As my adventures in the UK continue, I’m finding it difficult to find time to blog. However, I knew that all my book friends out there would find one of my recent trips interesting, so I wanted to get this down before I forgot about it. Last week, we visited Stratford-upon-Avon, which is the birthplace of William Shakespeare as well as his final resting place. It’s also home to a beautiful park, which houses a very strange looking tree, as the below picture will prove. If anyone knows what kind of a tree this is, please let me know in the comments.
Anyway, we walked past his birthplace (pictured below) but unfortunately didn’t have time to enter the welcome center for a tour. This is one of the problems with vacationing on the fly, you tend to miss out on a few things. But I wanted to financially support the good work the Shakespearean lovers were doing, so I purchased some hand cream for my mother-in-law at their gift shop, as proceeds go 
towards maintaining this important site. We then walked through the beautiful little town to a large, gothic-looking church where Shakespeare is buried, and took a few pictures there. It’s right next to the stunning park where the above photo was taken, which was probably one of my favourite places I’ve seen so far over here.
I wouldn’t call myself a huge fan of Shakespeare, although I really enjoyed Hamlet and Richard III. I tend to lean towards his darker work, but Midsummer Night’s Dream was fun too. That being said, the historical sites based on his life were still fascinating to see, even for my husband, who probably hasn’t read an entire play in his whole life. I couldn’t help but wonder how sick the residents of Stratford-upon-Avon must be of William Shakespeare, mentions of him are literally everywhere, and it seems like one of the main reasons people visit their town in the first place. Still, it’s a beautiful town, and the people there were so kind and helpful. If you’re ever over that way, make sure to stop in, even for an afternoon.
I live in the UK but have never visited Stratford Upon Avon, it looks lovely! Don’t know what kind of weird tree that is though 😛
Oh you definitely need to visit! We stayed at the Black Swan too, which was reasonably priced, super old, and beautiful
I haven’t been to Stratford-upon-Avon for ages! Oh, and that tree looks just like the ‘Monkey Puzzle Tree’ my mum had years ago, but I have no idea what its scientific name is though!
hmmm monkey puzzle tree-great name!
Loved your post! Four years ago, I visited Stratford-Upon-Avon as part of a UK road trip with my husband. We didn’t have a lot of time, but we did very quickly tour Shakespeare’s house and the visitor’s center. We also had a rushed lunch at a cafe in the town. I thought the whole area was absolutely charming, even by English village standards, and I hope to go back on a future trip.
‘charming’ is the perfect descriptor for this town-as well as ‘quaint’ haha
That’s a monkey tree! They’re usually much, much taller though.
ok monkey tree-it’s amazing what wordpress hive minds can answer!
Thanks for sharing your travel adventures! Looks lovely!
I’m just wondering why your web site doesn’t have a search feature?
There’s a search bar on the right hand side, you just need to scroll down a bit