May 22 Day 15
Today was mostly a travel day as we left the beautiful countryside of Hampshire and southern England and travel through the industrial midsection of the country and into the beautiful countryside of Lancashire, where we will be staying for the next 5 nights. On the way, we stopped at Blenheim Palace, near Oxford, the home of the 11th duke of Marlborough and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, a cousin of the duke. The first duke of Marlborough was John Churchill, Winston Churchill's 6th great-grandfather, but since Winston's father was the younger brother of the 8th duke of Marlborough, the dukedom didn't pass on to him. He actually never lived there. THe palace was fabulous, though, and rivaled Versaille and some of the other great palaces of Europe. Many kings and rulers of other countries have stayed there. The grounds were incredible as well, creating a beutiful park around the palace. Since it was Saturday, many people came to the grounds with their families for a nice day out at the park. I think it's great that us commoners can enjoy these once-restriced lands, for a price(of course). Thankfully, our Great British Heritage pass that we bought before coming here, (they don't sell them here) entitles us to free passage to all of these castles and stately homes that we have been visiting while here. We have already visited 11 properties with the pass, and it has already payed for itself, and we have two more weeks to go!
A quick update on my list of English dishes I want to eat. The other day, I had Welsh Rarebit, which is basically melted cheese(in my case, Swiss) with a splash of Worcestershire sauce on toast. It was very tastey. Then last night, we ate at the Ribchester Arms in the local village here, and I had Bangers and Mash. Bangers are locally-made sausages, and Mash is mashed potatoes. It is covered in an onion sauce. It was delicious, but salty so again, meant to be eaten sparingly. One thing I have discovered about the English diet, it is very greasy. A traditional English breakfast consists of bacon, eggs, sausage, buttered toast. Not very heart friendly. So we have been having yogurt, cereal, juice and fruit for breakfast instead, to give our arteries a break.
