Blenheim Palace, Oxfor

Today we went to Blenheim Palace where Winston churchill was born and also where he is buried. The house is beautiful but the gardens were my favorite.

The front of the Palace, there was construction on either side of the front door :( so we tried to shoot around it.

Terri and I and the front in the courtyard

One of the beautiful gardens.

If you have seen the Young Victoria then you have seen this. This was where Prince Albert's family lived (in the movie). So I had to walk like the general in the movie.

On the side of the house there is a HUGE grassy area and we decided to rest a while and take in the scenery.

Waiting for the bus at Blenheim to take us to Oxford.

OXFORD

Christ Church

We are so excited to be in Oxford, we can hardly contain their excitement!

Terri loves doors so I made her stand in front of one.

Beautiful view as we walked to the train station

Tomorrow we are headed to Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge!

Stamford and Burghley House...in the rain

 The day started out as a disappointment for the Harry Potter fans all around the world...Platform 9 3/4 has been reduced to fake brick...they are doing construction around the real one.  But all of that drama didn't dampen Nicole's Harry Lovin Spirit...she took a run at it anyway!

 Love an English sculptured garden... I want to own this house but have someone else do all the cleaning and yardwork.  Basically, I want to be rich and have everyone wait on me!

 I would fit right in, they also have a great taste in cars--  This is the house used in the Da Vinci code and Pride and Prejudice.  It's the greatest Elizabethan house in England

 Me and Nicole

 artsy fartsy with a dewy spiderweb on the gate...

 Susie is singing in the rain- might as well make the best of a rainy day!

more gardens...

 white girl can jump!  Nicole at Stamford.  This road was used in the filming of Pride and Prejudice (hence why Nicole is jumping for joy)

Nicole and I on a bridge in Stamford

Caitlin

What's a trip to London without classic Jane Austen...notice the price.

the street they used in Pride and Prejudice

Tomorrow we are going to Bleinham Palace (if you watch the Young Victoria, parts are filmed there) where the most amazing gardens are, and Oxford to tour the town.

all hail the queen.... London Day 2

so, look at the following pics and see if you can figure out why the title of this blog is "all hail the queen"...

Trafalgar square 

The living wall...it's a living painting of Van Gogh, I thought it was quite unique...

 this is the painting that the living wall was designed after

 Nicole's first brush with Harry Potter fandom...this street was the inspiration for Diagon Alley (have no clue how to spell it) in Harry Potter...

Here's the Queen- oh, I mean Nicole (totally didn't mean to make her have a crown, but just noticed it when I loaded the photos...)

Just a bit windy...

 2nd brush with Harry Potter Histeria....this is the millenial bridge (the one trashed in the beginning of Harry Potter 6) with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background

 Nicole says that I never have pictures of me...here's one for ya...

the London Eye

 all of us on the London Eye...

 views from the top...

 the star indicates where Kate and William kissed at Buckingham Palace...

 my quick attempt to photoshop without a mouse...

inside view from the London Eye

My attempt at making a cool picture...

Nicole with classic London behind her

the London Eye...glad I'm not in the 1:00 stall (think of the clock hands...) would have been as bad as the ferris wheel at Disneyland.  We had to share the "pod" with 5 people who looked like they wanted to be Michael Jackson with rattails, B.O. and boy earrings, needless to say, not our choice of men- luckily the "pod" was well ventilated!

Tomorrow off to Burghley house and Stamford!!

Jet Lag is not our friend!

WE HAVE ARRIVED! We got here around 6:30 a.m. after a long tedious flight (for me and Caitlin, Terri was in first class). We found our flat and then it was off to visit the V&A museum (Victoria and Albert). Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the V&A doesn't have any artifacts other that a bust of each of them. We did get to see a few cool things while we were there!

These are all horns that were flattened for this project. They are suspended from the ceiling!

Can you believe that women would actually wear this to a dance? Maybe not the best English invention.

They had some things for us to try on!

After we left the museum we saw this:

It was reserved for a wedding. How fun would that be?

Once we got done at the V&A where I experienced my first british scone and cream (which is to die for) we headed back to the flat. I wasn't feeling very well after the jet lag so me and Caitlin stayed at the flat and took a nap while Terri ventured on to Tate Modern museum. She saw a couple of Van Gogh paintings and probable some other freaky stuff because it is a modern art museum. She went to the tower bridge and a couple of other places. 

Tomorrow we are going to a couple of antique places and go ride the London Eye! So check back later!

KEEP CALM, CARRY ON!

NOTICE:

On May 27th Terri and I (Nicole) will be embarking on a journey to the land that created this..... 

(David Beckham)

 Yes, we are going to ENGLAND!!!!! And this is how I feel about it.......

Like a kid in candy store.

For those of you that know me you know I am serious. For those of you that don't the picture of that little girl describes me perfectly. I have for some time now wished I was British, now I am making that dream a reality! Excitement doesn't cover how I am feeling.  We are going to be blogging about it while we are there. So if you would like to see me in an eternal state of bliss stay tuned!