Where in the world is Laura Roth?: Stratford-upon-Avon

Today where I was in the world was Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

It was quite a day! My friend Mirna and I set off around 10 only to find out that our bus would be leaving from a different stop at a different time, because there was a marathon going on in Coventry today. It was about a 2 hour and 45 minute trip there and a 2 hour trip back with a bus transfer in Leamington both times. (Google maps lied: they said it would take an hour, but I don't think they accounted for the bus making stops along the way.) Once in Stratford, we made our way to the meeting place for a walking tour of the city. Our tour guide, David, showed us the oldest building in Stratford, a building with ties to David Garrick, Shakespeare's birthplace, Shakespeare's old school, the church where Shakespeare is buried, and much more in between; he really knew his stuff! One of the coolest things was that we got to go into the courtyard behind Shakespeare's school. David said that, in all his years of doing these tours, the door to the courtyard had always been locked, so we felt pretty special. When we got to the church where Shakespeare is buried, we discovered that it was only 50p for students to go in to see Shakespeare's grave, so we went in. The entire chancel is devoted to the Shakespeare family. William, his wife Anne, and three other members of his family are buried there. They also have the original record of Shakespeare's baptism and burial. At the end of the tour, Mirna and I walked along the River Avon back into the city centre. It's a lovely place. We wished we had more time to sit by the river before we had to catch our bus back to Coventry, but we didn't want to get stuck in Stratford for the night! We caught the bus at 4:30, and I treated myself to an ice cream at our transfer stop... And so concludes my day with Shakespeare!

Laura