DAY 10 - Tribute to Winston Churchill (Part 1)

Sept 12 - Blenheim Palace and More...

I woke early and while the boys were sleeping, I went for a walk in Green Park (close to Buckingham Palace).  It is one of the Royal Parks of London, covering almost 50 acres.  The entire park is comprised of mature trees - very beautiful and old.

One of the monuments in the park

I picked up a fruit smoothie and some pastries for breakfast in the subway station.  - YUM!

This is something famous ??

 We met our tour guide for the day in his car and he was prepared to take us to several places today.  He had his work cut out for him to go to a few places in London on our way to Blenheim Palace and Oxford.

We left from our hotel - the Flemings, but only after Lloyd waited for the bank to open since the ATM machine wasn't working. 

Waiting area at the Flemings - beautiful, isn't it?

Calken Gallery - some pretty flowers and greenery outside the store.

 Famed for the beautiful flowers and hanging baskets that tumble out onto the street, The Churchill Arms was a 'London in Bloom' winner two years in a row.

It is said that this was London's most famous watering hole.  Built in 1750, this Pub was frequented by Churchill's grandparents.

November 1874 – 24 January 1965
  Sir Winston Churchill was a British politician and Nobel laureate who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. Churchill is the only British Prime Minister to have won the Nobel Prize in Literature since its inception in 1901, and was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United states.

 More about Churchill later and in the next post.  He was an AMAZING man!

Westfield - home of ultimate shopping in London

  Blenheim Palace - is a monumental country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.  It is the principal residence of the dukes of Marlborough, and the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and  1722.

The palace is also notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill.

Both Lloyd and John are excited to learn more about Churchill, one of WWII's heroes.

Following the palace's completion, it became the home of the Churchill family for the next 300 years,

 Lloyd is enjoying finding out more about these Oxford University students and how they come from different parts of the world.

 The museum was VERY interesting and the home was so beautiful!

One of his favorite quotes during WWII.

 Aren't these Christmas cards so cute?  Churchill was an amazing artist, so there were many examples of his artwork - especially in his Christmas cards.

 Some snapshots of Churchill's bedroom and other rooms that he grew up in.

John chats with a gal who is there with the Horse Show

They're getting ready for a banquet at this L-O-N-G fancy table.

3 knives & 3 forks? - HELP!

In the northern end of the library is housed the largest pipe organ in private ownership in Europe, built by England's great Organ builder, Henry Willis & Sons.

The pipes in this organ are amazing!

He gave a demonstration which was so interesting.

After this man talked and gave a demonstration of all the things the organ could do, he asked if anyone in the audience could play organ.  I raised my hand and he had me play.  I flipped through his music and chose a Bach piece that I hadn't read before.  The sound was so amazing as he kept changing the stops.  I wasn't so good when it came time for the feet to play along, but it was great fun and Lloyd captured it on video.  Someday I'll have to get a copy of it.

The inscription on top of the organ.

He told a story of how the palace once housed an orphanage of boys.  One of them stole one of the original stops in the organ.  It never turned up, so they had to fabricate a new one and that it never was quite the same as the others.  Many years later (probably about 70 or so), a dying man on his deathbed told of his childish prank and produced the stolen stop which was returned to its original place.  I'm sure he felt relieved of the burden on his heart all those years!

The chapel is housed close to the organ.

We took a quick walk out to the gardens by the Palace....very nice!

We looked for the huge old Cedar tree at the lakeside in the Park.  This tree was featured in the flashback scene in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Here is a photo of the tree that I got off the internet.

And to think that we were right there!

Headed back to the Palace - isn't it massive?

Practicing for a horse race which we sadly will miss (just outside the grounds).

Blenheim Tea Rooms & Guest House

Churchill Street and the cool rock walls that they have in the UK

 Churchill was buried in 1965 at St. Martin's Parish Church near Woodstock at Bladon.

 This current church was built on a 11th-12th c. ancient church.

Such a gorgeous day to visit Churchill's resting place - what a great man he was!

 Sir Winston Churchill had expressed a wish to be buried at Bladon with the common folk. So, on the 30th of  January 1965, after his sate funeral service at St. Paul's Cathedral (the largest ever held in world history up to that point), his body was taken by train to Bladon.

 There, the private burial took place, conducted by the rector. By contrast with the earlier service, only relatives and close friends were present.

A monument to Churchill from the Danish Resistance

Our guide told us some interesting things about Churchill.  What a simple grave for a magnificent man!