The town of Stratford-upon-Avon.
In the left hand side, you can see the statue Puck.

When my parents and I decided to visit England together, my father said, "I want to visit Scotland even if only for a short time." My mother said, "I want to go to the Lake District." Both of them said that they wanted to visit places which would take a long time to get to from London. Taking into consideration their age, I thought we should travel at a slow pace, but we had only 5 days in total. I said to them that we absolutely couldn't go to both places and then thought that we could visit the Lake District because it was nearer than Scotland. However, if we go there, I thought we should stay there for at least one night. Therefore, should we fly to Manchester from Heathrow on the day we arrive and use a direct train to the Lake District? Or should we use a one-day package tour? I thought and thought. However, I couldn't decide on the best way to save both time and money.
Then, my mother began to say, "If it is difficult to visit, I won't insist on going there. A nearer place is better." That time, the first place that came to my mind was Stratford-upon-Avon. I've been there only once about ten years ago, but the beautiful town will move people even if they are not Shakespeare's fan. I showed some pictures of Stratford-upon-Avon to my parents. They seemed to like it. Yes! Let's go to Stratford-upon-Avon! Soon, I checked the train time table and began to collect some information.

When I visited for the first time, there wasn't any direct train to Stratford-upon-avon from London, so I used the coach. However, from the information I gathered, now there is a direct train from Paddington. The train is quicker. Moreover, we can walk around, so it is more comfortable.
Therefore, I decided to use train on the trip.
We got on the nine eighteen train to go to Stratford-upon-Avon at Paddington station.
My father said, "Trains in England run in disel. Maybe, it's too late now for them to change to electlic because it needs time and money." I'd never thought such a thing when I used trains in England, but he was curious about everything which he saw. We talked about such matters while riding the train. Finally, around eleven thirty, we arrived at Stratford-upon-Avon.
There's some distance between the railway station and the coach station, so when we arrived at the train station, I felt I was there for the very first time. According to "GIO GLOBE TROTTER"^*, from the railway station, we could go to town centre, after we walked directly down a road.
We began to walk along a road which seemed to go to town centre.
About ten minutes later, we arrived at the place which must be town centre.
Comparing to the coach station, which is near the town centre, I thought that the railway station was a little inconvenient.
That day, some event was being held, so a temporary amusement park was being set up. Therefore, a strange construction began to appear.
To regain some energy, firstly, we had lunch. After that, we went to the tourist information centre to collect some information.
When I said that we wanted to buy tickets for THE SHAKESPEARE HOUSES City Sightseeng bus, the lady said, "Will you stay here tonight? Or just for today? Just for the day? So, I think you can't see all of the seven places. There is a ticket which allows you to see three sightseeins spots, but we don't sell it! You can buy the ticket at the bus stop over there." At first, I couldn't believe what she said, because as long as I remember, when I visited Stratford-upon-Avon for the first time, I could see all the sightseeing spots on the day I arrived although I stayed for one night. However, considering that we had to get on the five thirty train, we didn't have so much time. I thought maybe she was right. I asked her, "Which three sights do you recommend?
She answered, "It it difficult to choose because all the spots are beautiful. Well...Firstly, Mary Arden's House, then Hall's Croft, and finally, Shakespeare's Birthplace." I put these three spots into my head and started to go sightseeing.

^* "GIO GLOBE TROTTER" is a series of Japanese books which talks about travelling in each country all over the wolrd. There is a lot of valuable information which is written by many of it's readers.

left : at a bus stop of THE SHAKESPEARE HOUSES City Sightseeing. You can see the buildings related to Shakespeare by using this sightseeing bus. When you stand at a bus stop with this sign, a bus will come about every twenty minutes. We bought bus tickets which included the admission fee to see the three spots. right : When we got on the bus, we were given earphones. When we put on the earphones, we could listen to some explanations about where the bus was passing by or places we were going to visit. We were surprised they had Japanese. It shows that many Japanese visit Stratford- upon-Avon. However, the Japanese from the earphone was difficult to listen to. I think some Japanese student studying English in England recorded it, so it was a little unprofessional.

After buying the bus tickets, we got on a bus. We went to the top deck of the bus and sat on the front seats. After the bus ran a little, my mother said, "Did you say we would get off the bus here?". I said, "Ha? I don't think so." However, I asked the bus driver just in case, she was right. We'd already arrved at Hall's Croft. We rushed out the bus. On the way to Hall's Croft, we saw a beautiful church. It was near, so we walked back to the church. After we walked a little around the church, we entered the building of Hall's Croft.

left : a church near Hall's Croft. When we visited, a mass was just starting, so unfortunately we couldn't enter the building.
right : Hall's Croft. There was a restaurant in the same building. Hall's Croft used to owned by John Hall's house, who was Shakespeare's daugher's husband. He was a doctor, so there was the doctor's office and many medical apparatus were displayed in the room. They were very interesting.

We briefly walked around the building of Hall's Croft. Then, we waited for the next bus at the nearby bus stop. However, probably because the previous bus had come just before, no bus came for quite some time. It was a cloudy day, so we felt a little chilly while standing and waiting for the bus. About twenty minutes later, finally, we could get on the bus. We were a little unlucky.
After that, we visited Mary Arden's House and Shakespeare's Birthplace taking the advise of the tourist information employee. We had little luck with the bus service, so we barely had time to visit the three spots. Yes, she was right!

The upper line : Mary Arden's house and Palmer Farm, where Shakespeare's mother lived. There are stables, barns, and a place where some birds were kept. When you see the kitchen or dining room, you'll know all about farm house life in those days.
The lower line : Shakespeare's Birthplace. When you enter the house, at first, you'll find a visitor center. Desks and some books of Shakespeare plays are shown in the room. In the kitchen and the bed rooms in which they say Shakespeare was born, there are household goods and some copies of clothes recreating Shakespeare's time.

After sightseeing, when we went back to the town centre, many families had gathered around the temporary shops and amusement park.
Maybe, you rarely see the town of Stratford-upon-Avon which co-exist with the good old days and the present. Actually, I wanted to see the usual quiet town of Stratford-upon-Avon, but in some aspects, it may be a valuable experience.
I wanted to see some shops, but my mother said that it was about time to go back to the station. Firstly, I thought that she was worrying a little too much, but she was right. When we walked from the station, the road seemed to be straight, but when we came back, we were lost not knowing where we had come from. Ha ha ha! After asking how to go to the station a few times, we finally arrived there!

After getting on the five thirty train, I opened a guidebook to check where we had visited that day. Then, a picture of Ann Hathaway's Cottage came to my eyes. "Ah, I forgot to visit there. I had thought that the first place to visit should be Ann Hathaway's Cottage". I felt a little disappointed. I had really wanted to show the cottage to my parents. I wish we would have a chance to visit Stratford-upon-Avon again.

to Stratford-upon-Avon 1

(2005.3.19)

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Trip to England