It was a studious day...

On our final leg en route back to London, we made two stops.

The first is Stratford Upon (not "In" - that is used for the County name) Avon.  Originally a market town and hub for the river crossing, Stratford is now primarily focused around the live of William Shakespeare, who was born and spent much of his life there.

Everything in the town feels related to Shakespeare.  There are three playhouses which showcase Shakespeare's work.  The town church hosts a statue of WS and the tombs of him and his family are prominently featured up near the pulpit.  The town's street names and building engravings all reflect him and his works and Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hatheway's, homes (in fact,  anywhere they frequented) have been restored and protected, even going so far as to knock down the adjoining buildings abutting his childhood house to prevent any chance of a fire destroying this wonderful piece of history. 

Our tour guide was hilarious - charming and self-deprecating while telling us all about the history of the town,  the origins of sayings like "a toad in your throat", "bonfires", and "goodnight sleep tight", and phrases that Shakespeare created through his works, like "vanish into thin air"! 

Our second stop was Oxford.  Although it was the summer holidays and the students and teachers far away, the town was packed with tourists coming to see this famous university.  The University, the oldest English speaking university in the world, originally started in 1096 and grew rapidly after the mid 1100s.  The university functions primarily around its colleges, which are breath-taking.  With the university's sophisticated and intricate buildings that were surrounded by lush and beautifully manicured gardens, it is easy to see how these grounds inspired some of the world's greatest thinkers.  

Although we had hoped we would come up with some great thoughts while being here,  we settled for a nice stroll around the campus and an intense Nutella hot chocolate before driving the last leg of our trip back to London.