Originally published: 11/27/2015 | 10:56pm
Continuing with part 2 of my United Kingdom road trip, I will be sharing my experiences in Chester and Stratford-upon-Avon (William Shakespeare's hometown). We spent a short amount of time in Chester on a cool Monday morning before continuing on to Stratford-upon-Avon where we spent most of the afternoon exploring.
When my travel group arrived in Chester, we immediately began a walking tour led by our designated tour guide (the travel company gave us one main tour guide who remained with us on our Europe trip from start to finish). He led us around the city as we learned about the history of the canal and its residents, buildings and architecture. The highlight of this stop revolved around Chester Cathedral. The establishment was beautiful inside and out with perfectly detailed architecture and interior design. I have visited many churches in my lifetime, and few can compare to the beauty that this cathedral exhibited. In the link to my photo collection below, you will see some of the pictures I took of Chester Cathedral.
After finishing up our morning in Chester, we continued on our journey and made a stop in Stratford-upon-Avon. We started our afternoon of exploring the town by going to Anne Hathaway's (Shakespeare's wife, not the actress) cottage for a tour. I learned some great information about the home and was surprised by how small the home was on the inside in comparison to how large it looks on the outside. The cottage was a strong reminder of how you should never judge a book by its cover. Once we finished visiting Anne Hathaway's cottage, we went over to Shakespeare's birthplace for a similar tour before going to lunch. We ate lunch at the Dirty Duck Pub, which has been known to serve celebrities such as Benedict Cumberbatch. I ate chicken with peas and steak fries. I found the food to be very good there, but this is merely personal preference. I then went shopping after lunch and discovered two amazing stores. The first store I went to was Poundland, which is the equivalent of any United States dollar store. Every single item in the store cost one British Pound Sterling. I then made my way to a store called Accessorize, which is similar to Claire's in the United States. I had promised myself not to spend money on anything besides lunch in Stratford-upon-Avon, but there was a half price sale on everything in the store and there was a beautiful backpack that I just had to have (my teacher also encouraged me to give in and buy it). Shortly after buying my backpack, it was time to leave Stratford-upon-Avon so that we could make it to London by sunset.
Day two of our United Kingdom road trip was very relaxing and fun. I enjoy learning and education in general, so getting to visit the home of author I spent a year learning about through his works in school was wonderful! If you are a fan of British Literature or William Shakespeare, this would be a very fulfilling trip for you. Also, if you enjoy architecture then I would recommend taking a trip to Chester or a city similar to it. There are great locations to visit and tour in the United Kingdom, and I encourage those of you planning travel there to consider visiting smaller cities and towns to maximize your experience. Here is the link to my Google Photos Collection so that you can visualize what I put in writing: https://bit.ly/KTTinEngland.
I am terribly sorry about not getting this post up on Tuesday as promised. I experienced some set-backs due to traveling, Thanksgiving, and my computer issues. I will be sure to get the next post up on Tuesday as planned.
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) and share your stories and experiences with traveling to England!
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