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.
