Warwick, England - 1st April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
To end my lovely day out, I went for a leisurely stroll in St Nicholas' Park because the weather's so beautiful today .... The riverside walk follows the course of the River Avon (that eventually leads to Stratford) and from the far side of the park you see a marvellous skyline of Warwick Castle, St Nicholas' Church and the houses and buildings of the town.
PS In a few weeks the trees will, apparently, be laden with blossom (pink!) and make this view breathtaking.
I will miss this
But I am a ToyVoyager, and I love to travel!
I'll be on my way to ChristinaB by then!!!
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Posted Apr 5, 2007, 8:19 am Last edited Apr 5, 2007, 8:20 am by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 4th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
OK, here I am in the world famous Stratford-Upon-Avon.
If you're not sure why it's so great to be here, let me give you a teensy weensy clue...
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Posted Apr 5, 2007, 7:44 am Last edited Apr 5, 2007, 7:45 am by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 4th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
Here's the canal basin at Stratford, bustling with barges and people enjoying the spring sunshine ....
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Posted Apr 6, 2007, 8:55 am
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Stratford-Upon_Avon, England - 4th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
And some of the beautiful old buildings in the town ...
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Posted Apr 6, 2007, 8:57 am
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 4th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
Stratford is so 'Olde Worlde' ... Even the Public Library is quaint!
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Posted Apr 6, 2007, 8:59 am
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 4th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
Great Excitement!!!
I had just posed for this photo, when who should step out of 'The Shakespeare' but the lovely Imogen Stubbs!!! (very famous actress, married to director Trevor Nunn, I enclose a pic!)
I almost asked for a photo opportunity with her, but was too shy and awestruck
She probably felt the same about me!
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Posted Apr 6, 2007, 9:04 am Last edited Apr 8, 2007, 7:30 pm by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 4th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
Obviously, you can't go to Stratford-Upon-Avon without noticing that they're pretty obsessed here with Shakespeare.
A good percentage of shops and businesses are named after his plays or characters, so you have 'The Food of Love' and the 'As You Like It' cafes, 'Iago's' Jewellers, and the 'Hathaway' (his wife) Tearooms.
This is me with a statue of a jester, surrounded by quotations about Shakespeare's Fools ...
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Posted Apr 6, 2007, 9:34 am Last edited Apr 8, 2007, 8:10 pm by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford_upon-Avon, England - 4th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
And on my left ....
Continuing my guided tour of Stratford, here is the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried.
Rumour has it that his body was buried 20 feet deep to prevent grave robbery.
His epitaph - which he probably wrote, being a poet and all - reads:
Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
But cursed be he that moves my bones.
Apparently 200,000 people visit this church every year.
But only one pink hippo!
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Posted Apr 8, 2007, 7:37 pm Last edited Apr 8, 2007, 8:11 pm by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 4th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
And here's where it all began!
Shakespeare was born here, probably on the 23rd April 1564. (He also died on the 23rd April, in 1616, and it's St. George's Day too - lots of important English dates all on one day!)
He is regarded as England's finest poet and playwright. He wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets (14 line poems), as well as many other poetic works.
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is based here in Stratford-Upon-Avon and regularly perform his works, with casts boasting Britain's finest acting talent.
It was a bit difficult to get a good photo of his birthplace. Lots and lots of people from all over the world lurk around waiting anxiously for other tourists to move out of the way for long enough to get a good pic. Next time I visit I will come here at dawn, so I'll only have to shoo the birds away!
My photos are just quick snaps: the people in the background had seen Isobel&Neil on television, so we had a bit of a chat with them and they listened to my travelling tales before moving on to take their own quick portraits!
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Posted Apr 8, 2007, 8:09 pm Last edited Apr 8, 2007, 8:13 pm by Isobel&Neil
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London, England - 7th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
And finally the day has come to make my way to London!!!!
Obviously Isobel and Neil's main priority was to fulfil my wish of seeing Buckingham Palace (and if possible Her Majesty the Queen and all the Royal Family, some of whom I wish to kiss!)
They were also releasing some young ToyVoyager colleagues into the wild for a special Easter Release called 'Lions and Tigers and Bears and Things' (I never did meet the Things...) and so they travelled with me - by train - to the capital ...
You will note that I elected to navigate and so had full charge of the A-Z (some of these jungle animals a bit lacking in the map reading department)
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Posted Apr 11, 2007, 8:58 pm Last edited Apr 11, 2007, 9:03 pm by Isobel&Neil
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London, England - 7th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
Here's where the train terminated in London.
Marylebone Station.
Marylebone Tube.
I hope you enjoy my ten hour Whistle-Stop tour of England's (and Great Britain's) capital city.
Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a fast and furious ride!
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Posted Apr 11, 2007, 9:10 pm Last edited Apr 11, 2007, 9:11 pm by Isobel&Neil
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London, England - 7th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
Ooooohhhhhh!!!! The train!!!! The train!!!!
I have never been on the tube before!
And here one comes now!
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Posted Apr 11, 2007, 9:13 pm
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London, England - 7th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
So I took the Bakerloo down to Green Park ...
Here's a quick snap of Baker Street (famous residence of Sherlock Holmes - the Street that is, not the tube station) before I saw the sign saying 'NO Flash Photography in Tube Stations Please'.
Whoops!
Quick! Whistle and try to look innocent ...
Luckily it's early and there's no-one else about ...
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Posted Apr 12, 2007, 6:40 am Last edited Apr 12, 2007, 6:47 am by Isobel&Neil
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London, England - 7th April 2007
By: Isobel&Neil
One of my missions is to have tea somewhere luxurious ...
Fortunately we've come to the right place!
Unfortunately it's still only breakfast time!
O Tea-At-The-Ritz! One day I shall return!
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Posted Apr 12, 2007, 6:44 am
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