Well, now that blogger has decided to repair itself and let people use it again... I can get round to blabbering about our weekend away.
The drive there was relatively simple and easy. Sunglasses on, listening to the Chilli's we were in a funky and happy mood. After arriving in the teeny village of Snitterfield where our little holiday cottage was, we strolled off to find the local village store. We bought essentials like bread, milk, cheese, butter and of course doritos. We then, headed off to see Mary Arden's house (Shakespeare's mum) which was only a few miles away. We even watched a falconry display where we watched a big falcon rip the guts out of a little dead chick. Cool. That evening, we drove back to the cottage and walked into the village again to have a meal at the local pub called The Foxhunter. We tried our best not to look like 'townies' or that we both hated foxhunting. I avoided looking at the foxes heads on the wall. It was wierd, it was all a bit "league of gentlemen", a bit local, everyone knew each other. Still, it was pleasant enough and the meal was prett ydamn nice as far as I can recall, though it cost over £50 for the two of us. I had bread and butter pudding number one, which wasn't as good as my mums.
The next day we went into Stratford. We visited Shakespeares birthplace (see pic) where I think we were the only British people there.
We walked around town and had a little picnic in the park near the canal, where we were entertained by Magic Steve, the street performer. He got us all to play a joke on the surrounding people by having us all stand there clapping and cheering and absolutely nothing. Ah, the confusion, the poor puzzled little expressions of those passers by... it was funny. We stopped by the Teddy Bear shop, where I wanted to buy myself an expensive hand made bear, but I couldn't find any that I liked that were under £50. Next stop, was the butterfly farm. I even made it around the arachnid part albeit slightly rushed.
We returned to Stratford that night as we'd booked tickets to see Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. We got food at the cafe and I made the mistake of ordering steak. Since I'm not a lion, I prefer it when meat is actually cooked- like properly cooked so that it's changed colour and not looking like an open wound. I couldn't eat it and only had a few chips. Niall bought me a Baileys bread and butter pudding (number two) which didn't really taste like it had enough Baileys in it and still wasn't as good as my mums. We winded up booking the cheapest tickets as they got pretty pricey so we weren't expecting to see all that much. However... we were pleasantly surpsied. Well, Niall was at least. Holy. Crap. Balcony seats= death drop. I couldn't believe how high up we were. I could barely move. And what to make it better but to have to keep standing up to let great big fat american's tourists passed...?! Again, I think we were the only British people there. I got over the height thing once the lights went down and I couldn't see the hundred foot drop to the ground below. We both really enjoyed the production... they even cut down on the stabbings by removing all weapons and using big poles. Wierd, but effective in a non-violent sort of a way.
Day three took in Warwick castle. Thankfully we saved ten squids just by being Uni alumni. Hurrah. We watched a rather lame knight fighting thing, more falconry including a mahooosive vulture, and wandered around alot trying not to get too sunburnt. I managed to find a few pressies for the family. There was a mysterious cash point too, in Warwick town centre, which on approach seemed to be tempting me with a huge wad of cash that some complete idiot hadn't taken out of the slot. It flashed "please remove your cash" on the screen but I was in shock, then quick as a flash it snapped it back up again. Man, it was odd... I mean who would go to take out £100 or so, and then walk away?!!? Nevertheless, I got money from my OWN account dammit, and left.
That evening, we were unsure of what to do, so we decided on going for a drive round the cotswold hills. We drove all the way to Broadway to see the Broadway Tower, and soaked up the amazing views before heading into Broadway village for a bite to eat.
Monday morning- we packed up ready to hand our keys back at ten, then drove off to Stratford again for a last walk around. We popped back into the Bear shop for another look, and Niall bought me Elfie the bear, who was rather expensive but totally worth it. He even got his own travel box. Our next stop was a National Trust place called Charlecote Park which although nice to look at, was slightly disapointing. We drove off to Kenilworth Castle next which was on the route home, stopping off in between at a little craft centre place where I bought two pairs of earrings. I thought I'd treat myself. Kenilworth castle is a cool place, all big but in ruins. I love ruins, they just inspire me somehow. I took lots of photgraphs while Niall read every plaquard of information available- not that I'm not interested in it's history though, I just don't want to stand about and read while there are things to look at. We had to set off back home at about four, neither of us wanted to go back home though. Still, it had been a nice few days away and the weather had been fantastic the whole time- which is pretty rare.
For some reason blogger isn't letting me add any more photo's and pictures, which is frigging annoying considering it's let me put ONE in! Piece of crap... I'll try add some when's it's not having a lame day.
