An adventure with an adventure - Friday 7/14

"I'm sorry for any inconvenience this causes." I must have heard that statement more than two dozen times on Friday. I went to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace and final home of William Shakespeare. The trip is almost a pilgrimage for me. Anyway, I had a couple of students accompany me. Since they had stayed up late the night before to take in the midnight showing of the new Harry Potter film, we started out a little later than usual. The train trip to Stratford is a long one since it is quite a distance from London. We arrived about lunch time, had a quick lunch, and set right out to see what remains of the city that dates back to Shakespeare's time. In fact, the house where he was born and raised is still standing and has been preserved as a museum.

Shakespeare's birthplace

Here is the blogger standing outside the entrance to Shakespeare's birthplace.

some of the colorful flowers in the garden of the Shakespeare birthplace

Of course, Stratford is also the place where Shakespeare died in 1616. He is buried in Trinity Church in Stratford.

Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon

Shakespeare's grave site near the altar in Trinity Church - Stratford-upon-Avon

The memorial for Shakespeare on the wall of the church overlooking his grave

Stratford-upon-Avon includes the name of the river that flows through it in order to distinguish it from other Stratfords in England. Here is an image of the river from Trinity Church.

River Avon from Trinity Church - Stratford-upon-Avon

Some other sites from Stratford:

The city public library housed in an (a least partially) original Tudor style building with half-timber construction

The Stratford-upon-Avon Market Cross - as a county market town, Stratford would have been the site to which farmers from surrounding areas and merchants from the town would have come on occasion to sell their goods, buy what they needed, and gather news of the day. We arrived during a modern version of a market day.