Saturday in Stratford

Saturday 27 June - With access to a car for the summer, Ian and I could finally make a trip to Stratford upon Avon. Practically living upon the Avon ourselves I've felt that we ought to visit the famous place for some time now. With the weather predicted to be sunny we took the opportunity to go on Saturday. It was a longer drive than I had anticipated, almost 2 hours and approaching the city was a bit disappointing as the main road passes by housing estates and industrial parks. Once we had parked and were making our way to the city centre things started looking up. We watched a canal boat as it passed through one of the locks on the canal. At a large roundabout we saw lots of lovely flowers and some shaped into animals: duck, swans and rabbits. At the tourist office we decided what we wanted to see and got a ticket that allowed entry into 3 out of the 5 Shakespeare properties. We first visited Shakespeare's birthplace. A large wood and timber house located along a wide walking path lined with shops. We first had to pass through a timed video introduction which was rather bland but processed us through some interesting room with stage-like sets. Then into the house populated with guides dressed in period costume. The most interesting feature for me was the recreation painted coarse linen which was used like wall paper to brighten the rooms. Also interesting was the fact that Shakespeare's father kept an ornate bed in the public sitting room just to show off his wealth. After a tour through the house we enjoyed the lovely gardens and an watched an actor giving lines.