Author: Ulises E. Hernandez

Location: Woodstock, UK

Pronouns: He/Him/His

On October 7th, Our British Life and Culture class had the opportunity to visit the Blenheim Palace. This Palace, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful in England due to its amazing gardens, well-kept building, and also by its location outside of the city. During our class trip, we had the chance to walk through a section of the palace and through many acres of beautiful gardens. After going through the Palace, we were able to learn a lot of interesting facts about how the Palace has played an important role in the history of the United Kingdom.

The first interesting aspect of the Palace is that it was the childhood home of Winston Churchill. This man not only played an important role in England during the Second World War, but he also had a lot of moral and ethical influences on the rest of the world due to his one of a kind way of thinking. The Palace was awarded as a gift to John Churchill due to his military accomplishments in the Battle of Blenheim.

Another interesting aspect of the Palace is the fact that it’s the only Palace in the United Kingdom in which its residents are not part of the Royal family. The Blenheim Palace has been occupied and as mentioned earlier, by the Dukes of Marlborough, which are the decedents of Winston Churchill.

The Blenheim Palace’s beautiful gardens and parks are not only famous in the United Kingdom but also worldwide due to the movie series Harry Potter. Blenheim Palace is home to the “Whomping Willow” which makes it a tourist attraction for those who are more interested in the movie aspect, rather than the historical aspect of the palace.

My favorite part of this once in a lifetime experience was Dr. Brugh’s organ performance in the Palace’s specially made organ. Dr. Brugh played a few musical pieces including my personal favorite, “The Phantom of the Opera”. It was a wonderful experience because not only did Dr. Brugh play for our class, but also to everyone who was going through the tour inside of the palace. The opportunity to play on an organ so valuable is not very common, but Dr. Brugh was granted that very unique and honorable opportunity.

Overall, I enjoyed walking through the very amazing gardens and parks. Not only is this garden very well kept, but they also symbolize a great aspect of English country life. The beautiful trees, rivers, wildlife, flowers, and bridges make this palace unique to all of the other palaces in the United Kingdom. This Palace holds great symbolical value to the English People and It was an amazing experience not only for me but also for the rest of my classmates who are also part of the Cambridge Program. If you are interested in Studying Abroad, I highly encourage the Cambridge program due to the United Kingdom’s rich history and also because of the ability you have as a student to travel to other European Countries.