June 18th, 2007

Blenheim! All I can say is WOW! The house was beautiful and the gardens and grounds were even better. I took a landscape architecture class at UW and learned all about the places that we have been visiting and it's so great! I actually shocked some of the tour guides when I knew the answers to some of their questions. The Palace is home to the Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. It has 2100 acres of land around it landscaped by Capability Brown. We spent majority of the time walking the grounds. The secret garden was my favorite. It was so pretty and peaceful. I loved it. I also tried Cream Tea which is popular out here. It's basically a scone with honey butter, jam and a cup a tea. Every day is filled with new experiences! I love it!

Scotland! : Sunday, June 17th

The weather was much better today! Actually it was one of the nicest days we've had so far. We woke up early to catch a train to Coleen Castle but realized we were pretty short on time so we went to the ocean in Prestwick instead. We played in the water a bit, took pictures and got some pretty rocks from the shore to keep as mementos. I was pretty sad to leave Scotland, I definitely could have stayed there longer. The Scottish people were so nice and friendly! All the locals we meet are very impressed with our trip since we are here for a month and getting to see so many different places.