Life... Now Playing

I've updated the pictures in my scrapbook on here if you care to take a look!  There is, of course, no shortage of additional updating to do, but the pictures from my last week or so in the UK are now up here.  I'm on my way out to MT for a belated holiday celebration, so will try to drop some of the pictures into an actual posting in the next couple of days if I get a chance.  
Ciao ciao, all -- and Happy New Year!

It has come to my attention that I might very well be the proud recipient of the title 'slacker' these days, as my LiveJournal postings have been... well, lacking.  I kind of have to agree, though I assure you that it has in no way been the result of a lack of a desire to post.  Simply a lack of time.  I wish it were the result of more gallivanting around this seemingly amazing country, but in all actuality, it's due more than anything to spending virtually all of my time with my nose in a book in the confines of one of the nearly 50 libraries in this town.  (though I do tend to frequent just the two or three of them that have become substitute homes!)

Bear with me once again, while I run through some pics from a trip that was now nearly two weeks ago (embarrassing lag-time, really).  We went to Blenheim Palace, which is just about 9 or 10 miles outside of Oxford, and was originally commissioned by Queen Anne as a token of gratitude to John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, for his stunning military defeat of Louis XIV's forces in the battle at Blenheim in Bavaria.  The palace is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in all of England, and on 30 November 1874, it became the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, who, despite never taking up permanent residence in the palace, was always fond of the property and proposed to his wife, Clementine, in the gardens at Blenheim in 1908.  At any rate, the palace and gardens were breathtakingly beautiful... enjoy! (there were even film crews there the day we went through, filming what is at this point being called 'Young Victoria'... not sure when it's scheduled to actually hit the big screens, but kind of fun to see all the characters milling about in their period dress, etc.)
















After Blenheim, we got back on the bus and drove to Warwick Castle, which is also not too terribly far from Oxford.  This Castle has, since the late 1970s, been run by the Tussaud's Group, so certain parts of it feel a bit more like an amusement park or wax museum than a historical castle.  Very much an important piece of British history, though.

 

 

 

These pics are out of date already, but are getting more so with each day, so... this is from my second trip into London, with my roommate Tina, where we met up with a girlfriend of hers that is also studying over here in the UK this semester, though at a different university.  This was a much more low-key weekend, full of relaxing in parks and talking, people watching, etc.  We did do a fair amount of walking around the city as well, but much less of the tourist-type activities along the way.  
At any rate, here's Tina & Rachel enjoying sandwiches from pret a manger in Hyde Park: