Shakespear upon Avon

Steve and I took the train (my first) to Stratford upon Avon..........the home of Shakespeare.... and apparently (and noticeably) his descendants. The town is amazing! If you've been to England and you haven't gone you've missed out.

This is the garden behind his granddaughter's house.

And yet another one of the gardens....

Rich folk indeed....

There in the background you can see the Royal Shakespeare theatre.

Yet another portion of the gardens......... and a stature dedicated to one of Shakespeare's famous plays.......one of nine I believe.

The back of the house that Shakespeare was born in.

Around the town....

The town has tried to maintain the buildings aesthetics's of an older age. It's just beautiful walking around......mostly because it's probably cleaner than it was in the old days....indoor plumbing has done wonders....

Before you go into the main house (there are three).........

And just after you've gone through it.........and Steve talking to two Chinese guys........

Sums up England.........*sly smile*.....

A living statue.....it's kinda strange having a man painted orange hit on you....while your boy is taking pictures......

If you were to to the left of this picture you'd hit the butterfly farm.......to the right is all about Shakespeare.

A parting phrase........*hem* Ha Ha Kristen, I don't even like Shakespeare.

Butterfly Farm

As Steve admired my tattoos one day in Geochang he realized where a perfect place to take me in England would be........a butterfly farm.

You walk into this farm and it is filled with plants from celling to floor and everywhere in between were butterflies.

Where some of butterflies come and eat.

They had benches in different nooks so you could sit and bask.

Where all the butterflies come from. The workers here will not help them get out of their cocoons because if they don't they will not be strong enough to swim.

One in the middle of his struggle.

They have three iguanas in the farm. Apparently we were very lucky to catch a glimpse of one. His name is Spike.......ok maybe not..

Sometimes they would randomly come and land on you.



This one was actually injured. I picked it up to move it and then decided to let the child have a closer look.

It was such a beautiful place to spend time. It is right in the town of Stratford upon Avon.....home of Shakespeare.

A different way to eat.

By far my favorite picture.

Black Country Museum

Steve took me to a wonderful living museum. The Black Country Museum. The black country is an area in England that doesn't have a clean line showing where it is. It was an area that had a lot of coal and also different kinds of manufacture factories. The name stuck because of the clouds of smoke made things look quite black. Historically it is considered very industrial and poor area.

The museum had a bunch of different buildings all found in the area. They were deconstructed and rebuilt on the museum's site. This is a picture of the machine that pulled the elevator up and down from the mine.

It's hard to see but there is a tall metal structure that was the elevator....or at least the structure that held the pulleys. In the building to the right is where the machine in the first picture was housed.

A closer view.

A bit about the area.

Down by the docks.

Italy is famous for it's canals but it is actually this region that has the most in the world (says Steve). The canals were the way the region was able to transport all their coal and steel works.


A shop yard by the docks.


We took a spin on the canal boat.

This is looking up. These holes were made not only for ventilation but to also track where the canals were. The white calcium deposits that you see are sooooo slimy!

Right before you go in.....

These canals are very small, underground and about an hour long.... don't go if your claustrophobic.

The canals are so narrow that the way they moved the boats were for people to lay down where you enter and use their legs to push. Those guys musta had big legs.

Now we're in the town. Some of the work animals.

In the bar. Where I experienced "Dandelion Burdock". Interesting and it grows on you.

For all the people needing help with conversions.

In school.

I was a top student!