England Travel Diary Day 6: Stratford upon Avon and the Road to the Lake District

2004.06.07 England Travel Diary Day 6: Stratford upon Avon.

On the sixth day of the England trip, we finally left London and started driving toward the Lake District.

The main story of the day was not actually Shakespeare. It was the combination of right-hand drive, a manual car, and a long road trip. Stratford upon Avon was the lunch stop in the middle, plus a quick visit to Shakespeare's birthplace. But the weather there was so bright that this small town became one of the most postcard-like parts of the whole trip.

Before leaving London: right-hand drive and human GPS

We picked up the car from Hertz in the morning. I had reserved a Ford Focus 1.8, but what we actually got was a Peugeot 307, plus a paper map ^.^

The map did not get much use, though. Back then GPS was expensive and not always reliable, so my navigation setup in Europe was Microsoft Autoroute Europe plus a very important "human GPS."

(Mystery voice: my wife used her beautiful eyes, a notebook computer, and real-time voice guidance to navigate for me... hehe...)

In Europe, most people drove manual cars, and rental cars were mostly manual too. If you wanted an automatic, you usually had to reserve early and pay more. Manual driving was not the hard part for me. The real challenge in England was right-hand drive.

Throughout the trip, I often turned into the wrong side of the road @.@'"

Luckily, we were staying in Zone 4 in London, so once we got the car we were on the motorway fairly quickly... Save~ ha~ Later, around the Lake District, there were hardly any other cars on some roads, so even when my brain briefly forgot which side to stay on, it did not become too dangerous ~.~'"

London to the Lake District was more than 300 miles. Since picking up the car took some time, we reached Stratford upon Avon around noon for lunch and a visit to Shakespeare's birthplace.

Shakespeare everywhere under the brightest sun of the trip

Stratford upon Avon was the kind of town where you knew immediately where you were. Streets, signs, statues, souvenirs: everything reminded you that this was Shakespeare territory.

A street scene in Stratford upon Avon with Shakespeare-related signs and buildings. — Shakespeare was everywhere in this town.

Near the entrance to town was one of the first places I stopped for a photo. The statue behind me was the clown from Hamlet.

A traveler standing near a statue at the entrance to Stratford upon Avon. — At the entrance to town, with the Hamlet clown statue behind me.

The weather was almost too good. The best sunlight of the whole England trip appeared during this short stop, of all places. What a sunny day @.@'"

A sunny street scene in Stratford upon Avon. — The brightest weather of the whole England trip appeared in Stratford upon Avon @.@'"

The 11-pound hesitation, and an interior I did not photograph

Shakespeare's birthplace was just a short walk ahead. At the entrance, I kept hesitating: should we go in or not? It was 11 pounds per person >.<'" In the end, we gritted our teeth and went in.

Exterior of Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford upon Avon. — Outside Shakespeare's birthplace, where the 11-pound ticket hesitation began.

Of course, the inside was not only a garden. I just no longer remember whether photography was not allowed indoors, or whether it was too dark for me to take pictures. The photos I kept were mostly of the garden, wooden house, exterior walls, and details that were easy to look at slowly.

Garden area inside Shakespeare's birthplace with wooden buildings nearby. — The garden and exterior details were what I actually photographed inside the visit.

If you are interested, you can spend the 11 pounds and go see it yourself...(ha... running away~~)

Of course, some people were much smarter than me. Look at this gentleman: he just stood outside and looked in, with no need to struggle over the ticket price ~.~'"

A man standing outside and looking toward Shakespeare's birthplace. — This gentleman was smarter than me: looking from outside was free ~.~'"

The town itself felt like part of the walk

After leaving Shakespeare's birthplace, we wandered around town. This was not the kind of place where I felt I had to check off every sight. It was more like walking until a street corner, old building, sign, or passerby made me pause.

A street corner and buildings in Stratford upon Avon. — Wandering around town after leaving Shakespeare's birthplace.

Eventually we reached the family home of Shakespeare's wife. To me at the time, it was not necessarily a place for deep literary research, but it fit naturally into the walk. The town's story was not only about the famous person in the center; it also spread into these surrounding connections.

Exterior of the family home associated with Shakespeare's wife. — The family home of Shakespeare's wife.

Once we were tired, we found a restaurant for lunch.

One reason I liked traveling in Europe was the sense of history and culture. You could casually walk into a pub with more than 300 years of history, and the wall listed the names and years of past owners. It was not necessarily a major attraction, but it made the meal feel like it really belonged to another place.

Interior of a historic pub or restaurant with names and years listed on the wall. — Lunch in a pub with more than 300 years of history.

After eating and drinking enough, we returned to the town entrance, picked up the car, and continued toward the Lake District.

View near the town entrance before leaving Stratford upon Avon by car. — After lunch, we returned to the town entrance and continued toward the Lake District.

On the road to the Lake District, my legs noticed before my eyes did

After leaving Stratford upon Avon, we returned to the long drive. Once we left the motorway, the scenery opened into rolling hills. We do not see that kind of continuous landscape much in Taiwan, so it felt quite special.

Rolling green hills seen from the road toward the Lake District. — Rolling hills after leaving the motorway.

After driving for more than three hours since noon, my body had definitely had enough of sitting. We stopped for a break @.@'"

Open countryside seen during a roadside stop. — A roadside break after more than three hours of driving.

First view after arriving in the Lake District in the late afternoon. — Whew, by late afternoon we finally reached the Lake District.

There were many distinctive slate houses around the Lake District. After the tension of the long drive, the scenery suddenly slowed everything down, and my mood slowed with it.

Traditional slate house in the Lake District. — Slate houses like this appeared often around the Lake District.

My first impression of the lakes and hills was calm. Peace. It really felt like a good place for a relaxing holiday ^.^

Lake and hills in the Lake District under a calm sky. — My first impression of the Lake District: calm, peaceful, and perfect for a holiday ^.^

This was the largest lake in the Lake District. For the next three days, we would spend most of our time circling around it and visiting more than ten lakes of different sizes nearby ^.^