As promised here (at last) is my blog about Helen's & my trip to Stratford!
Helen's birthday and my pay rise were all the excuse we needed to finally make the trip 'ooop north' and I'm so glad we did. Helen has been quite a few times before so knew all the best places to go, whereas my only experience was of being sat through Macbeth at the theatre by the river during my college years.
We were absolutely blessed by the weather, it was hot and sunny for the three days that we were there, making the Autumn colours extra vivid. We stayed at the
Premier Inn in the centre of town and everywhere was in walking distance (although to be fair the town is so tiny that it's basically a high street and a couple of side streets!).
After dumping our bags we went for a walk along the river and through the town.
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| Churchyard |
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| I'm seriously considering buying a river boat! |
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| Look at these lovely colours |
The town has lots of quirky little shops, my favorite by far was the
Magic Alley which just had the best atmosphere, selling lots of Halloween-themed gifts, spell books, crystals and more unicorn products than you can shake a stick at!
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| I also got my Harry Potter fix! |
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| Unfortunately there was also a year round Christmas shop ,,,,,,,, |
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| I love how the shops are in 100s of years old buildings |
The beautiful sunset on the way out to dinner
Enjoying our Chinese
The next day we explored the 'Shakespeare attractions'. The
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust run a few different properties in and around Stratford - Shakespeare's Birthplace, Mary Arden's Farm, Anne Hathaway's Cottage and Shakespeare's New Place. You can buy tickets for the houses separately or, as in our case, you can buy a
Full Story ticket which covers all the properties and is valid for a whole year.
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| Off out for the day |
Our first stop and our favourite location was
Mary Arden's Farm. The property is a fully working Tudor farm with traditional crafts, falconry and most importantly cute animals!
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| Helen inside the house |
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| Finally a door I'm too tall for! |
The Autumn colours were absolutely stunning.
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| Helen enjoying the view |
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| Piggies! |
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| Ellie the Shirehorse |
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| A V Adventurous goat! |
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| Helen and her new loves Bill and (big) Ben |
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| Meeting your BFF's new love is very important |
One of the highlights of the farm was the barn owl demonstration. Arwen was absolutely beautiful and the man giving the demonstration was absolutely fascinating.
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| Utterly gorgeous |
We didn't venture inside as there was a large guided tour going around but instead enjoyed the gardens.
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| How cool are these music note railings? |
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| Wonder if I can convince Dad to put some in the garden? |
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| Helen enjoying the view |
And of course there was a scone stop!
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| Heaven |
That evening we sought out the local Wetherspoons for dinner and I took the opportunity to sample some
Unicorn Gin
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| This is apparently my gin-tasting face! |
After dinner we indulged in one of my favourite activities, night time walking. We went down to the river path and watched the swans.
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| Such a beautiful evening |
I'm so glad I finally spent more than 4 hours in Stratford and even avoided Macbeth! It's a beautiful, quiet town. The perfect place to spend a couple of days away relaxing and to fall in love with donkeys!
Can't wait to go back in April!
Love Jen
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