Europe- On the way to London

After we left Llandudno, we were on our way to London. The trip from North Wales to London was beautiful and we stopped in several places. Our first stop was Stratford-upon-Avon, you know, where Shakespeare was born. We stopped for lunch there and toured Shakespeare's birth home.

It was really neat to see how people lived in the 16th century. We couldn't take pictures inside of course. The rooms were so small and the entire family (8 children!) slept in the same room. The kids all slept on a trundle that rolled out from under the main bed. I'm sure some of those kids found their way into the big bed- I mean that NEVER happens now-a-days, right!?! Seriously, the room was just a little bigger than Pete's and my bedroom and I seriously cannot imagine 10 people living in there!!!! By the way, the trundle that the kids slept on didn't have a mattress, it just had a weaving of rope stretched across under blankets that the kids would lay on. The rope would have to be retightened each evening because most kids move around a lot at night. This is where the saying "Goodnight, Sleep Tight" comes from. As for the rest of the saying, I will have you know that I certainly DID NOT want to have bed bug bites from any of our hotels on our trip. Good thing Pete always inspects for those pesky critters whenever we go anywhere. He's got skills that way. Can't be too careful since they are making a comeback! Not everyone is so lucky on their travels...Oh another story, for another time.

Most of the original belongings to the house are in another museum so you can pay two entrance fees to see it all. They did have some period pieces in the house so it wasn't empty and it gave you an idea of how it looked. One of the neatest things was an original window that visitors used to carve their names on- you know, so and so's been here. It was crazy to see Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and other famous writers' signatures on there.

The garden outside the house is so pretty. I wish I could have a garden like that one day. Sadly, as of now, gardening is not one of my hobbies. Wait, what are hobbies again?
They have flowers and herbs popular from the time period arranged in a way that was popular then. In the middle of the garden there were performers dressed in period apparel performing different Shakespeare selections.

Shakespeare, by the way, was not such a great guy. Wonder who all the romantic lines were for since he left his wife Anne Hathaway after three years of marriage, with three little children (two were twins) to seek his fame and fortune in London! He did return to her though. It was about thirty years later when he was in his late forties. Wonder how that reunion went! I'm sure it was a tragedy- he died three years later.

I really liked wandering the streets of Stratford. It's very pretty with flowers and shops, street vendors and performers. No one would be wandering the streets in Shakespeare's time with everyone throwing their waste in the streets and all. Thankfully that custom has gone out of style! We had the best lunch of the trip there. Fish and chips, but the BEST fish and chips EVER!!! Here are some of the old wooden framed buildings in the Tudor style that were few and far between. Brick building would replace this style as it is naturally more fire resistant. These old buildings just look so cool.

These were the windows of the restaurant we ate at.

After we left Stratford we drove a mile down the road to Shottery to see Anne Hathaway's cottage.

Ever since seeing Sleeping Beauty as a little girl, I thought it would be fun to live in a little thatched roof cottage. Well, I no longer ever want to live in anything with a thatched roof after this trip! We learned that EVERYTHING will live with you in your pretty thatched roof. Rats, mice, cockroaches, fleas, mites, you name, they are in there. The lady at Anne Hathaway's cottage says they are still living in there, long after the Hathaway's or anyone else for that matter, has lived there. Gross. Thatch roofs are open to the living space, so if you have critters in the roof, their droppings-all droppings, would drop down onto you! Super gross. When they turned this into a museum that sealed the roof and made a ceiling so tourists would not get any extra souvenirs on them as they walked through. Thank goodness for that! The house itself is in the same wood framed Tudor style and it really is just the cutest cottage with the most beautiful gardens! Saying it is a cottage is deceiving, because it is actually huge! Something like twelve rooms. Originally the floor plan was much more open. Great big rooms separated by a pass through that had fire walls. Another problem with thatched roofs is that they catch on fire very easily. Sparks and ash would fly up to the ceiling and every now and then would still be burning causing the thatch to catch on fire. Then the burning thatch would start falling on whoever was below. The women and children were supposed to run to the pass through while the men would pull the unburning thatch down to try and stop the fire. If all else failed, the fire wall would stop it and only half the house would be destroyed. Interesting, huh!?!

Also, check out those scarecrowey things in the garden above. I thought it was genius- a strung potato with feathers stuck in it. It spins in the wind and scares off the birds.

After we toured the house and the gardens, we walked through a large sculpture garden on the property. I want one of those too, one day. This sculpture garden had hedges with a maze cut into it in the center. I particularly do not like these things. Especially since this one had that country, kind of overgrown look to it.

Pete said we had to do it though. Then he left me. Never follow a boy into a maze, they just can't resist playing around. I was lost in the hedges, but eventually found my way out complete with stinging scratches all over my legs. Pete was scratch free, but he did find a tick on him later! HA!