Blenheim Palace and the Olympic Torch

This afternoon we had a scheduled trip to Blenheim Palace following our morning lecture on "Blenheim and the Churchills" by Jeri Baposola.  I have been through the palace many times in the past so I decided to take advantage of the short dry period to wonder though the gardens and I had them almost all to myself.

(Lots more pictures are in the slideshow in the right-hand column)

The reason I had the gardens all to myself was because the thousands (literally) of other visitors to Blenheim were there to see the Olympic Torch!  So we joined in... I was with a group of students very close to the main entrance to the Palace where all the dignitaries were gathered for the ceremony passing the flame from one torchbearer to the next.  Although a very tall man was standing directly in front of us, I still got to see most of the ceremony.  Ross and several other students even got their pictures with the Duke of Marborough afterward.