Oxford and Blenheim Palace

We still don't have a car to get ourselves around, but I was determined to get off base this weekend and visit somewhere significant. We arranged to have Scott's co-worker, Al, and his wife Stephanie pick us up on base and drop us off at the bus station in Bicester (less than 1/2 mile from where our house is going to be, yay!). We boarded a double decker bus headed for Oxford and enjoyed the ride there.


Once in Oxford we hit the visitor information center, got less info than we needed it turned out, and went back out to catch a bus up to Woodstock, where Blenheim Palace is. We were dropped outside the main gates to the palace, which is a World Heritage Site. We were cold, walking in a persistent breeze up the very long road to the palace, but amazed anyway. The palace has acres and acres of surrounding grounds, which we'll have to go back and explore on a warmer day.


The Palace was really astounding in it's granduer. Photos weren't allowed inside, so we only have pictures of the outside. Sir Winston Churchill was born in a bedroom of the palace. They had a neat animatronic and video presentation that guided you through the history of the Dukes and Duchesses who have owned it. The 11th Duke of Marlborough is the current Duke.

Check out the eyeballs painted on the ceiling of the portico!




They had an offer to convert your one day pass to an annual pass, so we did... anyone want to go with us? :)


We had lunch in the cafe there... we're wishing the dollar was stronger, that's for sure. Everything seems reasonably priced, until you realize that it's 1.7 pounds per dollar. :(


More pictures out in the gardens...






Meridian gives her sister a lift... :)



After strolling through the town of Woodstock and wishing we had planned to stay over at one of the quaint B&Bs there, we returned on the bus to Oxford. Unfortunately, the information center was closed, so we didn't get a dinner recommendation from them, nor information about bonfire night. I had read that there was an event with fireworks, concessions and a bonfire, but I hadn't written down where or when. AND I forgot I just got a phone with internet... I'm not used to relying on it yet. :(

So, we grabbed something to eat at Pret a Manger because we were all starving, even after a nice lunch at Blenheim (6 meals I've had off base so far, 2 of them have been at Pret locations, lol). It's quite good, but still a chain. (http://www.pret.com/)

When we came out, we could hear the fireworks, so we headed toward them... as always things are further away than they seem. We finally just stopped in a street and watched from afar with everyone else on the street.


I did finally remember my phone, so we knew they were supposed to have a spectacular bonfire too (with a 26 foot Guy), but after the fireworks ended we couldn't follow them to get there anymore. We'd already walked a couple miles, so we just headed back to catch the bus back to Bicester.


Al picked us up in Bicester and drove us back home and we all crashed after a very long day out. We have lots more to see and do in Oxford, including all the Harry Potter filming sites. The scene in Order of the Phoenix where Snape is harrassed by Harry's dad by the lake was filmed at Blenheim, and the colleges in Oxford were used for the Great Hall and for the library. We will be back for sure!

The Commissary Walk

Our TLF is maybe a mile from the Commissary (grocery) on base, which doesn't seem too far to walk. However, it is closed on Sunday and Monday, so on the past two Saturdays I've realized that I need to purchase any food or house items to last us until Tuesday on Saturday. I try to choose light items, but yesterday totally failed.

Scott was home with the girls ~ we didn't need to make them walk over, shop and walk back with us ~ so I was on my own. With 3 dinners and extra stuff for breakfasts and lunches, plus tomatoes to chop for the class lunch on Monday and 4 bags of Halloween candy in my backpack and in two bags in my hands, I made my way home. Miserable!

Our sponsors keep saying they'll drive us places, but they live 15 min away and I didn't want to bug them on a Saturday. I'll have to learn to shop every other day and buy an extra dinner each day or something so I don't end up doing it all in one day, at least until I have a car.

Having to skip a bottle of wine in favor of milk is the suck!! Luckily the "Class 6" (where the booze is sold, at the gas station) is open on Sundays. We plan to stop by today on the way home from the bowling alley.

Oh, one other odd military thing... we have a ration card for the booze. Any hard alcohol has to be marked off on the ration card, and we have to have it with us to buy. Funny though, they just told us when we filled a card to come get a new one... doesn't seem much like rationing. Scott thinks it's because it's so much cheaper to buy booze on base, people might sell it on the economy if it wasn't monitored in some way. Still, it's weird. :)

So after almost killing myself for groceries yesterday, we're off to the bowling alley to bowl and buy lunch.

Then to the "Class 6" of course. :)