Sussex Day Trips #7 - Oxford

 Oxford is quite a bit farther from Sussex than my previous day trips so much so that when I got the same day return ticket, the person at the counter looked at me like I had gone crazy 😜. If only he knew I planned on going further - Blenheim palace. I saw it’s brochure as the palace built to challenge Versailles and got intrigued. I missed the train I intended to take and was an hour late to reach Oxford. Thankfully there were frequent buses to palace from Oxford train station 😊.

It was about 45 minutes ride and I got to see the city a little bit. For the first time, I saw policemen riding on horses on what seemed like a normal day 🤷🏻‍♀️😃.

It was half past 1 in the afternoon by the time I reached the palace. I don’t quite remember if I bought the tickets in advance but I most definitely did not spend much time for them at entrance. 

The palace is quite huge and, being the birthplace (and home) of Churchill, there are quite a few displays of his life (predominantly the early stages). The room where he was born is decorated with paintings most of them painted by Churchill.

Surprised to know that he was rejected by one of his love interests because he is not wealthy enough and he owns a palace (maybe maintenance costs drained his wealth 🤔). 

Rest of the palace is decorated with exquisite paintings, sculptures and other art pieces.

 

 

The gardens surrounding the palace are vast - I tried finding the rose garden where Churchill proposed to his wife, but after more than an hour of searching, I couldn’t find it 😔. The story goes that he was so nervous and delayed so long, his wife was watching a worm crawling on the ground and wondered if he would ask before the worm crawled away (he actually did and she said yes 😁). Even though I could not find the rose garden, I crossed a variety of gardens which are very beautiful 🤩.

After visiting Versailles, I couldn’t help but compare (especially since it is advertised so). While I think Versailles has upper hand in grandeur, there is one attraction in Blenheim which has an edge and that is the lake (yes, I am an aquaphile ❤️💦). I didn’t have time to go further but the lake is huge and have boat rides. 

By the time I returned to Oxford, it was past 5 and most places are already closed. I did manage to visit few famous landmarks like the reading room and bridge of sighs. They are not accessible to public anyway😅.

I walked through the historic streets of Oxford when I came across a coffee house which is first one in England ☕️.

It’s not very crowded, probably because it’s late in the evening and I had coffee and scones. I was too tired for tea 😅.

Even though it was getting late, I wanted to take punting as I missed it in my Cambridge trip. Maybe because it was quite late, punting in Oxford didn’t seem to match the trips offered in Cambridge. There is no sharing option and I had to pay full price. No passing through campus grounds and no guided tours 😔. There are still some good views though.

Finally I stopped by the shopping centre - it’s the only place in England, other than London, with Uniqlo store and it was last day to exchange the oversized poncho I bought online 😁.

By the time I reached Crawley I was exhausted, missed the last bus home and had to walk through long route as short cut is through woods 😞. 

 Not exactly a great idea to plan both Blenheim palace and Oxford in single day, it was a still a good (albeit tiring) trip. I wish I knew about Bicester village which is close to Oxford - got to leave something to look forward to next visit 😄.