Shakespeare and Castles

Ok so I've been jumping around a bit because I went to Chatsworth before we had our snow day and Fairy bread, but I'm moving on.  Two weeks after visiting the Chatsworth House, my flatmate Amanda and I headed out to Warwick and Stratford-Upon-Avon with a group called Don't Be A Tourist.  Essentially they organize trips for exchange students (nonexchange students can go as well).  They provide the bus and often entrance into the major attractions is included in the price.  We were set to meet the bus at 8:30 at the student union for Sheffield Hallam.  Fortunately, the Hallam union is easily identified and after waiting for a bit some other girls from Hallam showed up.  Since it wasn't one of the trips through the Sheffield Uni union Amanda and I were the only ones going from our school.  About 30 minutes after the bus was supposed to show up we hear someone yelling to us from across the street, it was our tour guide.  Apparently the bus wasn't able to turn down the street to pick us up in front of the union, not really sure why not but I guess the bus driver was having difficulties.  Unfortunately Sheffield was the last stop before Warwick so the bus was already full, Amanda and I were forced to separate.  But no worries, our tour guide had a fun bus ride planned for us.  It started with a nice little round of speed chatting where we'd move around our seats to get to know some of the other people going on the trip.  Clearly what we all wanted to instead of just having a nice quiet ride where we would be able to get some sleep.  We also formed groups and took a quiz on Shakespeare since we were heading to his birthplace.  Finally, we were able to sleep after the quiz and a short stop to stretch our legs.

Warwick is a small little town home to Warwick castle.  Amanda and I walked around the castle and grounds.  After the castle we walked around the town.  There's the Lord Leycester Hospital that was built in the 1100's and is now used as a retirement home for ex-servicemen.  We also stopped by the Collegiate Church of St. Mary, a Church of England parish that was also built in the 1100's.  It currently houses (I believe) the altar cloth from Queen Elizabeth's coronation and is where J.R.R. Tolkien was married.

St. Mary's Church

After Warwick we hopped back on the bus and headed off to Stradford-Upon-Avon, a town that has really embraced its role as the home of Shakespeare.  Everywhere we went there was something that had to do with Shakespeare.  We opted out of entering the house where he was born and chose to just view it from the outside.  I'm sure it might've been interesting but not 8 pounds worth of interesting.  We also saw the home Shakespeare's daughter and the Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare, his wife, daughter, and her husband.  When we got to the church it was already closed for the day, but by less than 10 minutes.  Luckily with a little smooth talking from our tour guide we were able to get in.  After the church Amanda and I went for a walk along the river Avon and saw Shakespeare's Royal Theater.  We also popped into a wizard store where they had wands and a little cafe in the back that sold Butterbeer.  Unfortunately, the cafe was closed for the day but we were still able to walk around the store.  The British really have embraced the wizarding world, you can see evidence of the Harry Potter influence everywhere.  I also experienced my first afternoon tea.  We stopped by a cafe and got cream tea, which included a pot of tea and a scone with jam and cream.  After that we headed back and rested up because we were heading to Liverpool the next day!

Shakespeare's Grave (he had to pay for it himself!)