Warwick Castle

Today I took another Grayline tour, tour no. 6: Oxford, Stratford, and Warwick Castle (all northeast of London). I called the Grayline office at 7:55 a.m. to inquire as to why they hadn’t picked me up from my hotel yet. Grayline said that they had me down for pickup at another hotel and I should take a taxi to their office and they would reimburse me for the taxi fare. A bell hop flagged down a taxi for me and I was on my way to the Grayline depot until the taxi driver told me that his reserved next customer wanted him to pick him up earlier than planned. So my taxi driver dumped me on a street corner near a Thistle hotel and told me that many taxis come by there and I should just get in another one. He didn’t charge me for my ride with him. No taxis came by so I went into the Thistle hotel and asked the concierge if he would call me a taxi. I don’t think that he wanted to take care of a non–hotel guest and I don’t know if he called one for me or not. However, the Evan Evans bus (Grayline’s main competitor) came to the Thistle to pick up passengers and I asked Evan Evans if they would take me to the Grayline office. They were very happy to do so and they had a great deal of fun calling up Grayline to tell them that they had rescued one of their customers. I did make it in time to take my tour. Our fisrt stop was at Warwick Castle.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Another view of Warwick Castle. Warwick Castle is a medieval fortress dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1604, the Granville family came into possession of the castle and transformed it into a stately home.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

The entrance to the castle.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Inside the castle walls. The tower is called Guy’s Tower and dates back to 1329. It was a guest house. You can climb up the steps on the left of the photo to the ramparts but you can’t climb back down. It is a one–way trip along the top of the wall and then up many steps to the top of the tower before you can come back down. I didn’t climb up.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Inside the castle walls to the right.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Inside the castle walls more to the right.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

And more to the right. You can see the 13th –century keep at the top of the mound.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle is set up to be almost an amusement park. There are falcon and jostling shows, people walking around in period costumes, and food and game booths. In 1978, the owners of Madame Tussand bought the castle and added some really excellent wax figures to some of the castle rooms. Here are the wax figures in one of the rooms.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

More wax figures.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Drawing the master’s bath.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Windows seen from inside the castle.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

A wax horse.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

A workman.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

A washerwoman.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Soldiers.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

I walked to the grounds in the back of the castle. A view of the back of the castle. Too bad that there was scaffolding here.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

View of a building on the river.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Another view of the building on the river.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Leaving Warwick Castle.

Warwick Castle

Stratford-upon-Avon

Our next stop was at Stratford–upon–Avon, the home of William Shakespeare. Our tour guide was in his element here, and before we arrived he gave us a very interesting synopsis of Shakespeare’s life. The entrance to Shakespeare ‘s birthplace I believe is from the second house on the left, on Henley Street. He was born on April 3, 1564.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

The back of Shakespeare’s house. No photos were allowed inside the house, but it reminded me of the old houses that I saw near the Boston area: low ceilings and uneven wood floors

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Interesting buildings that I passed by on my walk to the River Avon. Costa is a chain selling sandwiches.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

More buildings.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Boats on the River Avon. You can take one on a cruise of the river.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

View of a bridge over the River Avon.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

View of the park along the river.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Statue of William Shakespeare in the park.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Statue of Hamlet in the area surrounding the Shakespeare statue.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Statue of Lady Macbeth.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Canal boat getting ready to go through the locks.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

This woman is hand–cranking the gate to open the lock.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

View of the river.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Another view of the bridge.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

I took a walk through more of the town.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Teddy Bear store.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Pizza Hut is located in one of these fantastic buildings.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Full view of the Pizza Hut building.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Full view of the buildings on the right of Pizza Hut.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Another great building.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Row of half–timbered buildings.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Another row.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Statue of the Jester from “As You Like It” with the inscription: “O Noble Fool! A Worthy Fool!”

Stratford-upon-Avon

On the Road

From Stratford–upon–Avon we headed to Oxford. We saw a thatched roof on the way (I was told that there were more thatched roofs in this area than in the Cotswolds.)

On the Road

On the Road

Another thatched roof.

On the Road

On the Road

A pretty hotel that we passed on our way.

On the Road

Oxford

Our tour was an expert on Oxford University as he was once a student here. He told us that Oxford is made up of more than 30 separate colleges, with the most famous probably being Christ Church. I believe this is a photo of Christ Church College, but Oxford University is a massive collection of stone buildings and it is hard to know exactly where you are.

Oxford

Oxford

But you should recognize the Christ Church dining hall. It was re–created by Hollywood as the dining hall in the Harry Potter movies.

Oxford

Oxford

Photo of the dining hall taken in the opposite direction.

Oxford

Oxford

I believe that this photo is still part of Christ Church College.

Oxford

Oxford

We next took a walk to another area of Oxford University.

Oxford

Oxford

This must be a dorm. Why else would there be laundry hanging out the window?

Oxford

Oxford

Radcliff Camera. It was one of Oxford University’s original buildings, built in 1748, and is a memorial to the physician Dr. John Radcliffe.

Oxford

Oxford

View of Oxford University taken from the Radcliff Camera area.

Oxford

Oxford

One of the buildings here.

Oxford

Oxford

I believe that this is in the courtyard of the Bodeleian Library: door to one of the original colleges––of Geometry and Arithmetic.

Oxford

Oxford

The Bridge of Sighs located in this area. It is a copy of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. This one was built in 1914 and joins the old and new buildings of Hertford College.

Oxford

Oxford

The Sheldonian Theatre was designed by Christopher Wren. Oxford University’s graduations are held here.

Oxford

Oxford

Part of Oxford’s shopping district. From Oxford, we traveled back to London. Our tour guide told us that since we must all be tired, he will recite some Shakespeare that will definitely put us all to sleep, so he recited Shakespeare to us in a loud voice for the next hour. I don’t think it put anyone to sleep. I was actually dropped off this time right at my hotel and then went to eat across the street from the hotel at a sushi place. I don’t like sushi but I was able to order tempora shrimp for my dinner.

Oxford