On Sunday we drove from York to Haworth in the Yorkshire Moors to visit the Bronte Sister Parsonage Museum. We saw a slide show, did a walking tour, and then visited the museum. The museum had many artifacts that belonged to the Bronte family. Seeing Haworth in person really put the sisters’ writing in perspective, particularly Emily’s Wuthering Heights.
Sunday evening we checked in at the Falcon Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon, the building of which stood in Shakespeare’s day. The hotel was actually located directly across the street from New Place, which is the house Shakespeare bought once he became popular and started making money as a playwright.
Monday morning we visited Shakespeare’s birthplace. The exhibit included a copy of the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays. These first editions are rare and it was exciting to see in person. Following the birthplace, we drove about 20 minutes out to a small 17th century village on the edge of the Cottswalds called Warmington where PLNU alum, Stacy Conway nee Higinbotham, lives with her husband, Mark, and two children, George and Grace. Stacy took us for a walk around her village, then we had lunch in the village pub. Visiting Stacy’s home and village was a relaxing break from all the sightseeing. (Thanks, Stacy!)
Monday afternoon was spent exploring Warwick Castle and the surrounding grounds. It was a bank holiday, so the place was packed with local families enjoying the nice weather. That evening we all saw Romeo and Juliet with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford.
Tuesday morning we headed to Oxford, stopping on the way at Mary Arden’s farm and Blenheim Palace. Mary Arden was Shakespeare’s mother. The buildings and grounds have been restored and continue today was a working Tutor farm. At Blenheim Palace we toured the staterooms and the surrounding grounds.
Tuesday evening everyone was free to explore Oxford on their own. Wednesday morning we kept a 9am appointment to tour C.S. Lewis’s home at the Kilns, which is just outside Oxford. We also visited the pond at the Kilns and Lewis’s church and grave. On the way back we stopped to visit J. R. R. Tolkein’s grave. Lewis and Tolkein were good friends and part of a group that called themselves the Inklings. Several in the group had a meal at the Eagle and Child Pub where the Inklings met every Tuesday for more than twenty years. Others in the group toured the Bodleian Library and Christ Church Collage, while some took the double decker sightseeing tour bus around the city. Paul and I climbed up to the tower at St. Mary’s and visited Blackwell’s Book Shop.
This morning we are on our way to London with stopped planned in Bath, to see Jane Austen sites and the Roman baths, and in Stonehenge. We have a “flight” schedule on the London Eye this evening.
The weather today is perfect, as it was yesterday: blue skies and warm temperatures.
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