascinated with very old graveyards. I would have been thrilled to see a tombstone dating back to the 1600's.

[Aunty]

lol

[bfsize15]

English Ale?

[Michele McGauvran]

Love the pictures. I like walking through old grave yards. The house in the fog is awesome. Doing a great job Bob.

[Nina]

Wow, what great pictures Bob! I love the palace! And you're lucky you could take pictures inside, and don't just have to buy the postcards to remember it. Fog? That sounds wonderful! We are having a 'mini' heatwave. Suppose to be the high 9
0's this next few days. Wish, I was there!