Everyone has heard of Blenheim Castle as the seat of the Churchills. But our fascinating trip uncovered juicy titbits.

Did you know that Winston Churchill just managed to get born here as he was premature and his very young American mother could not cope on her own? While growing up he was discouraged from visiting due to a family quarrel, until he discovered he had a cousin, the Duke. So he never lived in Blenheim, what a disappointment! Still, his paintings on the wall are a joy to see.

As usual on these outings that the Guild Chairman Mrs. Lydia Attar organizes, we had the luck of the devil with the weather, while a mix of laughter, neverending gossip and Arabic songs deafened us all. The driver must have been a saint, did he not even wonder about terrorist connections?

If you have never been to Blenheim Castle, do not hesitate. French carpets, portraits of beautiful queens, Consuelo with her graceful neck, furniture from the French Kings, exotic roofs and tapisserie: very royal surroundings indeed. One tapisserie had all the races of the universe on it, with long ears on the French to show they are the hated spies. After all the original Duke did obtain his title by defeating the French. The Churchills had become Spencers at one stage as there was no male heir, hence the link to Princess Diana, and then they changed their surname back to Churchill (Lucky that). Add to all this the real elegance of the 'designer' gardens, fountains and lakes around which we took our walk after lunch, and you will appreciate the restful effect of it all.

From the Castle it took half an hour to get to Bicester Designer Village. We darted through its shops to buy clothes at half price... saving lotta money by spending even more! Imagine Hampstead High Street boutiques all on sale and you understand why we were not ready to board the bus, not at all. So they shooed us in.

On the way back we couldn't believe how much beauty, culture and knowledge we had absorbed in one day. Next stops: Hulla, Shaqlawa wil Diwahniyee. It might be a shade more difficult to find the culture, it might still be buried in the mud... oh,...let's give it a miss, maybe there is nothing underneath the mud anyhow.