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Day
9
Sunday, September 9, 2001 (continued)
We
crossed over a large bridge that separated Wales from England near Chirk.
We had got a tip from the antique storeowner in Conwy that Shrewsbury
was a good place look for any antique shops.
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire on the borders of England and
Wales. Dating back to at least Saxon times, the town occupies a site on two
hills in a loop of the River Severn. With fortifications and later a Norman
Castle guarding the only land approach Shrewsbury could well be defended against
attackers.
Shrewsbury Town Center
We went
to the town center and walked around and found a large shopping mall, the Pride
Hill Shopping Center.
We then headed on east to Birmingham where we encountered stop and go traffic on M5 as we approached the mid-town area. There must have been a Gaelic football, rugby or soccer game that day.
Or goal
was to get to Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. We missed the turnoff and circled back
through the countryside. When we got there, Mark noticed a nice hotel on the
edge of downtown. I did a quick run through the city center, took a wrong turn
on one of the round-a-bouts and found ourselves heading out of town. We circled
back to town and the hotel we liked, The Stratford Victoria. We got a two
night special with breakfast.
Stratford Victoria Hotel
We got settled in and toured the town. One of most beautiful spots was the Avon river that runs through the town center. There were numerous canal boats. There were cruiser-style boats, hotel boats, pub boats and restaurant boats.
Avon River
The head of Shakespeare over the entrance of
Brandwood Tunnel
A split bridge
An unusual feature of the Stratford on Avon Canal is its split bridges, designed in the days of horse drawn boats to let the horse cross over the canal without being unhitched from the narrow boat.
Stratford-Upon-Avon canal basin locks
Stratford-Upon-Avon canal basin
Stratford-Upon-Avon Canal
Click
thumbnail to enlarge map
Inland Waterways of England & Wales
Canal lock animation
200 years ago, enterprising businessmen constructed a revolutionary new transport system that led to wealth creation on an unprecedented scale. Our 2,000 miles of canals and navigable rivers represent about half of all inland navigations in Britain. As the canal infrastructure of Britain developed during the late eighteenth century the business people of Stratford saw the advantages of tapping into this network, which linked London to the industrial heartland.
Highlights
of Stratford-Upon-Avon
Harvard House
This town house (on the right with the flagpole) has survived in its present state since the late sixteenth century (although some of the stained glass windows date back to the 14th century), it is now the property of Harvard University. Formerly owned by the John Harvard's mother. Harvard College, America's oldest college, was founded 16 years after the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. In 1636, by vote of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony, it was named for its first benefactor, John Harvard of Charlestown, a young minister who upon his death in 1638, left his library and half his estate to the new institution.
Birthplace of William Shakespeare (1564
- 1616)
This half-timbered building in Henley Street, with its extensive ground to the rear, was bought by Shakespeare's father, John, probably in two stages (in 1556 and 1575): there is good evidence, though, that he was a tenant of one part, if not both, from at least 1552. This is the house where Shakespeare and his brothers and sisters were born and brought up.
A chamber traditionally known as
'the birthroom'
Anne
Hathaway's Cottage
The cottage was the childhood home of Shakespeare's wife, Anne, the daughter of a yeoman farmer, Richard Hathaway. Richard died in September 1581, bequeathing Ann £6 13s 4d 'atte the day of her maryage': this marriage, to William Shakespeare, took place in November of the following year. Richard's widow, Joan, lived until 1599. She seems to have been a second wife: thus there were two sets of children in the household, three (including Anne) by his first wife and at least five by the second. The cottage is ocated in a hamlet within the parish of Stratford but just over a mile from the town center. Today much of the land between the hamlet and town has been built over, but in Shakespeare's day they were two very distinct settlements, separated by open fields.
Nash's House
The house known as New Place was Shakespeare's family home from 1597, where he lived when not in London and where he died in 1616. John Leland, on his visit to Stratford-upon-Avon around 1540, included in his description of the town a 'praty howse of brike and tymbar', built by Hugh Clopton, Lord Mayor of London, opposite the Guild Chapel. Referred to in his will as his 'Great House', and later as 'New Place', it was reputedly the second largest house in the town (the largest being the College in Old Town, which, until the Reformation, had housed the priests who served the parish church). The Cloptons sold New Place in 1567. Thirty years later, in 1597, it was acquired by William Shakespeare. We do not know exactly how much he paid, but a figure of around £120 has been suggested. Today this may sound a paltry sum, but, in fact, a house could change hands then for as little as £25: Shakespeare's outlay in 1597, by a man still in his early thirties, is striking evidence of his financial success as an actor and playwright in London.
Day
10,
Monday, September 10, 2001
Mark and I took the rental car to Coventry and turned it in. This is where I lost my camera. We took a cab back to Stratford-upon-Avon. I called the rental car office in Conventry and they did not locate my camera. Luckily, I always put the used film canisters in my backpack so our only loss was a few photos. Mark and I got a tee time for 18 holes of golf at the Ingon Manor Golf and Country Club. We rented clubs at the pro shop, hit a bucket of balls and off we went. We found long, open fairways and some blind greens. A very brisk northern breeze added to the challenge. It was a great day of golf. We stopped by the clubhouse for a pint while we waited for a taxi back to the hotel.
Back
in town, Mark
and I
walked downtown and ran into Mary and Sandy who had been shopping and
sightseeing.
They had
purchased tickets for a play called “A
Russian In The Woods” scheduled for the evening at a theatre called The
Other Place. Noted as
“The Royal Shakespeare Company's intimate studio space is
dedicated to radical interpretations of classical texts as well as rarely
performed and new plays. Wherever you sit, you are never more than a few feet
from the action”, which proved later to be true.
“A
Russian In The Woods”. The
program reads: “It was Berlin
1949. In the unsettling atmosphere of post-war liberation, a young English
Sergeant is given charge of an army outpost haunted by the graves of dead
soldiers in the garden. Seeking company for the night, he innocently invites in
an American GI (who happens to be a Russian spy)- and ends up embroiled in a
cold war drama with his conscience on trial.”
Before
the play we were setting in a café-like area outside the theatre.
I noticed four guys in suites and wearing earpieces at the table next to
us. I assumed they were similar to our secret service. We asked them who they
were but they were reluctant to tell us anything other than they were bodyguards.
Then they
quickly got up and walked out of the building. Moments later, to the surprise of
everyone, in walks Prince Charles and Camilla
Parker-Bowles. They go directly up
a stairway into an open area and chat with some other people.
The
bell rings and we all enter into the small theatre. It was very small. The left
and right side had seating about 3 tiers high and 8 seats across with the stage
in the middle. The seating to the front of the stage was considerably larger. We
were seated to the right of the stage. When all were seated, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles
then entered the theatre
a take their seat not 40 feet across from us at center stage.
The
Other Place
Seating Plan
Day 11
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
We
checked out of our hotel and hopped a train for London at the
Stratford-upon-Avon station, which was a short walk from our hotel. We arrived
at Paddington Station in London and took the typical London taxi to our
hotel, The Hogarth Kensington. We had reservations for Wednesday and
Thursday night at the Thistle Victorian.
We
got checked in and went down the street to the
Earl's Court tube station
to
check out the underground subway. It was then, in the mid afternoon, that we
were approached by some other Americans who asked us if we had heard of the
terrible news of a jet that crashed in to the
World
Trade Center
towers
in New York. Then, we heard there
were two jets and both towers were hit. We
were approached by other London people who also notified us of the tragedy.
We
took the tube with the other Americans we met at the subway and went to tour
Westminster Abby, located next to
Parliament & Big Ben.
Parliament Square and Big Ben
Sandy & Mary – Big Bin
We then headed back towards our hotel. Everywhere people were jammed into pubs looking at the events unfolded on big screen TVs. Everyone was in total shock that this was a terrorist attack. The town was buzzing with sirens as I am sure London went on guard immediately. We saw more police on foot and on horses.
We
went back to the hotel and turned the TV on CNN for coverage on what was happening back
in the US.
Photos of the World Trade Center, New York City, September 11, 2001
Day
12
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
I went down the street and got the London newspapers at first light. The headlines were shocking with the fireball of the second jet crashing into the WTC tower.
The
Daily Telegraph - "War on America"
The Times - War comes to
America"
After breakfast, we check out of the Hogarth and took a taxi to the Thistle Victoria Hotel, which is next to Victoria Station. Built in 1862, the Victorian-style Thistle Hotel is steeped in London history. Keeping with the tradition of original railway hotels, the stately hotel showcases wide corridors and high ceilings.
Thistle Victoria Hotel, Buckingham Palace Road,
London
We decided to take a
double-decker bus tour of downtown London.
You could get off at any of their stops and take a tour and then catch
the next one to continue the city tour.
Our
first stop was Harrods. Having
started out, in 1834, as grocery and tea merchants in Stepney, East London,
Harrods has become one of London's premier West End shopping venues and one of
the most famous stores in the world. Known for top quality merchandise and
impeccable customer service, Harrods provides everything from an on-premises
bank to an exotic pet shop. It is truly a "must-visit" on any London
itinerary that includes shopping. Their
website is http://www.harrods.com.
We found their food
halls the most interesting of all.
Harrods
The
tour took us by most of the top attractions of London:
London's top ten attractions
Click on the attraction underlined in blue for a direct link to their website.
British
Museum
The British Museum, founded in 1753, is one of the great museums of the
world, showing the works of man from prehistory to the present day.
The British Museum
The
British Museum, founded in 1753, is one of the great museums of the world,
showing the works of man from prehistory to the present day. Containing
such priceless antiquities as the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles, an original
copy of the Magna Carta, the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Sutton Hoo treasure,
the British Museum is considered to be in the first rank among the world's great
museums.
British
Airways London Eye
At 135m high, the London Eye is the
world's tallest observation wheel. The 360 degree rotation gives passengers
unrivalled views and amazing new perspectives of the city.
Madame
Tussaud's
This impressive waxworks museum offers a
unique chance to get up close and personal with the brightest stars of stage,
screen, sport, history and politics.
Natural
History Museum
The world's leading museum of natural
history with hundreds of exciting, interactive exhibits range from the dramatic
earthquake experience, to the spectacular dinosaurs exhibition.
Science
Museum
The world’s most comprehensive
collection of science, technology, industry and medicine. Exhibits show the
history of science from the first steam locomotive to the first space flight
Tate
Britain
The national collection of British
paintings from the 16th Century to the present day and the international
collection of 20th Century painting and sculpture.
Tate
Modern
The national collection of international
20th century art. No significant artist is missed out. A
brief roll call includes Bacon, Picasso, Riley, Cragg, Mondrian, Max Ernst, and
many others.
Tower
of London
Fortress, palace, prison, arsenal and
garrison, the Tower is one of the best-preserved fortified buildings in the
world, and houses the priceless crown jewels.
There is no place in London, or, for that matter, in all of Britain with a more sinister reputation for brutality and savagery than the Tower of London. In its 900 years of history, it has been awash in the blood of kings and queens, rogues and innocents, alike. Constructed shortly after the Norman Conquest by William the Conqueror as part of the pacification effort of his newly won lands, the fortress consisted, in those days, of the central White Tower and surrounding walls, which incorporated part of the city wall originally built by the Romans. The Tower, as we see it today, didn't take final shape until the reign of Edward I, who, like his immediate predecessor, added additional walls and towers to the original construction. The Tower of London has never been successfully attacked and its massive, forbidding aspect has served for centuries as a symbol of the power of the monarchy, to citizens and enemies, alike. Today, the Tower is the home of the Crown Jewels and a museum of arms and armor, second to none.
Sandy – Tower of London
Westminster
Abbey
The magnificent Westminster Abbey is
primarily a working church. It has been at the heart of English history for
nearly 1000 years, being the setting for almost every coronation since 1066.
Westminster Abby
Buckingham Palace Residences of The Queen The British Monarchy
Buckingham Palace
The official London residence of the Queen. The lavishly furnished State Rooms are open August-September and hold some of the finest treasures from the Royal Collection.
London's other attractions:
Victoria
and Albert Museum
The Victoria & Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of the
decorative arts and is home to 145 galleries, including national collections of
sculpture, furniture, fashion and photographs.
National
Gallery London
The National Gallery, London,
houses one of the greatest collections of European painting in the world. These
pictures belong to the public and entrance to see them is free.
Other
highlights of the bus tour:
Marble Arch
We then
took a boat tour on the Thames River that runs through the heart of London.
London Bridge
Back at the Thistle Hotel we took a quick nap but to be awakened by the fire alarm bells going off. Everyone in the hotel calmly proceeded down the staircases to the lobby with hotel personnel rushing up the stairs. With the terrorist attack in New York, we did not know what to think. When we reached the lobby, the hotel manager indicated that a gentleman smoking a cigar in one of the corridors set off the alarms. That was a relief. However, everyone in the hotel was a bit jumpy the next couple of days.
Thistle Hotel grand staircase and a sparkling chandelier
We
called Continental Airlines to check the status of our flight back to
Newark on Friday. The airlines said all overseas flights to the US were on hold.
Day
13
Thursday, September 13, 2001
We
continued the bus tour of London in the morning. We then took the tube to an
area that was supposed to have antique shops, but most were closed.
In the afternoon, Sandy and I visited the British Museum and Mark and Mary headed for Piccadilly Circus to take in a play.
Tom and Roman statue in the British Museum
That evening, Sandy and I went to a seafood restaurant. Mark and Mary dined at the Guinea Grill, near the American Embassy where there was a candlelight ceremony that evening.
We called the airlines again. Mark and I rebooked the next available flight out for the following Tuesday, non-stop to Houston. We originally was scheduled to fly back to Newark.
With
the girls heading to Paris tomorrow, Mark and I decided to go with them. We left
some extra luggage at the hotel and booked a night stay for Monday the 17th
when we would return from Paris to London. This was a good thing, as most of the
hotels were getting tough to find as tour groups that were to head back to the
states were all getting stranded in London.
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