We left our house today to begin our trip within a trip! We're heading into the English countryside for a few days, but we will be back in London on August 1st.
This morning we drove to Blenheim Palace where Winston Churchill was born and raised. The estate is now home to the Duke of Marlborough, but we were able to tour parts of it. The palace grounds are beautiful and we had a great time walking around the spectacular gardens. We had fun racing through the hedge maze, playing giant chess, taking pictures in the rose garden, and walking through the butterfly tent. We also got to see where Churchill proposed to his wife! Pretty neat!
Dad had planned to have a picnic out on the grounds, but it started raining pretty hard so we ended up having an indoor picnic! We tried a bunch of strange British foods, but our favorite was the clotted cream biscuit with jam!
After exploring the palace we got back in the car and drove through the Cotswolds. We saw tons of sheep and beautiful hill sides. Yellow and purple wildflowers grow along the side of the road everywhere here! It's beautiful! We stopped at an old mill to take pictures and walk by the stream and old church before continuing on to Stradford-upon-Avon.
When we made it to Shakespeare's birth place we walked over to the Trinity Church where he is buried. Unfortunately it was closed so we didn't get to see his actual grave, but we got to see where he grew up and lived. We ate dinner in Stradford-upon-Avon at a yummy place called Wildwood. My calzone was delicious and Zach enjoyed his chicken pasta.
Finally we drove to our hotel in Coventry where we will be staying for the next two nights. We got settled in and headed to bed!
This morning we drove to Blenheim Palace where Winston Churchill was born and raised. The estate is now home to the Duke of Marlborough, but we were able to tour parts of it. The palace grounds are beautiful and we had a great time walking around the spectacular gardens. We had fun racing through the hedge maze, playing giant chess, taking pictures in the rose garden, and walking through the butterfly tent. We also got to see where Churchill proposed to his wife! Pretty neat!
Dad had planned to have a picnic out on the grounds, but it started raining pretty hard so we ended up having an indoor picnic! We tried a bunch of strange British foods, but our favorite was the clotted cream biscuit with jam!
After exploring the palace we got back in the car and drove through the Cotswolds. We saw tons of sheep and beautiful hill sides. Yellow and purple wildflowers grow along the side of the road everywhere here! It's beautiful! We stopped at an old mill to take pictures and walk by the stream and old church before continuing on to Stradford-upon-Avon.
When we made it to Shakespeare's birth place we walked over to the Trinity Church where he is buried. Unfortunately it was closed so we didn't get to see his actual grave, but we got to see where he grew up and lived. We ate dinner in Stradford-upon-Avon at a yummy place called Wildwood. My calzone was delicious and Zach enjoyed his chicken pasta.
Finally we drove to our hotel in Coventry where we will be staying for the next two nights. We got settled in and headed to bed!
Our walk around the lake to the Palace
The Butterfly Garden
Blenheim Palace
Bottom Left: Shakespeare's burial place. Others: the Cotswolds.
