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We decided to make the most of our first long weekend in England so rented a car to explore Cambridge and Oxford. The trip started well with a free car upgrade so we had space and comfort for all the driving we were about to do. We had recently brought a sat nav to show us the way, which was the best investment ever! It stopped a lot of map reading fights!
We decided to travel via the Norfolk coast to get to Cambridge. The weather was really nice which made the beaches seem much better. We drove our way around windy roads lined with old stone cottages which were really cool and stopped at several beached along the way. Like many of the beaches we stopped at we had to walk to the beach because we refused to pay to park in a grass field next to the beach, nothing for free in England. At the first beach we stopped at we started walking and were surprised to see real sand, we walked up the sandy dune and as soon as we got to the top the sand turned into pebbles all the way to the ocean, typical English beach. Next we stopped at Hunstanton Beach. Another pebbled beach, this one was lined with an amusement park and seal sanctuary/aquarium with ponies on the beach for kids to have rides. We visited several other beaches along the way before heading to Cambridge. We arrived in Cambridge and drove up to our hotel which turned out to be very nice. The sun was still shining so we enjoyed a drink overlooking the hotels pond.
The next day we got up early to explore Cambridge. The city is full with old colleges, buildings and churches. We spent most of the day walking around and exploring the buildings. We saw Cambridge University, Kings College, Clare College and bridge, Christ's College and other colleges and churches. Punting is popular in Cambridge and everywhere we went people were trying to get us to take a trip down the river on one but we decided we would leave that until Venice. Biking is another big thing in Cambridge, everywhere we went people were cruising around on their bikes. Outside all the houses and buildings there were bike parks and bikes, instead of cars, had parking passes.There was a big market set up in the square where we also spent some time wandering around. Later that afternoon we set off for Oxford.
Arriving in Oxford was a bit of a disappointment compared to Cambridge.There was not as much to see and do. We arrived in the evening and walked around visiting the old buildings and Oxford University before settling for dinner.
The Next day we got up early and headed for Blenheim Palace, about a 15 minute drive from the city center. Blenheim Palace is claimed to be Britain's greatest palace and is also a World Heritage Site. There was a jousting tournament and falconry display on at the palace that weekend too. We arrived at around 9:00 and found out the jousting and falconry wasn't until 12:00. Craig said we wouldn't want to hang around the palace for that long to wait to see them, however that wasn't the case. The grounds of the palace were amazing, 2 100 acres of parkland. The palace itself is surrounded by sweeping lawns and stunning formal gardens. We soon discovered that this palace was the birthplace and home of Winston Churchill, there was an exhibition on about the Churchill's during the war and 5 rooms of the palace, including the room he was born in, were dedicated to Winston Churchill himself. The rooms are fully restored with portraits, porcelain and tapestries and there were marble pieces everywhere. There is a permanent visitor experience where a virtual lady's maid lead us through a series of rooms telling us stories that were animated by moving life size figures, talking portraits and touch screens. We were give a set amount of time in each room then when it was time to move on automatic doors opened and we directed into the next room. The jousting tournament was a show put on by the 'Knights of Royal England' and was very entertaining. The falconry display was impressive although one of the trainers nearly lost one of the birds! They were stunning birds and were very impressive to watch flying and diving to try to catch their 'prey'. The audience was asked for volunteers to have a go and I got to have my first experience of falconry, the bird was beautiful close up with threatening looking bill and claws.
To end the day we headed back to Oxford to take in some more sights. There was a castle but it is so built up around with modern buildings you can hardly tell it's there. They have a tour you can take through it but you can't walk around yourself so we decided not to go in. We wanted to take some photos of the city from the hill that was part of the castle grounds but they were going to charge us to walk up the grass hill so we flagged that idea! Instead we went up the old Oxford tower to get views over the city which was a nice alternative view of Oxford.
After that we headed back to Grantham and our weekend was over.
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