Going to Oxford on our last day was a good way to end the trip. The beautiful little town had many interesting sights to see. Oxford University is made up of many different colleges, it is over 800 years old. Christ Church is the largest college, and the location of many of the scenes shown in the Harry Potter movies, such as the grand dining hall. The Bodleian Library houses all of the books published by the Oxford Press. It extends below the campus and a mile's worth of books are added each year. Another interesting fact is that the expression “up in his ivory tower” comes from the two white towers where graduate students study.
Next we visited Blenheim Palace which houses the Duke of Marlborough. The construction of this beautiful palace started in 1705, after the first Duke of Marlborough successfully won the Battle of Blenheim. It took 28 years to complete the construction. The wonderful room that contains the Duke's library is the second longest room in England. We also visited the room where Sir Winston Churchill was born, however he never became the Duke of Marlborough, his cousin was the next heir. The natural-looking but beautiful gardens were designed by Capability Brown. We enjoyed getting lost in the maze created by yew trees, it was actually pretty hard!
A short bus ride led us to Sir Winston Churchill's burial site at St. Martin's Church in Bladon. He and his wife Clementine are marked by a simple grave among other family members. We could see that people still pay homage to Churchill for all of this accomplishments.
We are sad that our trip is coming to an end, but it has been a memorable study abroad trip that we cannot wait to tell our families and friends about. We definitely have learned a lot and will be able to use this experience in our careers. Before we head back home tomorrow, we have some free time to finish up last minute tourism and shopping and to make sure we enjoy some fish and chips!
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