Stratford-upon-Avon



This is a bittersweet moment for me.  Stratford-upon-Avon was the last place we visited on our English honeymoon; it will also serve as my last blog post of photos from that trip.  It was an amazing trip and I will have these memories for the rest of my life.  Even though this is a closing blog post of sorts, it will in no way be the end of my blogging or my photography.  It is merely the beginning; very symbolic of the England trip, which was the beginning of my married adventures with my wife.  I have material waiting to be posted from my December 2010 NYC trip and I'll have more Lomography posts on the way and let's not forget Project 365.  So, there is plenty more to come.

With that being said, let's get back to Stratford.  We arrived in Stratford-upon-Avon on a late Sunday morning after catching the early train from Oxford.  After making our lodging arrangements and getting settled in, we headed back into town for a bit of sight-seeing.  Every place in England that we visited had a very distinct feel and vibe.  No two places were the same.  London was just a historic, bustling metropolis; Brighton was an artsy, party town by the ocean and Oxford was a historic, hopping, college town.  Stratford was nothing like any of those.  In fact, if it hadn't been the birth and burial place of William Shakespeare, I'm not sure how many travelers would actually stop in Stratford-upon-Avon.  Don't get me wrong, because it's certainly not lacking in charm; it's just that it's very small and there's not a lot going on.  In fact, the main area of prosperity for Stratford is the three million tourists that visit annually.  The area, especially on High Street, is made up of many original black and white half timbered buildings.  These are under some of the highest architectural preservation standards in the UK and they take you back into a different time.  We had a great lunch and enjoyed seeing the architecture and the places of interest, especially the ones relating to Shakespeare.  It was probably the least favorite of my destinations; however, it was the second to last day of our trip and I was very tired and wasn't feeling the greatest.  I'm glad we went and I will forever remember walking along the streets of a different era.  England will forever be a special place to me; I hope I've conveyed that through the images that I've posted.