Blipmeet at Blenheim

What a brilliant day out. We met up with four other blippers for lunch in Woodstock, before heading for the afternoon into the splendour of Blenheim Palace. Thank you so much to Matthew, Martin, Helen and Kathy for your excellent company today.

After a morning of ridiculously heavy rain, I think we were all resigned to the fact it would be more indoors-y and tea shop-y than we'd originally intended for the day. However, after a final brief shower, the sun came out and stayed out for the afternoon. What do weather forecasts know?

We wandered happily round the grounds, photographing the palace, gardens and nature at its autumnal best, as well as chatting and laughing.

As the afternoon wore on, we made our way back towards the tea shop for tea and cake. As we walked into the palace courtyard, we could tell something was up - with the main gates open, and lots of expectant staff waiting. Shortly after, a cavalcade of McLarens, Porsches and a token Ferrari drove in through the gates. Apparently a private party staying for the night, the guests included former F1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen (see the extras).

After MANY pictures of the cars, we got the largest slices of cake in the world, then headed happily home. Thank you all again for such a good day:

Matthew
Helen
Kathy
Martin

While walking back to our cars, we chatted about the strength of the community here at blip. Making strong friendships purely through the daily view in others' journals, and meeting up with people in person, is what it's all about. What a special place this site is.

Chris took the main blip of the palace, the extras are a mix of ours. A few more pictures are in Chris' Flickr page.