the English experience - Shakespeare's Birthplace and Warwick Castle

Stratford-upon-Avon is a remarkable place and the people there are lovely, polite and very nice. They greeted us on the streets and chatted with us as we waited for our coach. It didn't feel strange and not even the slightest awkward.

It was close to 5 pm when we reached Stratford-upon-Avon and we just took a stroll around the area on our own.

That's us right in front of Shakespeare's birthplace. The very house that he was born in.

We actually chanced upon several places of significance without realising that they were.

C loves to eat pasta and pizza and she requested to have that for dinner so we sat ourselves down in this eatery. The food was fantastic really and everything was gone in no time.

The famous red phone booth. C said she needed to have her picture taken with it. hmmm...

The Travelodge we put up every night. We spent all of our nights at Travelodge as they are relatively cheap. Those by the Motorway weren't as spacious as the ones in the town but they served their purpose. Besides, we were on the move every day and sleeping in different Travelodges all over the country. C loves the baths in the toilet and always prefers to soak in the bubble baths.

hmmm... can't seem to find this mural anywhere. I mean, it was taken by C and as I browsed through the pictures and looked at our surroundings, I just couldn't seem to find the actual mural anywhere. Perhaps it was something at her eye level?

Posing for some pictures before our guide, Geoff arrived. Shakespeare's Birthplace was deserted at this time of the morning.

Our guide, Geoff who took us on a walking tour.

This was properly the busiest place during Shakespeare's times as it was the market place. Stratford-upon-Avon started out as a Market place and many of the street were named after the trade that was peddled during that time. The names have survived. Some of these pubs have survived too and Shakespeare himself probably went to them too.

Geoff was showing us how the buildings were constructed.

Marlowe's was built after the fire that consumed most of the buildings then hence it had that "newly built" wordings.

Tudor buildings. The one on the right was the original structure and some wealthy merchant lived there in the past. The one on the left was built to resemble the original to give it the same flavour.

Scenes of Shakespeare's plays are featured on the walls of this building.

Shakespeare's final home that has been excavated.

This was the Grammar school that Shakespeare studied in. Now it is like a home for the needy.

Susanna Shakespeare, Shakespeare's daughter and her husband, Dr Hall's home.

Then we made our way to the Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare was buried.

Graves in the past were recycled and bones would be moved. But Shakespeare had a curse engraved on his tomb:
"Good frend for Jesus sake forebeare,
To digg the dust encloased heare;
Bleste be the man that spares thes stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones."

and no one has moved his bones since.

My students.

The theater is being refurbished hence it is closed for now.

Swans are a big thing here and they all belong to the Queen.

Parting shot ...

Then we went into the museum: Shakespeare's Birthplace.

Pictures were not allowed indoors hence we took a lot of them outdoors. It was a magical feeling to be standing in the house to see and feel the furniture that the famous poet used. Many a times, I choked back tears because I could not believe that I was here.

C as the Bard!

We rested for a while and had lunch before we headed out to Warwick Castle.

Entrance to Warwick Castle

We learned that a jousting performance was starting and we headed for the performance grounds.

After the performance, we walked around the castle and even climbed the watch tower.

This is the view from the top of the tower. But it was raining and the skies weren't that clear.

C with the overview of the castle before we headed out again.