Last night at the Garrick Inn, the oldest pub in Stratford Upon Avon, although they advertised Sunday Roast all day, the sign should be edited to read “until sold out.” So instead, I had a heaping plate of chicken, mashed potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, roasted potatoes, and two Yorkshire puddings. And the whole thing was swimming in brown gravy! Never had gravy on broccoli before.
This morning, we visited Shakespeare’s birthplace, and death place, which happen to be just blocks apart. I walked along the River Avon, over one bridge and back across the next. Swans were everywhere! Houseboats, which front as businesses, line the waterway, and I wonder if they are avoiding property taxes!
Tudor architecture lines the streets. Prep school kids in jackets and ties were out on a field trip interviewing passersby. I took pictures of the Shakespeare Performing Arts centre, but no show today, nor any players in the courtyard, darn it. Loved absorbing the culture, though.
The sky played games with dark clouds here and there, but once again, we stayed dry and spent most of day in sun.
Our coach is equipped with a bathroom, of sorts, but to enter it requires climbing halfway down the emergency exit steps, swinging the door open, and stepping down into a space fit only for hobbits. There is hardly room to pivot to use the facilities, and good luck getting your trousers back up. Coming out, you must step up and over the ledge and one a curved step and not into the recess left for the door to open. I have had to use it only once in three tour trips, and know for sure that once was enough!
In Chester, which dates back to 49 AD, and then became a walled city during the middle ages, I sampled a Cornish Pasty, which is steak, sweet potatoes and onions wrapped in flakey crust to make a pocket pie of sorts. Yummy! There was a gorgeous town hall, and cathedral, and an intricate clock over an archway in the wall.
No pushy guides on this trip so far, just strolls at leisure, maps in hand to find each point of interest. Nice, pleasant way to view the towns. Time to stop for a soda, or cup of tea, if you wish. So glad it’s a slower pace than Italy! Unfortunately, though, this is a Coke Country, and diet Pepsi stops are few and far between!
Tonight’s hotel in Leigh charges 14 pounds to log on to Internet for 24 hours, which equates to roughly $25, so I did not log on at all today. I didn’t miss it much, but I wondered if friends back home missed my trip updates.