Day Eight – Stratford and Blenheim Palace
Today started with an early start combined with a two and a half hour coach journey each way, not for the faint hearted! We arrived in Stratford upon Avon to see wherefore art thou Shakespeare began his life in his family home, right the way to where he was buried in the Holy Trinity church.
During the walk around Stratford we passed the grammar school where it is likely that Shakespeare studied, this did result in us wondering who his most influential teacher could have been! The students made the most of the opportunity to get involved with the actors outside Shakespeare’s home who were talented enough to act out any scene thrown at them! Quite the interactive experience!
My favourite quote of the day was surprisingly not from Shakespeare but from his rival playwrite Ben Johnson who described Shakespeare as “not of an age but for all time” during a tribute, I feel that this could not be more accurate if you think about when Shakespeare started writing to current day in 2019 and people are still in awe with his work!
The early start and long journeys were well worth it when we could sit in the tranquil gardens of Blenheim palace! The Palace was built in the early 18th Century as a gift from Queen Anne to the Duke of Marlborough for leading the troops to victory during the Battle of Blenheim against the French! It is in fact the only non-royal country house in England to hold the title of Palace.
We enjoyed a lovely cup of tea along with a scone, but the debate of the afternoon was which comes first the jam or the clotted cream on top of the scone!
Luise
