Blenheim Palace

We had a picnic at Blenheim Palace one Sunday and walked the gardens. The palace is the birth place of Winston Churchill. We didn't go inside for the tour but just walking the grounds was pretty impressive.

The night before we saw Romeo and Juliet at the Said School of business (Oxford). It took place in an outdoor amphitheater. It was a great show really enjoyed it but unfortunately couldn't take any pics during the play.

All these churches are starting to look the same

We took a trip to London to do a tour of the Parliament (kinda like the Capital in the US - leg shop vs schedulers). We also ran into Westminster Abbey and some other cool things in London.

The statue is of Oliver Cromwell, led the glorious revolution, changed the dynamic between parliament and the monarch giving parliament the superior authority over the monarch. He was buried in Westminster Abbey but after the monarch took over again he was dug up,hanged and decapitated. Pretty crazy stuff. (may or may not be exactly historically accurate)

There is a bell inside the red lion pub because it is such a popular spot among the members of parliament (MEP) that whenever a bill needs to be voted on there is a bell that rings giving the MEPs enough time to return to the house of Parliament to vote (people in the UK drink just as much as americans - TRUE).

My best friends wedding

The only condition when I applied for this summer program at Oxford was that I would be able to carry out my bridesmaid's duty at Alex's wedding. A weekend flight from London to Seattle was a lengthy trip but WELL WORTH IT! All the pre-wedding activities like the night at her beach house (kayaking), the rehersal dinner, getting ready, pictures in seattle etc. were so great. Im glad I was able share this day with Alex and Doug. For the first draft of the slide show from the real photographer check out.... http://www.sarahrhoads.com/darkroom/share/?n=Alex_Doug_Wedding. Bridesmaid speech went pretty well...i think? right alex? But pretty glad that is not on video :) Ill update more about my last two weeks in Oxford/London soon!

Bath time

Last weekend we went to Bath to see the old Roman baths from 2000 years ago. Crazy. The place was pretty cool but they also made half of it into a museum so it felt a little fake. The lining in the baths is supposedly the original and still intact. The one picture inside is a wishing well or tourist made it into one. I made a wish but no way im going to tell you what it was....

After the baths we went to a pub to put a few back and do some people watching. Some amazing local hair-dos....

Sorry if this post doesnt make any sense. Its been a crazy weekend this weekend. Im at the airport in Chicago now. I left Seattle at 4am this morning after Alex's wedding (got back to the hotel this morning at 2am). Wedding was so great though and well worth the trip. Ill put up some pics of the wedding soon....