We started out our morning on a coach to Stratford-Upon-Avon. I was excited about visiting Shakespeare's home, but was said to leave London for three days. We are getting close to the end and I still have so much I need to do in London! Our first stop on our way to Stratford was an old Cathedral that had gotten bombed in WWII and had never been fixed. It is called Coventry Cathedral. This was a pretty cool, but eery cathedral. There was no roof, but you could still see tracs of a cathedral like the altar, a smaller chapel, and even a tomb of a bishop. It was crazy to think that this used to be a full functioning cathedral and now it was just ruins. There was this really cool window sill that had flowers growing in it and it just made me think that even when tragedy strikes, life has to go on. I just got real deep for a second, sorry! Anyways, I really loved visiting this site.
^^A statue in remembrance of the bombings in WWII
Our next stop was the Kenilworth Castle. This castle was all ruins, but it was still so fun! It was fun to imagine what could have been there and what rooms and stuff could have looked like. It was great to climb around and see so many beautiful views. We found out from our professor that this is the castle that Henry V received the gift of tennis balls from France. Pretty cool, right?! We also found out that Queen Elizabeth I visited here a few times and Shakespeare probably saw her here. There some lovely gardens that we found too. We had a lovely time climbing around this castle.
^^What would a day be without a few selfies??
^^My favorites!
^^Quality photobomb, Tessa!
^^Sometimes we like to take model shots....
We then took another 30 minute drive to a place called Warwick Castle. This place was....interesting. It was ridiculously touristy! Everything cost money to do and there was cheesy renaissance decorations everywhere. The first thing we did there was watch a rock be catapulted. We did find a few cool things after that, though, like wax figures of Henry VIII and his 6 wives. Oh, I forgot to mention that this castle is now owned by Madame Tussauds, so there were creepy wax figures everywhere. Seriously. I was surprised there weren't wax figures in the bathrooms. They were so realistic and just creepy. We went to the Weekend Scandal exhibit that was about all the affair scandals that happened at this castle in the late 1800s. That was pretty cool. We also tried to go to the Princess Tower, but they told us they were having story time and only children were allowed. Really?! Adults like stories too! America does not discriminate against age when it comes to being a Princess. A fun fact about one of the beds we saw there: One of the owners of the castle decided he wanted to be a movie star so he moved to Hollywood, but was awful. He befriended Frank Sinatra and he visited him at the Warwick Castle and supposedly slept in one of the beds there. Pretty cool! We also hiked our way around the outer towers and wall of the castle. There was only one way up and one way down so you were forced to go all the way around. It was a tad bit ridiculous. I loved some of the comments I got from people while on this walk. One guy walked up to me while I was eating french fries and said "You must be American with your french fries." For real?! You British people eat french fries, sorry chips, too!! Also, I was standing behind a lady while I waited in a line to walk down some stairs and made a comment about how I had never waited in a line to walk down satirs and she said "Us British love to que. We are a bit more civilized than the Americans." I wanted to slap her! She obviously knew I was American. Some people. My favorite thing we did at Warwick castle was the bird show and the Peacock Garden! They were so awesome! For the bird show, we got there an hour and a half early to get good seats and we also had nothing else to do. Thank you Warwick Castle for an interesting visit.
^^Oh yeah, they also had a Merlin experience!
^^How I was really feeling...
^^I seriously didn't think I was going to be able to walk any closer! They were so creepily realistic.
^^Hey there, Henry
^^Bed they think Frank Sinatra slept on!
^^Selfie with the wax figure!
^^Young Winston Churchill
^^During the hike around the walls and towers of the castle
^^At least they had a nice view
^^Waiting for the bird show an hour and a half before it started!
^^Got myself a slushie!
^^Couldn't help but feel a little patriotic when he brought out the bald eagle. Part of me wanted to yell out "America!"
Thankfully, we left Warwick Castle and headed to Stratford! We arrived and walked over to our adorable Bed and Breakfasts. The one my roommates and I are staying at is called the Hollies. We walked in and it felt and looked so homey. Our room is so adorable. We have a view of the street from our room and a bathtub. I love it so much. We even get breakfast served to us in the morning. Could it get any better?
^^My bed is the one on the right!
^^View from the window right nest to my bed!
^^ Because our study abroad group is taking every room.
When we arrived, we had some down time. We napped and such and then headed to an awesome pub called the Windmill for dinner. This pub has held a license for longest time in Stratford, since the 1600s. It was also doing a deal for two meals for 9.95 pounds and two desserts for 5 pounds, so it was perfect. I got the sausage and mashed potatoes for dinner which was surprisingly good and a lemon tart for dessert! So much deliciousness.
^^Lemon tart with a side of Rum and Raisin ice cream
^^Ooo, tart!
After dinner, we headed straight over to the Royal Shakespeare Company to see "As You Like It." This was such an incredible performance! I love it so much. The costuming and sets were modern day and they had modern day bluegrass music throughout it. The acting was really great as well. I am really starting to love Shakespeare, a lot. Another great part of this show was that every single male in this show was attractive. I swear it was a requirement that you had to be attractive to be in this show. My favorite part was the ending scene which was a big wedding and it was seriously my dream wedding. The men wore colored pants, suspenders, and bow ties. The girls wore lace dresses. The decoration was adorable and there was a bluegrass band. Could it be more perfect?! I think not. They also danced around to the bluegrass music and it was such a party! I wanted to stand up and dance with them so bad, but British people don't do that. If this show was in America, the whole audience would be up, dancing. None-the-less, I loved this performance so very much. McKenzie and I ventured out into the city to try and find a store to get some shampoo and conditioner, but were not successful. We did see a cute part of town and an actor from the show. We got back to our adorable B&B and went to bed. It had been a long, full day and we have another tomorrow!
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