Jason's Daily Notes

It was our first full day in the Cotswolds. We started the day by going to Tesco, stocking up on essentials for our Christmas meals, including steak. (We couldn't buy everything at the Cooperative the day before, as they were closing and already asking us to leave!)

We brought the food back to the house, and we had some lunch, consisting of leftover pasta (half of which I made into a nice carbonara).

Because the days are so short, we had to make the most of the few daylight hours we had. So we rushed out around 12:00 to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. We got there in good time, but there was some traffic as we entered the town itself. We managed to park in a parking structure (on the 3rd floor, in a tight space) and headed directly for the Shakespeare birthplace, which was just a block away. We paid, went through a little exhibit about Shakespeare's life story, and then went outside to the actual house where he was born and raised. There were helpful guides in each room to give us information about what happened in each room. Shakespeare's father was a pretty successful glove maker who sold gloves and other leather goods from a window in their house that opened up onto the street.



We took some pictures around the house itself, which was nice and historic, although not uniquely striking on its own. The guides and actors in each room, however, were really useful to have around.

Next, we walked around the town itself, down to the river, which was flooding well over its banks (thanks to the heavy rain over the previous few days). I took some cool pictures of the birds in the floodwater. Then, we walked past the national theatre building or whatever (which was of course closed) and decided to find Shakespeare's grave, which was at Holy Trinity Church. It was like a 10-minute walk to the church. There was a service going on, so we couldn't visit the tomb :(

We walked back into the town center and tired, we went into a pub (The Encore - very cool, modern but cozy and welcoming) to rest and have some tea. But when I saw that they had hot mulled cider, I simply had to have some! It was great. After the tea/cider, we walked across the street to Bhs to buy an umbrella. There wasn't much selection, but we really needed one as rain was in the forecast!

It was already dark. We returned to the car, taking a few pictures just outside Shakespeare's house. Drove back home relatively quickly and easily. My uncle still had the tendency to drift to the left side of the lane (because of the steering wheel's position, no doubt), so I had to always remind him, "too close! too close!" The streets were simply too narrow. And the lane markers were often hard to see. And with all the hills and curves, it was often difficult to see ahead on the road. But we made it safely and were very grateful for that!

At home, we cooked some sausages with mashed potatoes and soup on the side (just making use of all the food that we bought). We ended up watching The Holiday as we finished our dinner with a chocolate fudge cake - yum!