London 2015 Day 14 July 13 to Highclere and Blenheim

London 2015 Day 14 July 13 to Highclere and Blenheim

After a hearty hotel breakfast our driver guide arrived promptly at 9 for our day out to Blenheim Palace, home of Winston Churchill and then to Highclere Castle or Downton Abbey as we call it.

Unfortunately it was the first rainy day after two weeks of sunny days, but no matter we will be mostly in the car or in the houses. It was a long drive, over an hour to BLENHEIM PALACE. And this was a magnificent place with grand rooms, paintings, statues, etc., etc. We toured through the state rooms and the fantastic long library room, fully the length of the building on one side. The plan is symmetrical with courtyards in the center and at the side. Much information about the Churchill family was displayed but we didn't have time to read most of it as we went on a tour of the private apartments, a separate wing with more understated rooms meant for family use.

Now it was time for lunch and we went to a small place in the country, the SWAN INN at Swinbrook for a delicious fish meal and Pimms of course! This was the place where Sybil eloped with Tom in Downton series 2!

Finally the crowning moment of our two weeks here, DOWNTON ABBEY, about an hours drive from Blenheim. I meant Highclere of course! It looked EXACTLY like the show of course so we were not disappointed. No photos allowed so I bought the guide book which explained about the history of the family and the house. The rooms are wonderful just like on TV! Although they seemed smaller as the camera angles make them look bigger. Now we know. The library looked just like that room, and the dining room too looked smaller! Lady Mary's bedroom is in the studio, not here, but Sybil's room was open, and the red room where Mary had her disastrous affair was open. After a leisurely walk through the open rooms, with very few other visitors as it was the end of the day, we found tea in a little basement tea room since it was still rather damp outside. But there were tables set up and it would have been very nice on a sunny day!