Coventry - Stratford-upon-Avon

 It's Remembrance Day, and we figured this would be a good day to be in Coventry, but they do most of their commemoration on Sunday! It also turns out that Coventry also doesn't have their museum open, that we had come to see, on a Monday. So we wandered around the city of Coventry instead. During this meandering we happened upon the town crier (or perhaps he happened upon us). He also happens to be a tour guide, and owner of a pub. His chat with us has guaranteed us going to his pub later tonight.

On 14th November 1940 515 German bombers set out to blitz Coventry. The dropped 500 tonnes of high explosives, 50 parachute air mines and 36,000 incendiary bombs. Around 568 people were killed (they can't be sure of the exact number), 4,300 homes were destroyed. Many lives were saved by the people of Coventry choosing to trek out into the countryside for sleep at night, instead of sleeping in their homes. Christian is standing in front of the altar. The cross is a copy of the original made by two beams of the church roof that fell in the shape of a cross. On the altar it says: Father Forgive.

This is one of the few things that survived the burning of the cathedral.

Inside the Cathedral that was burnt out.

Christian thought that this was rather ironic. This is the chapel of unity at Coventry Cathedral...which is off to the side, slightly detached from the main cathedral.

On the 15th of November 1940, upon seeing the damage to the church, the Provost vowed that the church would be rebuilt as a sign of peace and reconciliation.

So off to Stratford-Upon-Avon, the hometown of Shakespeare. On arrival we wandered around for over an hour, tramping in and out of around 6 or 7 second hand stores. Eventually we found a lovely Tudor house with lounges inside to have tea and scones. It was also a good way to recover from my first nasty headache since being away.

Christian with Hamlet

Everybody want a piece of Shakespeare's fame

This town is incredible to walk around. 

The place we found to have tea was delightful inside.

We even had a bit of sunshine.

The perfect Tudor place for tea.

On the advice of the waiter, we went to Anne Hathaway's cottage. We were not disappointed.

The house is truly interesting. Set in the original gardens and orchards. The house began being built in 1463. It has been either rented or owned by the Hathaway family since 1542 until 1911. Anne was born in the house in 1555. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust bought the house and contents in 1892, which means that there are many items here that were used by the Hathaway's of Anne's time.

A look into Anne's home.

The 1700's laundry

I had to show you the embroidery on the bed spread. It was exquisite!

What made this museum great was the museum guides. Lots of museums have them. But our past experience is that the guides are for you to ask questions of...these guys all gave a mini talk. They were all engaging, and full of great information. This here is thought to be the "second best bed" that was given to Anne Hathaway in Shakespeare's will. The best bed is usually the guest bed. The second best bed is the bed that the married couple of the house sleep in.

The chair is known to be one that William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway have used.

Typical of houses of this era...there are many levels...or maybe a lack of levelling 

In the orchard they had this interesting art piece...

Unfortunately, this may be the closest I get to walking in an English forest.

Outside the house from a different angle.

It was a delightful afternoon.

We ended our time here by going to the church where William Shakespeare was baptised and buried.

Whilst we were here we stopped for a bit of lunch - bread and cheese with pickles.