Stratford, July 8

Tuesday was an interesting day. We had to get up early, because the coach for our day trip to Stratford was leaving at 8:30 SHARP! I ate a crumpet for breakfast – I thought it was the real version of what we call an English muffin – not quite! Then, off to the bus, well, coach. We decided to get in the coach with Brian, the Blue Badge guide who did our walking tour of Bloomsbury. He is fantastic! We were off through the London traffic to get to the M40, to go to Stratford. On the way, we saw a poor guy on a bicycle or motorcycle, who'd had a meeting with a taxi – the taxi won! We decided we thought his leg was broken. Yuck! The trip ended up taking about 2 and ½ hours. We stopped once at a "Services" area, and I knew as soon as we stepped it, this was NOT the Okahumpka Service Plaza on the Florida Turnpike. We walked over a bridge, with fountains, and fish swimming around. I wanted to take pictures but it was raining. On the inside it looked more like a typical service plaza, but it was extraordinary outside. We left the big road and took some winding little country roads. It was beautiful outside. We saw sheep lying in the green fields. As we got closer and closer to Stratford, I found myself feeling a little queasy. I haven't been carsick in years, but I was yesterday. By the time we got to Anne Hathaway's cottage, I was not in the best shape. I took the tour through her cottage sort of at a running pace, feeling very nauseous. The gardens outside were lovely, and I had a million questions about the thatched roof, but was afraid to open my mouth too much. We got back on the coach (much to my stomach's discomfort) and went into town. We were running a bit behind, so we all rushed into "The Birthplace. " The people say it like that, like it's all in capital letters. We took the tour through the exhibit, and then into the actual house where Shakespeare apparently was born. The whole experience was a little surreal. It was kind of like Shakespeare meets Disney World. They even have sounds and smells. Maybe it just seemed weird to me, because I felt like I was going to be sick, but as I write this on Wednesday morning, it all still seems rather odd. My wonderful flat mates saved me - Linda, found a Sprite for me, which helped tremendously and Katherine gave me some pretzels, hoping that would help, and it did. It was a rough day. Finally, after walking around off the bus for about an hour, I was feeling MUCH better, so Katherine and I found someplace to eat – it was about 2:30. I just had soup and some bread, but we sat upstairs in this little café and watched people on the street below. Then, this trio of people came up for tea. Eavesdropping a bit on their conversation, we realized they had an appointment somewhere and were just passing the time until their appointment. There were two men and a lady, and I found myself wondering what their story was. I finally got brave enough to ask them if I could take their picture, and they graciously said yes. They asked us where were from in the States, how long we were here, and where we were staying. I would have loved to have asked them a million questions, too, but we had to get back to the bus. On the way back I sat in the inside seat, instead of the window seat, and tried to only look out the front window and not the side window. Dr E gave me a motion sickness pill, so between the seat change and the pill, I made it back without hurling!