Stratford Upon Avon

While Kirsten and Brennan were visiting, we decided to take a mini-break to Stratford Upon Avon and Warwick (home to Warwick Castle). I had never really considered visiting Stratford Upon Avon, mainly because I assumed it was all touristy and focused on Shakespeare (which, it was, a little bit). However, there were still a lot of lovely things to see. I took so many pictures that I'm going to have to break them up into 5 or 6 seperate posts, so I hope you're sitting comfortably.

We'll start with the city of Stratford Upon Avon.

This square-fountain thing was a gift of an American dude named George W. Childs (of Philadelphia) to Stratford Upon Avon to celebrate the Jubile Year of Queen Victoria.
This it the White Swan Hotel. I don't know if it has any significant history, but it's awful pretty.
This is Shakepeare's Birthplace. We didn't go into any of the Shakespeare Houses, although we did visit the three that are in Stratford. The other two are slightly outside of the city). It's nice that they kept them up in the fashion of what we assumed they looked like then - makes the experience more authentic.
The swan seems to be a recurring theme in Stratford, and as such, they had swan-shapes hedges. They also had bunnies and a bookworm.

These two statues are part of the Shakespeare Memorial - a lovely group of statues close to the river front.
Some longboats on the river.

Stratford was full of lovely old buildings that looked as though they were about to fall over.
This is Hall's Croft, which is where Shakespeare's daughter and her husband lived.
I saw this little plaque tucked behind a pipe in a corner along the road. I have absolutely no idea what it means, and the internet isn't helpful at all. Very amusing, though.


This building has something to do with Shakespeare, and there is a little plaque on the front that reads "1596", so I can only assume that that is the year of the building. Either way, not entirely sure what it is - the flag on the front was quite worn and moved too fast.
This is a fountain that is located in Bancroft Gardens. Nothing too special, but a nice fountain none the less.


This is Nash's House. In the first picture you can see the Guild Chapel behind it - that will be in a separate post. Nash's House is the house next door to the ruins and garden of Shakepeare's final residence, New Place. It is now a museum.
I also walked down along the river and noticed that many of the rowing boats that you could rent were named after Shakespeare's characters.
This building belongs to the police force and appears to be some kind of court. I love it. It looks like it was put together by children.
I always liked the way the chimneys looked - reminds me of the Mary Poppins movie where they climb the smoke from the buildings. Heh.

Those are my favorite pictures of the city of Stratford. Up next we'll do the Butterfly Farm!