Sunday, June 9, 2019

To the land of Shakespeare

Stratford-upon-Avon, the land of Shakespeare, antique shops and baked goods! And also the place of this years birthday celebrations for my wonderful boyfriend James.

So wayyy back in February, I had the -very pricey- idea that I wanted to take James on holiday for his birthday present. We'd never been away together and the idea of being somewhere different, especially after exams had finished, sounded perfect.
Now came the task of where to go! As I'm on a student budget I knew I couldn't afford anywhere out of the UK, but as James is a theatre lover like myself, I thought Stratford would be the perfect place. We could wander antique shops, all the Shakespeare places, as well as getting some delicious food.
So I booked the Crowne Plaza for the end of May and was super organised for James' birthday at the start of that month.
And now that you're all caught up, on with the adventure!

30/05/2019

After arriving in Stratford at around 3ish, we checked into our beautiful King size (!!!) room, and then had a wander around the town. I was amazed at the beauty of this place, the sun shone, boats bobbed on the sparking river and everyone just seemed really happy! After a little trip to the hotels pool, we went for dinner at a small restaurant on the waterfront called "The Marina", we had tapas whilst sipping Gin (for me) and cider (for James). It was a perfect night of chatting, laughing and relaxing -the most amazing start to our holiday.






31/05/2019

After walking around the day before, we had a few places in mind that we wanted to explore -one of which, was Magic Alley. This wondrous shop held all things magical and mystical, including spell books, tarot cards, crystals and even an escape room/puzzle room type thing! ... which we definitely had to do! I have to admit, it was a lot of fun and something neither of us were expecting to do, and luckily we did pass meaning we are now "Ministry of Time Commanders". 
We also did an actual escape room called "Chalice of Champions" (sticking with the magic theme) at Escape Live. This was soooo much fun and really well designed! If you've never done an escape room before then I definitely recommend trying one, I was really sceptical at first and now I love them! And, thank god, we did escape with only 4 minutes and 3 seconds remaining -not bad, not bad.
Finally, we went to the Swan Theatre and saw the RSC's performance of 'As you like it', a funny and rather confusing play all about love. As my first live Shakespeare play, I thought it was wonderful, the actors, costumes and staging were great and how the RSC adapted it was so funny and clever! Definitely a must see -and if you have a free RSC Key then it's only £5!!




01/06/2019

On our last day we decided to dedicate our time purely to Shakespeare- bring on the tours! Firstly we went to Shakespeare's Birthplace where we learnt all about his parents, early life and siblings. It's incredible walking through the rooms where he was raised and looking at all the historical items on display.
Then we ventured over to 'New Place' (my favourite) which is where Shakespeare's house should have been. There was a funny tour by a man named Tony called "Where's the house?" which discussed why the building was no long there -10/10 would recommend. As the house is missing, the site has been transformed into beautiful gardens with stunning statues and art work, as it was such a beautiful sunny day, we really got to enjoy this and see all the plants in full bloom.
Finally, as we couldn't resist, we went back to Escape Live to tackle their Shakespeare themed room "Shakespeare Script" -had to stick to the theme, didn't we? Luckily we escaped out of this room as well, with only 3 minutes and 25 seconds left -it was definitely a little trickier.








I absolutely loved this trip and feel like it was just what we needed! Sometimes the city can get so busy and jobs, and life get in the way -so having 3 days just us was utterly perfect.

Thank you for reading,

Hollie xx
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