The Best of Britain and Ireland: Day 4

Today was the first "official" day of The Best of Britain and Ireland tour. Erin and I woke up early in the morning, set our suitcases outside of our hotel room door (a porter came by and collected the suitcases of all of the group and brought them to the bus) and went down to breakfast. After that we got the rest of our stuff together (the stuff we were bringing with us in the bus) and we went down to the main lobby to meet our group. We weren't late or anything but there weren't very many people in the lobby. I was a little confused but it turned out that most of the group was already on the bus. This ended up being a trend with our tour group...always getting on the bus 10 minutes early. For someone who is ALWAYS running a little late I was a little worried about this but Erin and I managed to do alright.

Our group turned out to be a great mix of different people. We had sisters (us), friends, mother and daughter, father and son, and husbands and wives all traveling together. Most of our group was from Australia but we also had people from the USA, Canada, India, and South Africa.

Our first stop as we left London was to visit Hampton Court. This is one of the royal palaces but isn't actually inhabited by the royal family anymore.

Part of Hampton Court

Another view of Hampton Court.

One of the gardens of Hampton Court. There wasn't anything in bloom in this garden when we visited but I still thought it was pretty.

Awe...pretty flowers. :)


One of my favorite pictures from the trip. How much do you want to sit on that bench? I would love to just sit there for hours reading a good book. This was taken on the grounds of Hampton Court.

Our next stop on the tour was Oxford. I never would have thought to go visit Oxford but I'm so glad that it was part of the tour. The city and the college was just breathtakingly beautiful!! And Erin and I even had our brush with celebrity there. :)

Guess who? It's John Rhys-Davies from Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones. During our tour of the city, our tour guide told us that we were about to go through the Bodleian Library and that we would have to be quiet and not speak until we got to the other side of the building. We walked through an open-aired courtyard and I looked to my right and who did I see? Gimli!! I was so excited I started snapping pictures (completely loosing the rest of my group). Erin was taking pictures of other things so I wanted to get her attention...but I couldn't speak. Well, being the rebel that I am, I said "Actor!Actor!" as quietly as I could and vigorously pointed in Gimli's direction. Erin got the hint and enjoyed the moment with me. :)


The view on the other side of the Bodleian Library. This is the Clarendon Building and surrounding grounds.


St. Mary's Cathedral. The Cathedral is located next to the Clarendon Building. Our short tour of Oxford ended in this courtyard and we then had free time to explore before we had to get back on the bus. Erin and I decided to climb to the top of St. Mary's Cathedral. I'm so glad that we did because the view was spectacular...and we got to climb up a tiny-tiny stone spiral staircase. How fun is that??

The view from the top of the cathedral. Look at those tiny people below.

The walkways around the top of the cathedral were really narrow. It was fun trying to maneuvre with other people trying to go the opposite way.

After we left Oxford, our next stop was Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. This beautiful thatched-roof building was Anne Hathaway's (Shakespeare's wife) house.

We didn't have time to go inside for the tour but the outside was really pretty.

Next we drove to the center of town and were let loose to explore Stratford on our own.

This is the front of Shakespeare's birthplace.

A view of the back of Shakespeare's birthplace.

Next up, Erin and I walked through the town and to the river in search of the church where Shakespeare is buried. After getting a little lost and ending up on the wrong side of the river, we corrected our course and eventually found the Holy Trinity Church.

The graveyard outside of the Holy Trinity Church. I love old graveyards! And yes, I am one of those wierdos who would love to wander around them at night. :)

A couple of days before we arrived it was actually the anniversary of Shakespeare's death. The flowers on his grave are from that celebration.

After we left Stratford-upon-Avon we drove to Coventry for the night.

Next up: Day 5 - Coventry and Northern England