Stratford

Day 1

We had to be out and on the bus by 6:45am. It was a doozy! Our first stop was Coventry Cathedral which is now just ruins because of the bombing that took place. 

 Not actually certain as to why I chose to pose like this but I'll take it

Then we stopped at Kenilworth Castle which is another ruin. When Henry V began to rule he did so at a really young age and one day when he was there he received a box of tennis balls. Apparently that was really rude because it suggested that he was just a young boy and should run along and play with his toys. Just a fun fact

Didn't actually know that there was a polar bear statue behind me..

This is where I climbed over the fence that says "NO CLIMBING" on it

Ashley was really nervous that I was going to fall but I made it!

I convinced Khrystalle to come over too

Our final destination was Warwick Castle which was completely unlike the other places we had been to previously. It was super touristy and was almost theme-parkish. Strange

It was really pretty though!

This is the scary bald eagle that flew right over my head! Its 25 years old!

This bird was mean. It kept hulking toward us like that and I'm pretty sure that his trainer was nervous he was going to attack us because he would start running towards it if it got too close..yikes

After Warwick we finally made our way to Stratford and to our hotel. It was this cute little B&B that didn't have an actual normally functioning shower so I didn't shower the entire time we were there. Disgusting. After being home for a little bit we went to dinner at this cute little pub that had 2 meals for 10 pounds and 2 desserts for 5 pounds. Basically the cheapest meal ever and it was way good! From there we headed over to see our play of the night which was As You Like It. It was really good but incredibly long! Also it turns out that allergies in Stratford are terrible! Oh man it was a doozy

Day 2

The next morning we woke up and went down to the dining area thinking we would get in and out before everyone else and that we were so clever-yeah no. We were sitting there for like 5 minutes when a worker walked by and asked what we were doing-when we told her she let us in on a little secret that breakfast didn't start for another 25 minutes..awkward. Not like we had poured ourselves glasses of juice or anything yet-we had. So we went back upstairs for another 25 minutes and sat staring at each other. Awesome. The breakfast consisted of: raw bacon, sausage, cauliflower type hash browns, wet eggs, baked beans, and the most delicious waffles I have ever tasted. Very strange meal but I was more than happy to just eat 20 of those waffles..in fact I think I did

After breakfast we went to Shakespeare's Birthplace, his granddaughter's house, and then his daughter's house. Joy joy joy. Then I needed a nap so we went back to the hotel for a hot second, napped, and then had to run back out for our backstage tour of the theater we were seeing our plays at. Then we went to "dinner" at...

McDonald's! Seriously-in Europe and we ate at McDonalds? How lame-but it totally hit the spot! Then we went to see Hamlet which was our second and final play in Stratford. It too was really good but good gracious do you think Shakespeare could be a little less wordy so that his plays weren't 3.5 hours!? 

Day 3

This morning we had the same breakfast and then loaded the coach up at 8:45. Our first stop was Anne Hathaway's Cottage which was Shakespeare's cougar of a wife. She was 26 and pregnant when they got married and he was only 18. Yikes. 

Then we went to the Mary Arden Farm. It was so fun! There were all sorts of animals! The pigs were so strange! Instead of being the cute squealing pink things they were these brownish things with super coarse hair all over them, but it wasn't thick enough to be called fur-so they just appeared to be balding. 

And then we happened across this monster! Can you even tell what type of animal it is!? Its a PIG! It was massive! Actually the size of like a baby cow..but fatter. Its belly hung on the floor! After a while its ugliness grew on me and I found it slightly endearing but it was shocking for sure!

Just another pic with the scary pig is all

Then we found the cows and they were so cute! They are actually sort of pretty in a strange way..their coloring is rad and then if you look at their eyelashes they are forever long! Lilash has nothing on them! Except their eyeballs themselves are creepy..so dont look at them

Just the hardest swings to maneuver ever! These were the roommates while in Stratford. That new girl is named Jenna. She was really nice!

Then we went to Blenheim Palace where Churchill was born and grew up. It was huge and so pretty! And thats it! That was my Stratford excursion!