This morning we took a train from Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon. This was my very first time ever riding on a train, so I was really excited for the experience. I had always imagined train rides in Europe looking peaceful and relaxing, with beautiful countryside views outside the windows. The ride itself, though, honestly, was not as great as I expected. I was very glad that I was sitting facing forward because I think I would have gotten really motion sick if I had been facing backwards the whole time. The train moved a lot more than I expected, and there were points where it felt kind of shaky. Even though the ride was not the most comfortable, I stayed awake the entire time because I wanted to look out the window and take in the scenery.
The countryside outside the train was really pretty and looked exactly how I imagined the English countryside would look. There were giant green fields everywhere with little stone fences and clusters of trees. The thing I noticed the most was the number of sheep. There were sheep all over the place. I honestly expected to see more cows, but I barely saw any at all. Sheep definitely seem like the main farm animal of the UK. Seeing all of them scattered around the hills made the train ride feel very British.
Once we arrived in Stratford-upon-Avon, we started walking around town and exploring. We ended up near a really pretty canal connected to the River Avon. I learned that Avon actually means river in an old language, so calling it the River Avon is basically saying “River river,” which I thought was funny. The area around the river was beautiful. Little boats were floating in the water, flowers along the sidewalks, and people sitting outside enjoying the day, even though it kept drizzling on and off. There were also a ton of ducks and swans swimming around. The swans here were huge and honestly looked very elegant just floating through the water. I later found out that swans are actually considered invasive in some places, but they still looked really cool to see in person.
We wandered around the area for a while and saw different statues and old buildings. The town itself looked exactly how you would picture a historic English town, with older architecture, narrow streets, and little shops everywhere. After walking around outside in the rain for a bit, we went into the theater. We took an elevator all the way to the top and got to look out over the city from above. The view was really pretty, especially seeing the river running through the town and all the old buildings surrounding it. It was also nice getting out of the rain for a little while. One of the coolest parts was getting to stand on the original boards where William Shakespeare once performed. It felt crazy standing in a place connected to someone so famous and important in literature.
After leaving the theater, we walked to Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare is buried along with some of his family members. The church itself was beautiful, with stained glass windows and a peaceful atmosphere inside. It was interesting getting to see the actual place where such a famous writer was buried. After that, we visited another church nearby that had a large mural painted on the wall showing heaven and hell. The artwork was really detailed and honestly kind of intense to look at.
Eventually, we stopped for lunch, which unfortunately ended up being one of the worst parts of the day. The restaurant took forever to bring out our food, and when it finally came, the order was wrong and cold. We sent it back, and when they brought new food out, parts of it were burnt. Overall, it just was not very good, and I definitely would not recommend eating there.
After lunch, we walked into a fudge shop. They had tons of different flavors and were giving out free samples, so I tried a few pieces. The fudge was actually really good, but I still did not end up buying anything. Then it was finally time to go to Shakespeare’s Birthplace, which ended up being my favorite part of the entire day. It was so cool seeing the house where Shakespeare grew up. The house was much bigger than I expected, and it was really interesting learning more about his life and history. The only Shakespeare play I have personally read is Romeo and Juliet. At my high school, the seniors in British Literature read Macbeth, but I took English classes through my local community college instead, so I never actually read it. Even though I am not super familiar with Shakespeare’s work, it was still really interesting to learn more about him and see the place where he grew up.
After we finished there, we took the train back to Birmingham. Once we got back, we had to pack up all of our things because tomorrow we finally leave for London. London is the place I have been most excited for during this whole trip, so I cannot wait to finally get there tomorrow.