Another daytrip! (This is from Wednesday the 17th) We got to sleep in today...breakfast wasn't until 7:30 am! Usually on Wednesdays it's at 6:30...yikes. We took the coach (not the bus!) to Blenheim Palace, our first stop! It was where Winston Churchill was born and where his family still lives. We got to see the bedroom where he was birthed...and his bathrobe and slippers. Oh, and locks of his hair from when he was five years old. This great political leader who saved the world during World War II and I got to see his bathrobe! There were letters from him to his father while he was in boarding school, those were cool to see. I love getting to see documents that were actually handwritten by these people! The grounds of the palace were so beautiful, I could just imagine what they'd look like in the spring when the flowers were in bloom and everything was green...*sigh*. After our guided tour where everything went right over my head because I didn't know any of the history that was being talked about, we ran around the grounds and found a waterfall! Twas beautiful...I have a video to prove it!
Whoakay! So we spent a couple hours at this palace, and ran back from the waterfall to catch the coach before it left without us! Our program director, Professor Macfarlane, told us that we should always carry our credit card with us whenever we went on day trips in case we were late and the coach left us and we had to find our own way home by bus or train...I don't know how serious he was but 1) That would be scary 2) That would be expensive and 3) That means I wouldn't get to fall asleep on the lucky person's shoulder who sits next to me on the bus. Our next destination: OXFORD!!! The first sight to see: The pub where JR Tolkien and CS Lewis used to go to talk to each other about ideas and such! So of course I had to get a picture in front of it!
One of the most exciting parts about Oxford...it's where Harry Harry Potta was filmed! (Well, parts of it!) Our professors gave us a map of all the stops to make and we made sure to go where the wizarding world was. This is the courtyard of the library...what's so important about the library you ask? Inside is Gringotts! Sure you can't tell...but hey! That's where they filmed it so I was happy! There was an admission fee to actually go inside and did I want to spend any more money? No! So a picture will suffice! The name of the library I believe is...Bodleian Library? Hopefully no one who reads this knows so I won't look stupid!
After the library, we made a much needed stop to the covered market. This is a very special place because not only is it covered, but it's a market. And in this market there happens to be a tasty place that goes by the name of Moo Moo Milkshakes. I had the hardest time choosing from all the flavors...it was really distressing! And I'm being serious! I mean...there was carrot cake and reese's and twix and snickers and blueberry muffin and orange chocolate and nutella and strawberry cheesecake and oreo mint and bounty (coconut chocolate bar!) and pear and *any other flavor you can imagine!* The winner...kit kat caramel! Me and Sarah split one...it was a good decision. For those few happy minutes that the shake lasted, I was in Moo Moo heaven. hahaha
And this is Christ Church, a college of Oxford University. I can't believe students go to school here! I would love for this to be my campus. Not that I don't love Provo...but come on. Harry Potter was filmed here in this courtyard! We walked through the hallways where Harry, Ron and Hermoine do! (We watched the first Harry Potter movie when we got back to the centre, it was weird seeing this hallway and thinking how we were there earlier! It's the part where Hermoine shows Harry his dad's quidditch trophy for being seeker. Yep!)
Expecto Patronum! This is me being a student in Hogwarts because I'm standing on the stairs that lead to the Great Hall! All the first year students come up this way right before they get sorted into their houses! I still don't know what I am...Someday I will. It looks a lot bigger in the movies...those darn camera tricks, making everything look better!
We had "tea" (hot cocoa...) and sandwiches and pound cake in the Great Hall...if only the floating candles on the ceiling were real. I felt like Harry Potter (more like Hermione I guess...) and wish I were a wizard. I mean witch.
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