Stratford Sunday

Yesterday morning, we got up, got ready for church, and tidied the B&B where we were staying.

We went to a little tiny church with about twenty-five people in it. Total. On the way there, we stopped at a statue at Banbury Cross. 

 Around the edge of the statue it says "Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross to see a fine lady upon a white horse. With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes she shall have music wherever she goes."

(please ignore my hand to the side there. I just rescued a ladybug from a puddle where it was stuck upside down, and then my mom told me to turn around for the picture, but I didn't want to just drop the ladybug! So if you look very closely at my hand, you can see a tiny, red dot on my second finger.)

After we visited the statue we went to church. We didn't go for more than an hour because we wanted to go to Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Stratford-Upon-Avon was really fun. There was a Food Festival going on, so there were stands and people and tents everywhere!

The first thing we did was go to the house where William Shakespeare was born.

Next to which there was a man who was drawing with chalk. He had drawn"The Girl With the Pearl Earring." Which is a painting by Vermeer. And he was just starting a new drawing of Shakespeare, but it started to rain.

You'll notice how the drawings are on some sort of paper which is taped to the ground. The artist evaded the rain by pulling up the painter's tape, and rolling up the pastel drawings. A kind stranger with an umbrella held it over his head to protect him and the exposed drawings.

Across the street, we stepped into 'The Peter Rabbit Specialist.' A store full of Beatrix Potter merchandise.

 The Author of 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit', Beatrix Potter, wrote many childrens' stories about animals who could walk and talk, and had many adventures. I was brought up on these stories, so visiting this shop was really fun, and really cute.

We, then, popped our heads into a crowded Christmas shop. My mum wanted to buy a christmas ornament with Shakespeare's house on it, but it was too busy, and the lines were too long.

 After the Christmas shop, we traipsed up and down the crowded Food Festival looking for something that sounded good to eat. We settled on kielbasa sausages in buns.

Mine tasted really good. There was cheese sprinkled over top. While we ate, a girl with a guitar came and set up her gear. 

 She started singing before we were done. Her voice blended really beautifully with the guitar, and she played very well. I put a pound in her guitar case.

Once we'd finished eating, we traveled around the corner to take a few photos of places where William Shakespeare had been, walked, slept, studied,etc. In the middle of which we stopped for gelato.

(pink grapefruit sorbet)

  

(William Shakespeare was baptized in this basin)

We also walked around his grave. 

'Good friend for Jesus' sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here, Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones.'

When we left the Trinity Church, we walked along a river, and stopped to take some photos and admire a gorgeous rainbow.

There were some people rowing rowboats (with Shakespearean names) down the river.

This couple made my family laugh. From this photo they appear to be going normally down the river, but in reality, they were rowing backwards. The man was rowing so that he was shoving the flat side of the boat through the water, and the wedged end was dragging behind. The woman, who was steering, was facing backward, so she couldn't tell where they were going!

We made our way back to the street which hosted the Food Festival, and we bought some fudge and churros.

We sat at a nearby table, and ate our desserts. 

We walked back to our car, and drove until it was dark and we were hungry. We stopped at a strange food-court place that was just for traveling people. I've never seen one in America before! Mum and I got a salad and a sandwich, respectively, and the boys all got Subway sandwiches. 

It was an excellent holiday, but it was also a bit relieving to get home. 

The History of Nearly Everything

On August 30th, my family flew from Utah, to the London airport. 

We have a flat in Kensington, which is very cozy.

(This is the view from my bedroom window.)

Since the day we arrived, we've seen and done loads of fun things. Such as...

Taken a train to Paddington station.

Been to King's Cross station and taken pictures with the trolley. 

(This building actually isn't King's Cross Station, but it's the building that was used in the filming of Harry Potter as the exterior of King's Cross Station)

Ridden bikes in Hyde Park.

Been to the Tate Modern museum to see a modern art exhibit which commemorated the Great Fire of London.

Gone to Harrod's and seen the Food Halls and the Toy section.

Walked around Kensington Gardens, seen Kensington Palace, Listened to a pre-recorded message from "Queen Victoria", and walked around Princess Diana's playground.

Been to see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. (And the london eye)

 Taken a foggy bus from Cambridge, to Duxford Air Museum.

 (This was my lunch)

Walked around Cambridge and ate at an Italian restaurant.

Visited Westminster Abby.

Taken a tour of  the replica Golden Hinde (The Ship of Sir Francis Drake)

Toured Chiswick House and Gardens.

Taken a Waterbus to the London Zoo.

(This reptile house was the same one that "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was filmed in)

Toured Buckingham Palace.

And been to a big toy store called Hamley's, which had loads of cool Harry Potter and Lord of the Ring's merchandise. 

 

That's most of what we've done so far (as far as I can remember).

But yesterday we took a rental car to Oxford, parked in a Park-and-Ride, and took a 

double-decker bus into town.

We stopped at a tiny, cramped bakery for a breakfast snack. I got a ham and cheese croissant. Then we walked across the street to Christ Church.

 (This hall was the inspiration for The Great Hall in Hogwarts)

 (These two stairway shots were used in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".)

 (This cross and table are in the Christ Church chapel. The cross was cut from the underside of the table)

After we left Christ Church, we went to an epic candy store which seriously reminded me of Fred and George Weasley's Joke shop. We bought some cherry fudge.

For lunch, we went to "The Eagle and Child" pub. JRR Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to meet there with other writers. They nicknamed it "The Bird and Baby"

 (This was written on a chalkboard on the wall)

 (My lunch was macaroni and cheese and garlic bread)

We, then, went to the Ashmolean, and then to an ice cream shop.

 (Raspberry sorbet)

We visited the burial site of JRR Tolkien and his wife. It was very lovely, and a little sad. There were lots of little notes and tokens left on his grave, and it had a rose growing out of it.

After that, we drove down some tiny roads that can really only fit one car, to the B&B where we are staying, 

It's a converted barn, which means that some of the walls are stone, and that there are wooden beams sticking out everywhere, and there is at least one spider in every room. That's one thing I like about living in the center of a busy city. There are practically no bugs!

After getting settled into our new, two-day home, we went down more one-car roads to a crowded pub. We had to wait outside, in the cold, for a little while, but then they beckoned us inside to a table. Inside the pub it smelled like a mix between honey-cooked ham, and pine trees. Randy compared it to Hagrid's hut. There was even a giant black dog! (but his name was Harvey. Not Fang.) 

(My dinner was ham and eggs and a roasted tomato.)

There was a girl sitting at the next table who was wearing the same exact thing as me! We both had oversized, grey sweatshirts, jeans, and tall, black shoes. It was really interesting.

This morning, I woke up, then sat down in a big, comfortable chair in the next room, and took a long nap. When I woke up, breakfast was ready for me. It was homemade toast and scrambled eggs. We were in a bit of a rush to get ready, because our plans for the day were to go to Warwick castle and Stratford Upon Avon, but we got a rather late start, and most of us wanted a shower, so we left an hour later than planned. We went to Warwick Castle and walked around the Castle, saw a bird show, ate at the conservatory tea shop, and watched a catapult demonstration.

We started to go through the maze, but due to "technical difficulties" they had to close it for the day, so we didn't get to finish. We decided not to go to Stratford Upon Avon today. For dinner, we ordered a pizza, and took it to a park to eat. 

Overall, I'm having an amazing time.