More Simaceks in Oxford

No, there's not another little Simacek on the way. I'm talking about Paul's family coming to visit us a couple weeks ago! We spent most of the time touring around the Cotswolds seeing all the touristy things. We even rented a car, and Paul did great driving on the other side of the road!

I had to work the first two days of their visit, so they all went around to the Oxford colleges. That was fine with me, since we all got a chance to get out of Oxford on the weekend. Paul and I don't get out of town much (even to go one town over), so we really haven't had much of a chance to see England together. So it was great to have guests and an excuse for Paul to take a break from studying to see the sights!

On Saturday we did Warwick Castle and Stratford-Upon-Avon. We had some National Heritage passes left over from when my family visited over Christmas, so we wound up saving a ton of money on entrance fees - well over $500 when all was said and done!

Here we all are at Warwick Castle


Shakespeare's birthplace:


On Sunday, we saw Blenheim Palace and Broughton Castle. Blenheim is the birthplace and was the home of Winston Churchill. Not a bad start!

Here's Paul in Blenheim's back yard


At Blenheim, you can walk right into the sheep pasture, and there were adorable little lambs all over!


here I am striking a pose in front of the "Column of Victory" at Blenheim:


We also just happened to see this wedding procession! Can you imagine how much a wedding at Blenheim Palace would have cost?? I have no idea, but I'm sure you need a title like "Lord and Lady" to afford it!


Here are the Simacek ladies at Broughton Castle. The owners, Lord and Lady Saye and Sele (yes, they have an 'and' in the last name), still actually live there, but open it to the public two days per week during the summer. They filmed Shakespeare in Love here!


This is the back yard at Broughton - and the moat!

Yolanta & Anne in the garden


Paul and me on the roof..