To Be Or Not To Be

Today, we are excited to visit the birthplace of the famous William Shakespeare. Travelling to Stratford is pretty much exciting as we want to check out William Shakespeare’s landmark. While on the tour bus, our tour guide was sharing some of the interesting places to check out in Stratford and some history.

When we arrived at Stratford-Upon-Avon, we were quickly introduced to William Shakespeare’s birthplace. William Shakespeare was born in this house and grew up here with his parents and siblings. He also spent the first five years of his marriage living here with his wife Anne Hathaway. John and Mary Shakespeare were wealthy enough to own the largest house on Henley Street. 

We continued to walk and found Shakespeare’s family home but did not enter as we did not have enough time to visit. This place is filled with so much history surrounding the Shakespeare’s family. We also chanced upon The Guild Chapel. It is one of Stratford-upon-Avon’s most iconic and important historic buildings. Its rich history dates back to the 13^th Century when it was built by the Guild of the Holy Cross, a prominent social and religious organisation. As the Guild grew and prospered, so did its chapel, becoming central to medieval life in Stratford-upon-Avon.

It was such short time spent at Stratford and we wished we had more time to explore the places of interest there. We had a quick lunch at the Hobsons, they are famous for their creamy scones and it was a pity that we did not have time to sit and enjoy the scones and tea but to rush off.

Our next location was the beautiful Cotswold. The Cotswolds is one of the most 'quintessentially English' and unspoiled regions of England where you cannot help but fall in love with the uniqueness of it. Throughout the Cotswolds stone features in buildings and stone walls act as a common thread in seamlessly blending the historic towns & villages with their surrounding landscape. It is just sooooooooooooooooooo BEAUTIFUL! Given only 40 minutes to spend in such an amazing place, it was too short and I am sure we will be back to explore more in the future.

Oxford, The City of Dreaming Spires, is famous the world over for its University and place in history. For over 800 years, it has been a home to royalty and scholars, and since the 9th century an established town, although people are known to have lived in the area for thousands of years.

The Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church at the University of Oxford. I was thrilled when the tour guide told us that the dinning room of Harry Potter was filmed here. 

The Radcliffe Camera can only be described as Oxford’s most iconic building. Dominating the small cobbled square in which it’s found, this large, circular building was designed by James Gibbs and built in 1737-1749. There are so many beautiful historical buildings in Oxford and so much to see. If we have a chance to send our child to Oxford, it definitely a YES. 

It’s a wrapped for our day tours and we headed back to Bayswaters for our dinner at Bella Italia. Their food was not too bad except for the pizza which was not too tasty. The rest were tasty and we enjoyed the food and service.