My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
My last stop for this break was to visit Rose, who was part of the theater group I toured with in Italy. This year, in fact, was our 10 year reunion! Being with Rose is like coming home to a place where the sun is always shining, the temperature is perfect, and all of the forces of the Universe align to present everything that delights me. While Matt struggled at first to find a fun place nearby that I hadn’t been to (cause I’d been to all of his top choices with Rose), Rose had a list of options. Stratford upon Avon was at the top of the list. Though Stratford upon Avon is well known for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare, it is also the answer to one of my general knowledge trivia questions. I still can’t remember the question, but I can’t wait until it pops up during my next contract, and I will be reminded of this day. During the Pause (pandemic) I read a young adult novel called Hamnet, which was written from the point of view of William Shakespeare’s son, and I watched the movie by Kenneth Branagh about Shakespeare and his family, so of course I was excited to visit the place where it all happened, or more accurately, where Shakespeare’s family lived while he was in London making plays. Rose and I pulled into the parking garage where we met Fiona, Rose’s good friend, who you may remember from a previous post, The Most Magical Day (I don’t know how to do links, but there would be one if I did) where Rose, Fiona and I frolicked and mooched around Richmond Park. I had a great time with Fiona the last time I was in town and I was so happy to see her again. Fiona had been taking a few people around Stratford upon Avon recently so she became our guide.
I’d like to point out that Stratford upon Avon is the only town I know of that includes the river it is upon in the name. Rose says there are other towns that are called as such, but I still find it odd. Why is it not just called Stratford? Is there another Stratford that is upon another river? Why don’t we call London London upon Thames? I digress…
The option to go on a little ride on a canal boat presented itself. You know how I feel about canals. I was absolutely delighted, and we had just begun.
These ladies were enjoying a cup of tea on their canal boat:
Here we are on ours:
Our boat took us through a lock where we lowered down to the level of the river. Just a couple of weeks ago I had been with Matt, Jarred and Maggie operating locks, admiring the canal boats and talking about taking one for a ride!
There were swans everywhere
We floated by the church where Shakespeare is buried:
Here I am in front of the church:
After our cruise we searched for a place on the water for some lunch. This was the winner:
It even had a castle-looking structure behind us!
We ate and drank and caught up on each other’s lives and completely lost track of time. We marvelled at the spectacular details of our circumstances.
Finally we left our perfect spot to walk around town. All the tours of Shakespeare’s house were gone by then, so we decided to go so I could get a picture outside (that’s all I really wanted anyway).
I just love being on this side of the Atlantic Ocean with the old historic buildings and the hallways that break off from the street.
We had to stop for ice cream and candy.
These actual buildings looked like sets from a play (but with modern shops).
Here it is! Shakespeare’s house!
And here I am with Will
And here are a couple of Will’s words
The library:
I want to go to a library that looks like that!
We were trying to decide whether to go home or to ride the “Stratford Eye” as Rose called it. The Eye won.
There wasn’t anyone waiting to get on so we went round and round
We’d started out on a boat on the water, then we had lunch beside the water and now we were looking out at the town high above the water.
It was another absolutely Magical day.