One of the ways in which James and I pass the days while we are not in the same time zone is to plan what activities we would like to do when we are together again. When discussing my time out in England during this last break, one idea came to mind - HEDGE MAZE!!! We noted it, and moved on. Then, last week, we were browsing books in Oxford, and I happened to open a British tourist guide to a page entitled something along the lines of, '10 Best Mazes in Britain.' Ironically, one of those listed happened to be located in the Pleasure Gardens of Blenheim Palace (where Winston Churchill was born and lived), which is only about 30 min from James' house. So, when James happened to get yesterday afternoon off from work, we decided to seize the opportunity to check it out.

The whole thing turned out better than expected. We got there about an hour and a half before closing, so there was hardly anyone there, and besides the maze, there were giant chess and checker boards, a model village, a lavender garden, and a butterfly house! We were in heaven, just messing about and exploring. The Marlborough Maze happens to be the 2nd largest in the world (we still need to discover where the largest one is) and it was like being transported into Alice and Wonderland. Since there weren't that many people, we were able to wander as we pleased, sometimes getting purposely lost, other times splitting off in separate directions to see who could find the other first. As James so well put - it was a'maze'ing! Afterward, we battled it out on the giant checker board and then the OCD in us both made us rearrange all four boards so they would be perfect for the next day. :p (See my photo album for pictures!)

After checking out the butterfly house and lavender garden, we got orange popsicles (or 'ice lollies' as they are called out here) and sat on a bench in the square of a fantastic little village called Woodstock. Unfortunately, most shops were closed by then, so we're hoping to come back and spend a proper day there. Then it was off to Sainsbury's supermarket to find the 'Mexican' section so I could get the rest of the things needed to make enchiladas. We found it next to Indian and Oriental, and I was able to get some enchilada sauce and more refried beans. Making dinner was messy and fun, and yummy!

I'm not sure what we'll end up doing tonight. It's been raining off and on all day. But tomorrow we are off to York! We're really looking forward to it, and I promise to take more pictures.

Have a fantastic weekend!