Where for art thou? Stratford, of course!

We left London early Friday morning on a bus trip with, and I'm just estimating here, 8034 other ICLC students. Our first stop was Warwick Castle, which is located either north, west, or south of London. Whever it is, it is the most awesome place on earth because that's where they filmed most of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It also has some other history dating back to 1400, but, honestly, who cares? Run awaayyyyyyyy!

so... castle!


The castle is actually owned by Madame Tussaud's after some bad money-handling by the... Duke? Sure. This is awesome, however, because you get some killer wax statues that you can fight with:


We also climbed Ghost Tower, which is poorly named, as there were no ghosts to be found. There was a lot of wind at the top, so I'm thinking Gust Tower instead (I am so witty. Honestly.):


We went into the town (hamlet/village/small place) of Warwick for lunch and stumbled upon a place called "The Coffee Shop". It was amazing... fantastic tea (I'm an addict) and great sandwiches that were actually affordable. PLUS we got nagged by the owner, who was this adorable lady who teased me for not finishing my salad. So cute.

After that we headed up to Stratford, where the 8000+ (okay it was more like 90, but it felt that big) of us were spread out across a bunch of Bed and Breakfasts. Alice and I got to room together, and, because we're girls, we got the pink room, as modeled by Alice:


We got some pub food for dinner and went to see the Royal Shakespeare Company's performance of Richard III. Andrew and I sat next to each other in row J while almost everyone else at Ithaca College was in rows A and B. I think I might give off an "I'm not too impressed by Shakespeare" vibe. The play was okay - the performaces were good and the battle scenes were awesome - but some of the scenes dragged on and on and the play was over 3 hours and I was sleepy. Actually, this sounds like why I don't like Les Misérables. But I digress.

The next day we got free time to wander around Stratford. I attempted to see Shakespeare's tomb but it was a). boring and b). crowded by 8000 ICLC students. We left there and walked along the river Avon (hence Stratford-upon-Avon) and found an amazing farmers' market. I got soup and bread and cheeeeese and pears and it was wonderful.

That afternoon we left Stratford and went to Oxford, where we just wandered aimlessly for a few hours and took pretty pictures. We also found an amazingly educational sign:


Go figure. We left Oxford and got back here around 7. I don't think I'll do any of the group trips again. There are just too many people on an itinerary in a small area, and it really kills the experience. But, hey, live and learn.

Last night we found this amazing Thai restaurant (on Keighl's recommendation) called Tuk Tuk and went to a cute pub near the flat. Tonight is the Super Bowl Party (yay?) and a busy week ahead, but PARIS on Thursday!

By the way... more pictures here