Mother's Day at Blenheim Palace - May 12, 2013

Jan and I had a lovely breakfast at Tree Tops B&B.  We then set off by train and bus for Blenheim Palace - Britain's Greatest Palace.  It was a gift to John Churchill - the 1st Duke of Marlborough from Queen Anne after his historic battle victory at Blenheim in Bavaria in 1704.  The 11th Duke of Marlborough and his wife currently reside here in the East Wing.  The remainder of the Palace is open for visitors.  The palace sits on 2000 acres and has its own lake (man made) and gardens.  It was quite a site to see.  Winston Churchill was actually born here, but by accident.  His mother was attending a party at the Palace when she went into labour and had Winston prematurely.  They have a great exhibit about Winston - interesting fact - after WWII and his victory (and his hero status), a general election was called and he he lost.  We walked around the gardens in the pouring rain and didn't flinch.  We then hopped the bus and train back to Moreton-in-Marsh and ran to Black Bear Pub so Jan could have Yorkshire Pudding for Mother's Day (the restaurant was closing at 6 and we arrived at 5:50).  Jan actually thought about not venturing out today so she wouldn't miss her yorkshire!  We are now back at the B&B doing some planning for our upcoming days.  We have one more day here in the Cotswolds to do some hiking.  One day in Bath and then we have booked a flight to Lisbon, Portugal for May 15.