Do ALL The Things!

Blenheim Palace - where Sir Winston Churchill was born.

Though the hubby seems to be coming down with a bit of a cold and we're one day away from heading back to the states for a little family time in Chicago and our first Christmas together, we were determined to fill our last weekend full of fun before we left.

We started off with Mike's holiday party for his work department filled with all kinds of science-y types and the friends I'd already met who I knew were a fun group. Hosted by the one American scientist in residence currently, Chris, and his wife at their University-provided home, which is GIANT and a little 70's feeling, but entirely FREE. Apparently, being employed as a professor rather than a post-doc has a lot more perks. We like our flat but you could probably fit 12 of them easily in that house. 

It was great to meet Chris and I finally met Fran, the scientist who brought Mike here to begin with. They both cracked me up having heard more about their serious sides from Mike and realizing I was meeting their casual party sides who were full of jokes and laughs (and liquor probably), poked fun at our awful Christmas sweaters and made lots of inappropriate comments. They were everything I imagined. 

We were asked to provide food from our country so we decided on deviled eggs, which seemed to be a hit. My favorite were Lukasz's perogies though. So good. Either way, there was too much food, too much dessert and oh so much wine. 

Mike (in the horrid red sweater) and his lab peeps and professors.

A group of us closed down the party and headed to Maxwell's, the only nightclub in town really. The dj's aren't great and the crowd has been drunk for hours, but there's no cover so whatever. I don't know what we danced to, but though mostly circa 1995, we had a good time. We left the younger and single ones to drink and party longer while we went home tired, full and content.

Saturday our goal was to get to Blenheim Palace, however, Mike had been exhausted and needed to sleep so he didn't get moving til noon. When we finally arrived, it was after two that afternoon and we were losing light pretty quickly. Still, we were hit with freezing gale-force winds as we walked down the long road to the entrance, so once we arrived, we checked out the enormous gift shop and had lunch in the cafe first to warm up.

We'd already missed being allowed into the palace. We knew that before the trip. It'd officially closed for the holidays on December 13th. We missed it by a day and it doesn't reopen until February 15th. But at least we could turn in our passes for an annual one and when we return, we can see everything, including their new exhibit of World War I for free. We were still allowed to walk around the park and the expansive grounds, which were gorgeous and we can't wait to see them on a sunny day. The Pleasure Gardens were also open, a good half mile from the palace and we walked because the cute little train to get there and back was a bit slow moving. 

Me by the lovely gazebo in the Pleasure Gardens.

Again, the garden maze that's part of the big draw of the Pleasure Gardens was closed for the season unfortunately, but they'd installed Santa's Grotto in the stables for kids to talk to Santa complete with a helpful elf and a dvd fire in the background. 

There were lots of greenhouses (they call them glass houses) around the grounds. I just thought the sign was funny.

Mike 'whoo whoo-ing' in front of the palace train.

We took the train back, headed to the bus stop, but we had so much time before it arrived, we decided to walk through Woodstock instead, which is a darling little town right next to the palace grounds. In front of Town Hall, they were setting up chairs and a tent with mulled wine and cider for what seemed to be a community Christmas sing-a-long with the local orchestra. We stopped in one of the pubs for a quick drink to warm up and made it back in time to see a large crowd singing, munching on mince pies and holding hot drinks. We attempted selfies with the large Christmas tree behind us, but I just ended up giggling through most of them.

The town gathers around for the sing along.

Blurry selfie attempt with tree.

Finally! A cute one! Sans tree of course.

We arrived back home a little run down from the pounding winds and cold, but were excited for our friends to arrive so we could all go ice skating, which is just near our flat.

** Please Note: There are no pictures of this event because we sort of wish it had never happened.

Not only was this Mike's first ever experience ice skating, I hadn't been since I was probably 11 years old so there was no muscle memory to activate. Though I did better than Mike, who unfortunately never left the wall and made a whopping three laps total, he did the best he could and kept at it as long as possible. I managed to make a few laps here and there. I'd finally get my bearings and one lap would feel great, however, during any attempt at a second lap, I thought my legs and feet were going to fall off. Our friends, Lukasz and Melissa, seemed like old pros. But we were all a bit disappointed the ‛Disco Skate' that was advertised was more just bad dj music of the 90's (yet again?!) and not the disco genre we were hoping for. Plus they don't Zamboni (is that a verb?) the ice ever so it can make it harder when it's crowded and the ice just gets worse and worse to skate on.

We felt a bit like we were dragging our friends down so I think around 40 minutes total, we called it a day. I don't think we'll be getting better anytime soon. 

Sunday, we had no agenda other than to do whatever we wanted to around town in Oxford. We caught a bus to Iffley Road where we wanted to have brunch at Oxfork, this cute little cafe off the beaten path we discovered our first week here but hadn't tried. The coffee was divine, the baked goods were enormous and we had pancakes and eggs benedict that delighted us both. And it didn't hurt that everyone working there was so sweet and kind, which is, unfortunately, not so common in England. People are nice once they start talking to you, but customer service isn't their forte.

Brunch at Oxfork

We hit the cutest indie art store nearby after that for handmade holiday cards, took the bus back to town and did some window shopping on High Street taking mental notes for each other the whole way. I think we were both being pretty obvious.. me especially. In my defense, he seemed a little lost at what to get me and though I've insisted on nothing, he insists he must so I just gave a push gentle nudge here and there. 

We skyped with Mike's family for a long time that evening and they seem really excited for our pending arrival. I hate packing and I could do without the lengthy plane ride, but I'm ridiculously happy we'll be home for a while and I'll be allowed to stock up on Target and Trader Joe's needs - probably more than I should be. And as it's already been snowing there, we expect a white Christmas, which I haven't had in a long time. Chicago will be gorgeous, no doubt. I'll miss being with my family this year and seeing my friends in Seattle, but we'll skype on Christmas day and get back to the Northwest for a visit around Easter. I'm counting the days. 

Hugs to all of you! We miss you like mad and wish you all a wonderful holiday!