An afternoon with Shakespeare

OK, not really, but we did spend last Sunday afternoon in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace. It's a lovely town on the banks of the River Avon, about a 45 minute drive from Ashby.

We packed a picnic lunch and headed off near midday. It was a fantastic, sunny day for an outing. We didn't do much except walk around and pop our heads into some antique shops, and any other shops that caught our interest, but it's always such fun just to see how the towns differ. Stratford has loads of timber-framed buildings that are all crooked from their ages. It's really interesting.

Some crooked timber-framed houses.

We sat on the banks of the river under this giant tree to have our lunch. As soon as we sat down, several swans and ducks came right up to us, waiting for us to feed them.

Our uninvited lunch companions and a view of the river

Kevin was trying to scare them off by waving our umbrella at them (we always bring it with us because the weather is truly unpredictable here), and I was getting ready to run as I'm not a fan of swans. They're huge! And apparently pretty mean. I'm not one for testing myths, so I was ready to leave Sir Kevin to fight the good fight and save the damsel in distress should the evil swan have come out of the water.

We were sitting just near this dock where you could rent a rowboat. We had great fun watching the people try to maneuver the oars. This one guy was rowing--well, trying to row anyway-- and having some trouble. Some kids on the opposite bank were laughing and jeering at him. He shouted at them, "It's really hard!" We were just dying laughing.

Kevin discovered this chocolate shop called Thornton's, so of course we had to make a pit stop and get some chocolates. I have to say that for a retail chain, the chocolates were excellent.

We walked by Shakespeare's birthplace, which is just a house set out by itself. There is a giant Shakespeare center right next door where you can learn all about the Bard and his works.

Shakespeare's birthplace

The Royal Shakespeare Company is also based in Stratford, and they have a huge theatre there where they are constantly performing various works. We may try to go down and see a play sometime, maybe in the fall after all the tourists go home. ;-)