Just when we were getting used to the idea of London being our new home, Karen and I ducked off to the English countryside for the weekend. We decided to make a break for Stratford-Upon-Avon a couple of hours North-West of London for an early Valentine's Day.
Famous for one thing and one thing only (namely being the birthplace of one William Shakespeare) Stratford is a surprisingly pretty little town with plenty of pubs, restaurants and attractions - the majority of which tout some link to the playright. My favourite amongst them, for no other reason that its fantastic name, was
The Shakespeareance - I kid you not.
Stratford-Upon-Avon
After the night at a B&B and having taken in just one of the many Shakespearean attractions (for the record, we saw the much modified house of his birth), Karen and I headed down the road for some more tourist excitement.
Having spent last year in Scotland, we've seen our fair share of castles. For the most part, they were beautiful historic buildings set in rugged locations in varying states of preservation. Some were little more than ruins, others were well kept and maintained. None, however, included a display of torture equipment, 20-odd rooms of wax manequins and hoards of roving over-acting arts students in period costume. Yes, proudly brought to you by The Tussauds Group (of Wax Museum fame), Warick Castle is where history meets tourism.
Warwick Castle
To be fair, Warwick Castle is a beautifully preserved piece of English history and certainly worth the visit should you find yourself in the area. It's just hard to concentrate on the history when you're watching comedy troupes perform mock torturings.
A note on the photos. As mentioned briefly in my last post, I'm now hosting my photos at flickr. I won't be posting as many photos inline, instead, you can click on either of the photos above and be presented with a slideshow of shots for that day.
