Weather forecast was sunny and we felt we have to go out of London again, to seize the chance while May is still here and we can travel out together :)
Oops Cynthia and I both overslept! errr... must be too tired from previous day and so... guess what we thought we reach Marylebone Station (Monopoly comes alive for me) on time; train scheduled to depart at 9.33am and we reached 9.28am? Cynthia rushed to buy tickets from the machine and suddenly this guy was shouting for our train to Stratford and we rushed forward after getting the tickets.. and guess what.. the train departed. Right before out eyes! So sad.. haizz so we were shocked and thankfully one of the nice attendents told us to take the train to Warwick (see the Warwick Castle) before continuing the ride to Stratford-Upon-Avon, and so we did!
Warwick is a very quiet place and houses there are very Tudor style (think of Tudor Court in Tanglin) and once again we snapped lots of photos along the way of houses. Entrance fee to the castle wasn't cheap and we decided to just loiter around the castle since not enough time to tour the whole castle anyway. Flowers are in bloom and even roadside flowers are so pretty!
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| Pink roses |
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| Wow look at the colours |
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| Pretty flowers in bloom! |
I was very looking forward to Stratford-Upon-Avon (Avon means river) because from the pics I've seen, and also because the main tourist attraction is to see Shakespeare's hometown (his birth place, his wife Anne Hathaway's farm cottage, his daughter's house and another belonging to his sister's husband, and his mother's farm which is further out in the countryside). Once again, another walking tour day (actually a bit scared at the thought of it now.. eee...)
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| Shakespeare's birthplace |
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| Chairs in the church which he attended and is buried at |
First house, Shakespeare's Birthplace. It was a nice and very ancient house. Floorboards creaked and I wondered how long more before they give way. But it was nice. We learnt something new. The ancient beds had ropes tied to opposite ends to support the mattress above so every night they had to tighten the ropes to secure the matress, which is how the phrase "Good Night, Sleep Tight" came about. Interesting right?
Second house, Nash's House. It was so-so. Beautiful garden though. Third House, Hall's Croft. *ok I am beginning to get bored here* We walked to the church which Shakespeare attended and saw his grave from afar (we just didn't want to pay to see it).
Guess what the fourth house, Anne Hathaway's cottage, was 1 mile from Town centre..! omg.. I didnt wear comfy shoes and they were hurting like mad. And inside, I was feeling so... urgh. sigh what to do, just walk lor. Luckily this house was beautiful and somehow made up for the walk (30min to be exact with my hurting feet plus in the cold). It had a thatched roof, different from the rest. We wondered how Shakespeare went to her house during their time. Did he have to walk a mile everyday? *shudder* Maybe he rode a horse of something. (The things we talked about to keep the mundane walk more interesting and funny.) Aftewards, the feeling of having to walk back to railway station was simply... terrible.
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| Taking a break |
All in all, it had been a very tiring weekend with lots (!!) of walking. Ok lah, think can compensate for all the chocs we have been eating since we came. Somehow we both are addicted to the Milk Choc Digestive Biscuits!! Cannot stop eating.. sigh.. finally finished it yesterday, better not buy anymore for now.
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