Singing Thoughts: Stratford Upon Avon (Thursday 12th January 2012)

As one of Mum's Christmas presents, I booked a trip for us both to go to Stratford Upon Avon.
I completely forgot the date was coming up because I've been so busy working at the British Heart Foundation.

But, it was the loveliest day today. Not had a day like this in such a long time.

It was lovely spending the day with Mum and doing something we've not done before in a different place, other than Leicester.

We got on the coach at 10:00am and we were in Stratford Upon Avon at 11:20am.

We walked into the centre and looked at a couple of shops!

Mum bought some postcards as souvenirs and a diary.

Then we went to Shakespeare's birthplace, took some photos around the garden and then went inside.

It was really interesting, learning about Shakespeare's life and the house.

Afterwards, because I'd put £20 aside for shopping and souvenirs, I told Mum to pick some nice things from the gift shop. She found a magnet of Shakespeare's birthplace that she liked and also an information based post card from the gift shop.

After that, we headed to the River Avon to have lunch, we'd packed some up so that we could have a picnic by the River. It was also near the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre which was lovely.

There were lots of geese, swans, gulls and ducks, but the weather was gorgeous and the view of the River and surrounding area was beautiful.

After lunch, we wandered around and looked at the sights, then headed to Nash's House to look inside.
We looked at the house, the gallery and Knot Garden which is at the back of the house! It's lovely out there.
There's an excavation zone, lots of carvings, statues, fountains and flowers. It's all very pretty.

After Nash's house, we moved on to the shops.
I bought a book i'd been looking for everywhere, but not been able to get for any less than £4.
I managed to find it in The Works for £2, which I was very, very chuffed with.

I then found a shop called Whittard's, which is a coffee and speciality tea shop.
My nearest store from Leicester is Nottingham, which is quite a way to travel.
Since before Christmas, I absolutely loved Starbuck's Praline Latte.
I then saw this tin in Whittard's, and it was a make your own tin of Praline Hot Chocolate which was PERFECT, and reduced from £6 to £3 in the sale.
Very excited! Going to buy some whipped cream on Saturday and make some over the weekend.

After looking around the shops, we went to Hobson's cafe, it was this beautiful, oldy worldy cafe on Henley street.
I treated Mum and I to a tall Hot chocolate which was both milk and dark together!
We also shared a slice of White Chocolate Cheesecake, which was delicious.

Sadly, after that it was time to go home, so we made our way back to the coach at 3:15pm and finally got home at 6pm. As a treat, I bought the Family, fish/pie, chips, curry sauce and mushy peas.
It was a meal fit for a King/Queen and more than I could eat, but it was gorgeous!
A brilliant end to a fantastic day!