Sunday, March 20. Stratford-Upon-Avon

Good Morning once again from jolly ol'England:
This is Amy.
We were just discussing our trip so far at breakfast this morning and we all agreed that the people are so nice and friendly, and that we've had fantastic meals.  We're feeling pretty happy with our excursion at this point.
Yesterday, we were driven to Stratford by a very friendly Parkitani who cheerfully drove us any which way in the countryside once he mentioned a place, example; Have you seen Warwicke Castle? He recommended a town beyond Stratford called Royal Leamington Spa where there is a lot of shopping opportunity.  We took his advice, since we couldn't check into the hotel.
We spent the bulk of our day walking up and down the streets full of shops, went into a mall and had a fabulous lunch at a French restaurant named Cafe' Rouge.  Nancy had lobster bisque and a pie of snails and mushrooms.  I had Salade Nicoise and shared a bread board.  Tina chose an anti pasta board with hummus, bread, olives, salami, prosciutto and chutney, plus a sandwich and fries.  Her sandwich was interesting because it was ham on the inside and the cheese was grilled on the outside!

Tina breaking in here....We had a wonderful day of shopping despite the Black Plague I have been carrying around for the last few days. We met a delightful mother and son who own a little pastry shop called The Larder. We entered the shop to grab a bit of hot tea and figure out how to hail a taxi from our location. The son gladly phoned a taxi for us and the jolly mother chimed in asking where we were from, and we learned her daughter frequents our side of the country. We "will certainly remember The Larder" fondly. As a matter of fact, everyone we have met has treated us fondly. There was even a couple that came in late (like literally two minutes) to Hamlet (the title should be italized, but how to that on this is a mystery to me) last night--the nerve they had! When intermission came they apoligized profusely. We realized the usher must have wished to humiluate them because rather than show them to a door with easy access to their seats, she forced them to enter the row of seats on the far end. Everyone in the row had to stand to allow them to pass....certainly a WALK OF SHAME they soon won't forget. Everyone around the couple's location jested with them about their mishap and all was quite forgiven. The play was AMAZING! We watched Hamlet in Stratford Upon Avon--Shakespeare's birthplace. It just doesn't get any better than that. We had a lovely snack of calamari and an assortment of grilled vegetables after the show. This trip to the Motherland has been an absolute dream. Again, people have been so kind. Before the show, we were enjoying a cocktail down in the bar where there was a wedding party celebrating and families were having dinner. The picture of us sitting in the bar was taken by a young man having dinner with his wife and little boy. Tristan is one of the cutest 22 month old boys we have ever seen. He was running back and forth, stopping long enough to show us some up-to-date dance moves and give us a high-five.