Day 21 - UK

15 April 2011

That morning we made our way to Stratford-Upon-Avon, going through stunningly picturesque villages and hamlets such as Barton Under Needwood. We also drove through Tamworth, which for some reason I thought would be a sh*t dump but turns out they have a bit of money and it’s not that bad. I was disappointed not to see a single tamworth pig or a sign pointing to a tamworth pig museum or some such but there you go!

We then drove through Warwick into Stratford Upon Avon. We parked on Waterside Rd just past the Royal Shakespeare Centre. We then went into town to find the Info Centre and they gave us a list of camping sites.

Next we went to the money machine to draw out the rest of our money. We estimated (and hoped like hell) we had at least 200 pound to last us the next 9 days. We’ve tried to budget well but this country is horrendously expensive to tour around and we knew we would be cutting it close. For a laugh we put in 500 pound and of course got the “You do not have sufficient funds” message. So then I put in 400 pounds. Unbelievably it spat out the money.

“You’ve got to be kidding?!” we both laughed in shock

“Should I ask for some more?”

“Might as well. It can only say no”

I requested 50 pound and out it spat

“No way!”

“Do it again! Do it again!” Aaron said.

Suddenly it was like playing a slot machine

I put in 40. Uh-uh.

30. Uh-uh

20. Uh-uh.

10. Yes. Woohoo!

Suddenly we were rich.

“Pub lunch!” we both said excitedly.

And so we left and drove to Dodwell Park campground 4kms out of town.

It was nice enough and the showers were included. Hallelujah(!) as neither of us had showered for 4 days. They didn’t have clothes washing facilities but we could deal with that for another day or 2.

We were both starving hungry but I needed a shower so bad I made Aaron sit and wait for me.

Although there was a bus stop outside the campground we decided to walk in to town to work up the appetite even more.

What can I say about Stratford Upon Avon? It is just stunning. The houses, the riot of colorful flowers in everyone’s front garden and of course the town architecture. Nearly every building was old Tudor and it was certainly a town I could live in.

We decided to have lunch first at The Garrick Inn. The oldest pub in Stratford, opened in 1596. We both really enjoyed lunch and it would have been cool just to sit in there and drink and eat more but we had some touristing to do.

Just down the road was Tudor World on Sheep Street. We paid our fee and then spent a good hour walking around. It was interesting enough with quite cool displays but there was a huge amount of reading involved and by the time we got to the last 2 exhibits my brain was refusing to absorb any more information.

Next stop was Shakespeare’s Birthplace. Very luckily for us the campground wardens lent us 2 annual tickets for this. They saved us £22 in entry fees! Quite frankly we’d have never gone in if we’d had to pay that much.

As it was we were only in there for about an hour. It was interesting enough and they even had a live play you could watch but neither of us are Shakespeare fans. Let’s be honest, I can’t understand a word they’re saying and I’m not into theatre.

We wandered around the shops a bit more and I found a huge Christmas store.

“Wow! I’m going in”

“Absolutely no way. I’ll wait outside for you.“ was Aaron’s reply

There were lots of very cool ornaments and door hangings and stuff but amazingly I managed to leave without spending a penny. Of course that may have had something to do with Aaron coming in to find me and steering me towards the exit. Was I really in there for that long? I would have said 3 minutes max. but obviously Aaron thought it was long enough.

We started to head out of town. I was quite sore so decided we should catch the bus. We hung around the bus stop for a few minutes and then I got bored. It was a sunny afternoon as well.

“Let’s start walking”

And so we did. In the end we stopped to buy some beer and cider and in the process spent our bus money so we walked all the way back to the campsite. By then I was really sore but it was lovely and sunny so we set up the table and chairs on the grass by the van and had dinner and read until it got too cold and dark to be outside anymore.

There was lots more to see and do in town but I’d made my hips so sore from walking into town  that I didn’t actually want to walk around the town. And then of course I was stupid enough to walk back. It can be difficult when you’re faced with tough decisions. Bus or cider? Bus or cider? It was another rough sleep because I was so sore but there you go. I’m obviously a slow learner!