Today was a rainy day from the start. We had missed our train by a few minutes, so we had to figure out the next platform to go to that would take us to Stratford Upon Avon. The group was asked by a man if the train went past Stratford, and we told him that we were not the group to ask. We told him we were a group of Americans and he responded with an ecstatic “Hell Yeah for America!” To say the least it was a funny way to start the day trip.  On the train we passed so many sheep and cattle. There were plenty of lambs within sight and running along the open fields. I’ve never seen so many lambs in one place! Once we got to Stratford, we walked to the Gower Memorial and claimed this as our meetup spot for later. We were then unleashed upon the town to do our shopping and exploring! The first store we went to was a Cardzone. We did our first scope and decided to come back later. I NEEDED to go to Whittard, and luckily it was less than a minute walk away from where we were. We stopped in and the woman behind the counter was absolutely lovely. We asked her what her favorite tea was and she showed us the Cherry Blossom. It smelled beautifully and I’ve never had a tea that smelled so nice. I also grabbed a Raspberry Bohemian and a Mango Sorbet! The worker recommended the Mango Sorbet as an iced tea for a summery day and I couldn’t resist! I also got two loose leaf tea infusers shaped like teapots, because why not?! We then stopped at a little sweets shop called Wilfred’s, and I got Sticky Toffee Pudding Truffles and Spikey Milk Truffles. We then went back to Cardzone and grabbed some Stratford post cards. For lunch we grabbed some bakes from Greggs and sat inside Starbucks. I tried their “Cool Mango Refresha,” which is something we don’t have in the states. It’s interesting to see the difference in products between chain stores in different countries. We met a couple in Starbucks who raved about how we should’ve been here yesterday, as it was a beautiful day. They encouraged us to come back and take a day to go to the theater. We then had the most AMAZING tour around Stratford Upon Avon and Shakespeare’s Birthplace! Our tour guide was so nice and the architecture and history is so rich. We saw plenty of historical buildings, statues, famous spots, and churches. I knew his first question during the tour, which was asking a play that the character Falstaff appeared in. I know he is in Henry IV part one and part two because I had to read them for my Shakespeare course. My favorite part of the tour was when we saw the planted trees in honor of Shakespeare’s children: Hamnet and Judith. I got two questions right on the after tour quiz (his age and his birthday) and I got a postcard and a bookmark! I also went to the gift shop and bought two postcards from there as well. We then went to dinner, and I had the most delicious gnocchi and a white and dark chocolate marbled brownie. I started off today thinking it would be miserable because of the rain, but I actually think this has been my favorite day of the trip (out of three days total). I cannot wait to tour more!