Stratford

First--the show Friday… Treasure Island! Such an amazing display of set design… Maybe not the best-written version ever. But omg the ship coming out of the stage and rising four stories up, the people climbing up the riggings out of sight into the railings… and this animatronic parrot that was FANTASTIC… (my favorite part, I think) and the lights in the ceiling that made out the various constellations. It was fantastic!!

AND before that--I tried out another veggie restaurant: Food for Thought. SO YUMMY sweet potato bake… That thing kept me going for all the rest of the day!

Saturday, I finally got to Stratford Upon Avon… It only took three visits to London to do so! It was a tour, and not the most leisurely/I'm in control visit… so there were things missed (Anne Hathaway's cottage) that I would have made a point to check out had I been on my own. AND the UK weather took a turn for the CHILLY today…because the UK is not famous for its weather, after all… (or rather it is, but not in that way…) But it was still definitely worth the visit. :)

We did see Shakespeare's birth house--and the site of his fancy house where he stayed with his family after he "made it." (understatement alert) We also saw the church where he is buried--with a fun little quote/poem/curse on his tombstone about not messing with his bones… Which is really just good advice. :)

And the town itself is picturesque to the hilt. There is nothing like that kind of Tudor architecture in London proper… so it's nice to see a Shakespeare-era town…that just so happened to be Shakespeare's town. (I suppose I should say Elizabethan era…but I don't wanna!)

Side note: I also had a brie and cranberry baguette for lunch--off a barge on the Avon. (Hello, did I mention quaint?) So tasty! I'd never had one before…

The tour also stopped off at a medieval castle, now mostly in ruins, that was a fun photo-op stop… it was called Kenilworth… (Fill in the Eddie Izzard line about being up to one's ears in frigging castles, and that would about get to it…)

I spent the day as well hanging out with a colleague and a student--both lovely--and it made the bus travel time pass entertainingly! These are the days I love my job!!