Blenheim Palace and some other things in late March and early April.

Back in March, we had a great time visiting our friend Toria, who we hadn't seen for a while. Despite the cool weather, we ended up having a walk with her in the local woods, then back to her house for dinner and a DVD, which turned out to be "Paranormal Activity". This was building into an effective horror flick, but lost me somewhere toward the end of the running time: I wasn't scared anymore, just a bit dissapointed really- I believe a relevant term would be 'it jumped the shark.' :) Still, it scared Carla for several nights running!

The next day we went for a visit to the famous Blenheim Palace, which is located just North of Oxford. This large stately home is named after an area in Southern Germany were the British, together with their European allies of the time, defeated the French in The Battle of Blenheim in 1704. It has been the seat of the Duke of Marlborough since it was built a short time later. It was also the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Anyway, we had a very enjoyable few hours wandering around the palace (which included seeing the amazing library!) and then the gardens (designed by "Capability" Brown) which are very extensive and impressive. Highlights were 'the cascade' - a fantastic waterfall at the end of the lake, the Grand Bridge, and the walk along the lakeside in the trees which was beautiful, and having our packed lunch in a part of the gardens that gave us fantastic views of the palace on other side of the lake. It was nice weather that day as well - very mild. A shame we didn't have time to look around the neighbouring town of Woodstock, as it seemed to have some grand buildings and interesting shops. Oh well, next time.

As usual, I went to the Memorabilia Show at NEC: the usual mix of merchandise for sale and celebrities selling their autographs. I got two in the end, both of actresses from 'Allo 'Allo : Vickie Michelle and Kim Hartman. I got to see several pals as well.

Our friend Trudi came to stay with us the other weekend, so apart from the usual TV/DVD watching at home (enjoyed seeing "X-men Origins: Wolverine" for instance), we visited nearby Stratford-upon-Avon to have a look around the picturesque town centre, the river front, and go into the Shakespeare's Birthplace Museum. On the way home we stopped off at Kenilworth to visit the ruins of Kenilworth Castle, notable for its stunning setting and Elizabethan formal garden. On the Sunday, we went to the cinema to see "The Eagle", a tale set in Roman Britain about an adventure into the wild lands North of Hadrian's Wall. An enjoyable film, despite having a couple of dodgy historical aspects, and a little drawn out in the end section, but it was very well shot and the performances were solid. Less violent that I thought it would be as well.