The day after I left London, I took a day trip from Oxford to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace and home of William Shakespeare. Part of the rail service happened to be down that morning, so I had to take a bus to Leamington Spa where I was supposed to transfer to a train to Stratford-upon-Avon.
Well, the signs said Platform 4. Platform 4 said the Stratford-upon-Avon train was there. I got on the train...and waited a half hour. Around this point, I made friends with three Canadians--Kate, Rob, and Stuart--who were also trying to get to Stratford-upon-Avon.
Turns out, the Stratford-upon-Avon train mysteriously disappeared and we were on a train headed to Birmingham. we got off at Hatton, where it looked on the route map like we could get a connection to Stratford-upon-Avon. And, we could. In an hour and a half.
My new friends and I set off to see what Hatton had to offer. Hatton pretty much only had fields of sheep that were labelled as public footpaths. So, we spent our waiting time wandering through the fields of sheep.
After our time with sheep, we did end up on the correct train and arrived at Stratford-upon-Avon. I ended up spending the day with the Canadians seeing the various Shakespeare houses.
Our first stop was Shakespeare's Birthplace, self-explanatory. The interior of the house was restored to what it would have been like when Shakespeare was born/lived there. One of the workers said that one of the floors is believed to have been put in by Shakespeare's father.
The next stop on our Shakespeare house tour was Nash House/New Place. This house, well the one that was intact, actually belonged to Shakespeare's neighbor. Shakespeare's house is currently being excavated. In fact, there was a dig for Shakespeare ongoing event. Unfortunately, it was over for the day by the time we arrived.
Our last Shakespeare-related stop of the day was to be Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare's grave is. However, they closed the doors about a minute before we got there, so we didn't get to see it.
Before catching the train back, we decided to walk along the Avon for a while, and ended up taking a chain ferry across. The Avon River--and Stratford--are really beautiful.
On the way back to Oxford, we were able to take the train the entire way. And, the trains actually went where they initially said they were going to go.
Once we returned to Oxford, we decided to grab dinner in the pub where J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis frequented with The Inklings for years--The Eagle and Child.
They had many Tolkien and Lewis things throughout the pub--photographs, quotes, etc. My favorite was a The Lord of the Rings quote by Merry and Pippin.
It was an overall fun day with some lovely people from Canada. And, of course, we got pints.
Oxford
The day after visiting Shakespearean sites, I explored Oxford. I began my very nerdy day by attempting to walk to J. R. R. Tolkien's grave in Wolvercote Cemetery. It was a much longer walk than I anticipated. I ended up getting what turned out to be 3/4 of the way there before getting discouraged and turning back.
Having walked about five or six miles by the time I was back in the Oxford center, I was pretty tired. My next stop was Christchurch College of Oxford--the setting that not only inspired Harry Potter, but it was filmed partially in Christchurch College.
The biggest Harry Potter connection was the Dining Hall of Christchurch College. It looked very much like the Great Hall of Hogwarts.
After getting my fill of the Harry Potter-esque scenery, I went to Carfax Tower to get a view of Oxford.
I still had a few hours before my train, so I decided to get on a bus and actually make it to Wolvercote Cemetery to see Tolkien's grave. It was inscribed 'Luthien' under Edith's name and 'Beren' under J. R. R.'s name. The Lord of the Rings fans left memorabilia on the grave, included a 'one ring' pin.
After visiting Wolvercote Cemetery, it was time to catch my train to London and flight back to Glasgow.
I spent the next day in Glasgow getting ready to go back to London to meet Joe.
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