(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)
Tuesday
September 27, 2016:
Today, we had to get up early again (for me, 6:00
am), have breakfast starting at 6:30 am (for me, 6:45 am), and leave York,
England at 7:45 am. We are headed
ultimately for Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
We drove for a couple of hours until John Hood, our tour director,
informed us that rather than take a chance that the queues for bathrooms will
be too long in Coventry, we should stop at a Services station along the main
highway for a bathroom break. After just
a few minutes, we would then head for Coventry, England to take a few pictures
and perhaps have a bite to eat.
As it turns out, we got to Coventry just in time to
see the Lady-Godiva-and-Peeping-Tom display happen when the town square’s clock
hit 11:00 am. And, like clockwork, precisely
at 11:00, the display appeared and we were all there to take pictures for
ourselves. After that, we were free for
about three quarters of an hour to look around, shop, or get a snack. It just so happened that I was starving,
having had just a light breakfast this morning and I needed to have lunch. Looking around, I finally found a small café,
went inside, and ordered a chicken filet sandwich. Unfortunately, I only had about twenty minutes
to eat my meal, pay for it, and get back onto the bus with everyone else. I was two minutes late and the usual jokes
about my lateness were made and then we were on our way to Stratford-upon-Avon.
Eventually, we arrived at Stratford-upon-Avon. John Hood had told us all about William
Shakespeare’s birthplace and his marriage to Anne Hathaway during our drive
here. First, we had a group picture
taken in front of Anne Hathaway’s house.
Then, for two hours, we were free to go through the house where his birth
had taken place, then go through the gift shop where I bought even more
souvenirs, and finally we were back on the street in front of Shakespeare’s
birthplace, free to wander up and down the street until Joe came back for us
with the bus. He was probably getting
the bus filled up with fuel while we were gone and taking a break.
We were then taken to our hotel, the Crowne Plaza, but
only the people who were not participating in the last excursion, the Cotswold
Tea Party, would get off here right away, get their hotel key cards, and stay
at the hotel. Meanwhile, the rest of us
were off to the Cotswolds, a lovely stretch of English countryside (mostly
where rich people buy homes for themselves).
We were headed for a village called Chipping Camden for “high tea”, a very
common custom in England in which people have tea at 4:00 pm accompanied by
scones with jam and clotted cream and by cakes of some sort. It really was delicious fare, but I became
doubtful about whether I’d have room for dinner at the hotel, which was
scheduled for 7:15 pm later on. If it’s
a nice enough dinner (a buffet tonight), I’ll eat something, but I promised
myself that there will be absolutely NO dessert!
Tomorrow morning, we have to get up early again (for
me, 6:15 am), have breakfast at 7:30 am (for me, 7:00 am), get the baggage out
the door by 7:30 am, and leave Stratford-upon-Avon headed for London, our final
destination, at 8:30 am. Tomorrow
evening, a small group of us (7) are scheduled to have dinner and go to the theatre
together! Like the others in this group,
I’d chosen to go to “Kinky Boots”, mainly because I have no idea what this show
is all about and because I rarely, if ever, go to the theatre, certainly not on
my own. It should be a very interesting
evening in any event.
copyright 2016 - Anne Shier
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