Weekend Recap

This weekend was pretty exciting. On Friday I went to the National Gallery to see some timeless works of art and to laze around Trafalgar Square. Alas, the rain prohibited me from lazing around the square, but I did enjoy the Gallery! I wasn't entirely sure if photos were allowed to be taken inside (I didn't see anyone with a camera so I didn't even take mine out of my bag) so I only have pictures of the outside. Not as impressive as the art inside, but still beautiful nonetheless. 

First up we have a bird on crack. Just look at his eyes; those are the eyes of a crackbird.

Trafalgar Square

The National Gallery. Its a LOT bigger than it looks.

There is nothing I want more than to jump in that fountain. Someday.

Saturday brought our trip to Stratford, birthplace of my boy Shakespeare. Lauren and I did an independent trip out there and although it was really cool and interesting, 7 hours in Stratford is too long. The Royal Shakespeare Company doesn't do performances in October so that left out a big chunk of time.

Anyways, here are some of the highlights:

Bards Walk: a high end shopping area. 

All ready for Christmas!

When I first saw this I thought, "Oh, how lovely! A statue of Shakespeare."

Then it moved. And I jumped.

First thought: "Oh, an old building!"

Actuality: the house Shakespeare was born in.

A nice memorial

The Creaky Cauldron. Bears a striking resemblance to The Leaky Cauldron from Harry Potter.

Coincidence? I think not.

The entire building of The Creaky Cauldron.

A statue of a fool. A reoccurring image throughout Shakespeare's plays. The quotes on each side of it are from some of his works. 

My favorite jest quote. (Also a known favorite of David Foster Wallace)

Book shop. Duh.

Quills in the colors of Alpha Xi Delta!

This one's for you, pops! (You know which store I'm talking about)

Some lovely Tudor style buildings.

Shakespeare is even featured on the bank building.

A church. I seem to have forgotten what its called, but I know it isn't the Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried.

Tudor World! If it didn't cost money to get in to, I would have been all over this. If you know anything about me, you would know Tudor England (along with Victorian England) is tied as my favorite era of British history.

The Royal Shakespeare Company

We walked along the Avon river. It was lovely.

These water foul are menaces, I tell you!

A nice bridge

This is the alley way of Tudor World.

Something of Tudor significance.

If you want some good American cuisine while in England, it's gonna cost you £10 (or about $16)

We then took a little river cruise on the Avon river. It was lovely and peaceful except for the teenage girls on a neighboring boat who were squealing and laughing and almost tipped their boat over. I would have paid to see them fall into the river.

This is Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried. We went by it on our river cruise.

I really liked this house.

This bridge reminds me of the Japanese garden bridge that Monet painted half a gazillion times during his life. Ironically, I saw a few of the paintings from this series at the National Gallery.

(How's that for tying my whole weekend together?)

Now it is Sunday afternoon and a dreary day in London. I'm working on laundry, cleaning, and homework. Let's hope the pineapple scent of my cleaning supplies doesn't put me in a chemically induced coma.

Cheers, mates!