Last weekend we decided to go sightseeing in our neighbouring towns. There was a food festival in Stratford Upon Avon which, obviously, was calling my name. Combine the words food and festival and you have one very happy lady. Stratford Upon Avon is a beautiful town. It is everything you hope an English town would be: cobbled stoned, cottages, a winding river and beautiful parks. And, oh yeah, it’s also a little famous. It’s where this guy named Will Shakespeare grew up. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?
We really did have a great time in Stratford. The food festival was fun. I got to eat the South African National Rugby team’s mascot- the springbok. It was that or Zebra, but the man behind the register recommended the springbok instead. Can you imagine selling zebra in the States? PETA would keel over.
This is a Springbok in South Africa
This is a Springbok in Stratford.
This is proof I’m not making it all up.
Oh yeah, and for a little touch of home we found the Cajun food booth.
G and I just past by that one. No thanks, mate. I’ll do without.
Without further ado, here is the mini tour of our mini tour:
Brought to you by your favorite online tourguide.
Below you’ll see the river Avon (hence the town being called Stratford UPON Avon).
Beautiful, right? The swans were huge and, we read later, are mute.
Dont ask why, I haven’t a clue.
A statue of one of Shakespeare’s characters.
Shakespeare’s birthplace. He was born in 1564. (Don’t mind the random lady who insisted on having her photo taken as well)
Down the street is a monument dedicated to fools. (only in a tourist hot spot)
At this point, G and I headed off to see Anne Hathaway’s home. She was Will’s wife and her house is supposed to be the most beautiful of all. According to the two maps it was located a couple minute walk down a path. Remember that monument? It was dedicated to tourists like us who trust that our maps will be accurate. The fool doth think the map is wise. A 45 minute jaunt down the path finally gets us to Annie’s home, which, admittingly, is as beautiful as was promised.
Unfortunately, it was about closing time so we just meandered the
gift shop and left. Here are some magnets I still wish I had bought.
They are all insults found in Shakespeare’s writings. My favorites?
“scratching could not make it worse, such a face as yours" -Much Ado
About Nothing (a favorite play of mine as well)
“Out, You green-sickness carrion!" -Romeo and Juliet
They really had some clever insults back then.
***Incidentally, this is where I would place the amazing photo of Anne’s house. Unfortunately, I forgot to take one. Thanks right. I walked two hours round trip to see the outside of a house and a gift shop and didn’t even document the journey.***
So, after all that we walked back to the car which, of course, was
parked under an apple tree. We obviously were not impressed by this,
because you can pick fresh apples from a tree all the time in
Manhattan and Mobile. Pretty much common place.
And that concludes the tour. I’m sorry the photo quality isnt good- my nice camera is broken and I still haven’t decided if it is worth sending away to be fixed or if I should invest in a new one.
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