Oxford & Stratford-upon-Avon

Well, the very next day (4th Dec) after our Cardiff/Bath trip, Jon and I went north on a day-trip to Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon. I've always wanted to visit Stratford-upon-Avon because my Mum had told me many times how lovely the place is, and how she particularly liked Anne Hathaway's cottage.

We had initially planned on going to see the Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge, but we were quite tired of driving in that direction. All our roadtrips so far headed out east-ward on the M4. We wanted to go onto a new highway! So upwards we went on the M40 :)




















We had a really early start at around 630am to try and beat the traffic. Also because we had parked in the congestion area and needed to get out by 7am :) It was a lovely sunny day, and the countryside looked wonderful. It's one of those things that best seen live, and can't quite be captured on camera.

With such an early start we hit Oxford by early morning. We didn't spend too long there cos we wanted to make sure we had enough time in Stratford. So we just gave ourselves a little over an hour to get an overview and a feel of Oxford. On our hitlist was the Radcliffe Camera, an Oxford landmark and one of city's most photographed buildings. Built in the Palladian style, it is Britain's third largest dome.












We got even better views of it when we climbed the tower of the Church of St Mary the Virgin. In addition, we got lovely views over the Gothic looking All Souls College, as well as the rest of Oxford.









[You'll see that Jon still has his Mo here even though it was already December cos there was a Mo Brothers gathering the day after :) ]


We wandered some backstreets, through the covered market, and back onto the main street. Rounded the corner and headed for Christ Church College, the largest and grandest of all of Oxford's colleges.





















I particularly liked the stone faces that were lining the outside of the building. They each were of different people wearing different expressions on their faces, and an odd non-human creature made its appearance as well.












Something funny - one boy thought I was a student at Oxford! If only! :) But we did see come legitimate smarties around the place, pondering over books, etc.

For me it was fun walking around Oxford cos I was reading "Northern Lights" which was partly set in Oxford, but in the fictitious Jordan College.




Well, onwards to Stratford! We were trying to make the most of the bright sunny day! And along the way we saw an added bonus - a complete rainbow! :) At first we saw just half of it because we were driving between building, then as we drove on, it extended and extended until it formed a complete arc when we emerged into an area of wide open space! Beautiful! :) The arc was so wide even my wide-angle lens couldn't capture it.










And that wasn't the last rainbow we saw during the day! In fact, we saw them on at least 3 other occasions!

Of course the main highlight of Stratford-upon-Avon was to see the Shakespeare Houses. The bard single-handedly put the town on the map! And in the bid for the tourist dollar, they brought in his whole family to entertain the crowd. There are in total 5 houses to see - Shakespeare's birthplace (the main draw), Anne Hathaway's cottage(where Shakespeare's wife lived before their marriage), Mary Arden's house (Shakespeare's mother's childhood home), Nash's house (where Shakespeare's granddaughter lived - getting quite far-removed already huh?), and Hall's Croft (his son-in-law's house).












For us, the main ones to catch were the first three since they are most closely related to him. The other two we'd do if we had time, which it turns out we didn't. Anyway Nash's house isn't even about Shakespeare. It has exhibits on the history of the town, and a collection of 17th century oak furniture and tapestries (?!). Hall's Croft isn't much better. It has exhibits on the medical practices during Shakepeare's time. I'm sure they are interesting in and of themselves, but with our limited time - Prioritise! Prioritise!

Shakespeare's birthplace was a good chance to find out more about him, and the context he grew up in. Apparently there is no evidence that shows he was actually born there, but he did live there at some point. I suppose you could say it was the birthplace of his fame. The place is essentially decked out in the style of Shakespeare's time. One of things you'll notice is how small the beds are, giving you the impression that everyone must have been really short those days. But as we discovered, the reason why the beds were made short was because people in that time believed that if you lay down flat your soul could leave you. So they made the beds short, ensuring that you'll always curl up in bed! Interesting little tidbit huh?





















Anne Hathaway's cottage was lovely, just as my mother had described! A charming thatched farmhouse set amidst lush gardens (which would be more lush in spring and summer). The cottage is again decorated in the "olde" style, complete with the short beds. It's just a nice experience to walk through the house and explore the grounds :)










In the garden there was a pod-like structure made of willow, known as an arbour or simply a willow cabin. These were apparently commonly seen in gardens during Shakespeare's time. Willows were symbols for grief or loss, and these cabins were sometimes retreats for those suffering from unrequited love. I tried to look love-lorn in this photo, but you can't quite see me at all through the thicket of willow...i'm so lost in my sorrow!!! Woe is me!!!












In spring/summer the Shakespeare Tree Garden would prove more interesting than it did when we visited it. It's basically a garden with examples of all the trees ever mentioned in Shakespeare's plays. But in winter...they all look the same - bare!
























Sun was setting!! We had to hurry over to Mary Arden's house. Some lovely scenery on the way there..










Mary Arden's house is set in a farm, and the exhibits trace local country live over the past four centuries. Interestingly, the people working there really get into the act. They literally live out the country life, doing things like chopping wood, feeding the chickens, taking care of pigs, all the while dressed in period costume :) It's like being transported back in time.





















We also came across these really cute FAT chickens! I saw them and thought, "hmm, they must be juicy!". But apparently, it's just that their feathers are fluffy :/














By the time we were done with those three houses, the sun was about to set, and there was no time to view any of the other two houses, which wasn't a loss to us. We had planned to watch a Shakespearean play, but unfortunately there weren't any on show that particular day. Oh well!

So we just settled in for a leisurely drive back to London :)

Here're more photos taken during that day-trip!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=r2ctt29.5aoq8bsd&Uy=splyls&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=467905346366_953217361605