So Many Gardens

Anne Hathaway's house

Had another full English breakfast this morning. It was just as good as the one yesterday. Then we headed off in the coach (the bus) to Anne Hathaway’s house (not Anne Hathaway the actress, Anne Hathaway Shakespeare’s wife). Her house was pretty cool because it wasn’t just a Tudor house like the other houses we had seen. Her house had originally been a medieval house and it had been renovated through the years. But, the highlight of her house was the grounds. There were flower gardens, a little maze (an ankle high lavender maze), and a forest walk (my favorite part). It was pretty amazing.

After that we headed to the Mary Arden farm. Mary Arden had been Shakespeare’s mother. It was a typical farm. Not especially exciting. They had some really cool pigs though. They were covered in curly blonde hair. They were super strange. But they had a Birds of Prey show as well. They showed us two different owls. A barn owl and an Eagle owl. The barn owl was named Milly and she was adorable. The Eagle owl was huge! And he wasn’t as well trained as the barn owl so he would fly ridiculously close to people. He tried to land on some guy’s knee.

Blenheim Palace

Then we headed off to Blenheim Palace. It had been given to a duke as a gift for winning a battle. I want a palace as a present. Anyway, they had a lot of Churchill stuff there because that was he was born and where he grew up.

So, we wandered through that and then just wandered around the grounds. They had fountains, a rose garden, a gorgeous lake, and we ended with the Secret Garden, which was really cute.

However, today was hot and the sun was out and I’m super fair, so I got a lovely sunburn. Of course it was my first time out in the sun for a substantial length of time, so it was to be expected, but still sunburns suck. Oh well, I have Aloe Vera now so it’s all good. J

Going to spend the rest of the evening relaxing in bed watching Doctor Who. So, enjoy the pictures!

The forest walk at Anne Hathaway's house

The curly-haired pig at the Mary Arden farm. 

Milly the Barn Owl

This was a display of soldier figures.
Winston Churchill thought they cool, so they have them displayed at Blenheim Palace. 

Look at the chandelier! Blenheim Palace again. 

The end of the library at Blenheim Palace.
The library ran along the walls of a very long hallway. 

The fountains at Blenheim Palace.

Rose at Blenheim Palace

Gorgeous view of the lake at Blenheim Palace.
Fun fact: the scene from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
where young James Potter picks on young Snape by the Black Lake was filmed by this lake. :)

Another rose from Blenheim Palace.