Now that we've finished up on things we did in London, here's an update on a more recent trip. On Monday we took a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. It was only about a thirty minute bus ride away from where we've been staying in Chipping Campden.
We were excited to be in William Shakespeare's town, even if it was cold and rainy (no, that's not him in the middle above). We were thankful that at least the rain mostly held off until the late afternoon.
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| This memorial statue of Shakespeare was done by Lord Ronald Gower back in 1888. It was pretty impressive, well except, Will needs to get the bird poop rinsed off his head! |
After eating lunch, we headed over to the Avon (river), and we were amazed and delighted by all the swans, pigeons, ducks, geese, all kinds of birds!
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| We bought some geese and duck food, and we had fun feeding the birds. They all seem pretty used to getting food from people! |
Anna was trying so hard to make friends with birds.
Once our swan food was gone, we walked around town and made our way to Shakespeare's birthplace. This was the place where he was born (obviously from the name) and spent the first five years of his life. Before we went in the house, we saw a short film about Shakespeare and the impact he's had on the world with his plays. We also saw one of the original books with all his plays in it (his Folio, stored inside a glass case). It was so cool. It's just amazing to think about how talented he was. The home was pretty humble, and most of what we saw was recreated as to how the home was thought to have looked in Shakespeare's time. One of the rooms was set up as a glove-maker's shop, which was what Shakespeare's father did.
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| Inside Shakespeare's childhood home (I took this picture before I realized that photos weren't allowed - oops) |
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| the garden outside the home |
After some dessert (and tea of course!), we took a river cruise along the Avon. Even though a light rain had set in by this time, the boat was covered, and the view was beautiful. There were lots of barge type boats parked (moored?) along the side of the river, and Kevin was imagining how fun it would be to live on a boat like that, stopping at different towns. Well, he was imagining that until I reminded him that I get seasick. Oh well. There were also lots of beautiful weeping willow trees along the riverbanks. So pretty!
We had a yummy dinner of fish and chips.
To finish off the evening we, of course, had to see a play! We had been looking forward to this since before our trip. We chose to see "The Tempest," since Daniel had been in a school play of it. The story is a bit complicated, and it wasn't the easiest to follow, but we all mostly knew the story, so it turned out great! Daniel was particularly excited when he heard lines that he had memorized for his part!
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| The Royal Shakespeare Theater |
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| This shirt seemed fitting for Anna (the quote is from "Midsummer Night's Dream") |
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| Inside the theater with the set behind Daniel and Justin |
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