Our class on Friday got cancelled because we had one-on-one tutorial meetings with our teacher and Elizabeth's and mine were both the following week. We decided to plan a day trip to Stratford-upon-Avon and The Cotswolds. Our train left Marylebone station pretty early in the morning, around 9:15am, but that meant we needed to leave about an hour earlier than that to get to the station. Of course we're running late in the morning and we get to the station and there are delays on the Metropolitan line. Also, not much of a surprise. We had to leave ASAP in order to make it to the train on time. We decided to walk to the next nearest tube stop off the Bakerloo line, Kenton. It was about an eight minute walk from our tube stop. I was walking pretty briskly because I was spazzing about missing our train to Stratford. It was all for nothing, because we made it in plenty of time. We boarded the train and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep before we even left Marylebone Station (also, not a surprise whatsoever). That's what I do, one of my talents...I can sleep almost anywhere. I was up feeling rested and we get off at Stratford. You had to pay for a map, so of course we weren't about to play that game. We took a mental picture of the city map and tried to walk to the center of town. Stratford-upon-Avon isn't big at all so we weren't worried or really prepared considering we did about zero research of what do once we got there.
Start of our adventure in Stratford
On our way to the City Center we found a market...of course we had to stop!
Most of our time in Stratford-upon-Avon was spent shopping. There were tons of cute shops that we wanted to see. We got a great deal of Christmas shopping done which was great of course.
Lots of shoppers on a Friday afternoon!
Simply adorable, right?
Stratford was the birthplace of Shakespeare so after a bit of shopping we ventured over to the building where he was born and snapped a few pictures.
In front of Shakespeare's Birthplace
Afterward, we headed to the tourist information center to get information about taking a bus to Chipping Campden, a part of the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are the area of England that is often featured in movies. It's a beautiful part of the English countryside. I loved it. I can only imagine how pretty it is in the Spring or Summertime when flowers are blooming. We'd looked up buses before we left so we knew they existed, we just weren't sure where to catch one or where to buy tickets. The tourist place helped us out with that part and recommended a place we should go for lunch. We took her advice...lunch was delicious...but interesting...
We ate at what used to be the home of Shakespeare's granddaughter. It was such a tiny space above a costmetics store on a street corner.
Such a delicious ham and cheese sandwich lunch. Yummm.
Scone and homemade jam for dessert. That's what you want.
We had over an hour for lunch before we had to leave to catch our bus to Chipping Campden. Our waitress was less than attentive. That's the English way for ya, though. Not like a waitress in America. It took quite a long time for her to get our order, then she didn't bring any silverware out for our meal. Elizabeth's tea had curdled milk in it. She forgot our tap waters to drink with our food. And we had to ask for the bill from multiple employees before we finally got it because by this point we were getting really close to the departure time of our bus. It was a really delicious meal and it was really beautiful inside the tearoom but I just felt like we were rushing the whole meal because everything took forever.
We hopped on our bus about 2:15pm and it was about a 25 minute ride to Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds. The bus fare was inexpensive, only 3 pounds 30. We spent the first hour or so just walking around the quaint town. We took lots of pictures before wandering into an outdoor garden shop and talking to two English women for about 20 minutes. They recommended we go check out "The Guild" a metal workshop. We took their advice, but once we got there it was pretty awkward. I guess it's open to the public but it's literally old men working on making vases, silverware, jewlery etc.
"The Guild"
"The Guild"
One of the shops we went into. Tons of antique dishes.
I bought Nana's Christmas gift from Chipping Campden (and no it's not a tea cup from the shop above!). I know she is going to love it. We spent a almost 3 hours there. It was raining the entire time but it was alright. We got back out bus to Stratford-upon-Avon. We relaxed in a coffee shop for awhile until we walked to the train station return to London. Of course, I slept the entire way home, just the way I like it.
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