Today we started out at 7:25 with a pick-up for a day trip to Warwick Castle, Stratford-Upon-Avon, the Cotswalts, and Oxford. We drove to Oxford first and went to Christ Church College. This is an extremely old college and has roots with Henry the VIII, Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and Albert Einstein. The guide compared Oxford University to the human body where Oxford University is the head and all the respective 39 colleges are members of the body. Christ Church is a college under the head of Oxford University. The education system was also explained and all parents pay for elementary school from K- age 16. Then, at 16 students can enter the workforce or go onto College of Higher learning for two years. Then, if they continue they would start to apply to University. You cannot apply to Oxford you must be nominated by your tutor and then go on a three-day interview. If you are selected, you can study there for three years with no tuition! How do you like that mom and dad?!?!?! 12 percent of the students come from outside the country.
Then we went on a drive through the Cotswalts. Beautiful countryside that is four sure. Then, we went to lunch at The Bell. It was a unique pub and restaurant in the middle of the country right outside of Stratford-upon-Avon. We had a great meal and continued on to Shakespeare country. Shakespeare’s birthplace was completely crowded. We barreled through the masses and arrived at the birthplace home. It was very big for the time. The floors we original and it was mindboggling to know we were standing on the floor that Shakespeare did long ago. The village itself was a typical village very old and lined with all kinds of shops.
For our last stop of the day we went to Warwick Castle where the Earl of Warwick lived. We learned many things about how castles worked and who got to build them. This was an original castle from the middle ages. One thing we learned is that before there were castles there were hills. There was a hill there ordered to be built by William the Conqueror. We walked around the top of the castle, went in the great hall, dungeon, toured a wax museum type of display about how the castle was used in the middle ages and went through the 1700s when the Earl and his wife Daisy would entertain people like Winston Churchill and Prince Edward. It was quite elaborate. They lived in major luxury. Running water and everything.
We drove two hours back to London to get dropped off at Piccadilly Circus where we ate sushi and Justin was almost ran over by a double-decker bus. He was just so overcome by the beautiful screens and majestic beauty of the statue that he literally walked right out in the middle of the road with his nose in the air taking everything in. Quickly I reached over to drag him to safety and asked “what were you doing???? You almost got ran over!” He laughed and said “I don’t know my mind blanked out. “ Yeah, it must of. ☺ Tomorrow we are off to Bath, Winchester, and Stonehenge.
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