Stratford-on-Avon is the birthplace
of the world’s most famous
 playwright, William Shakespeare. 
We were delighted to meet Falstaff, one of Shakespeare’s
best comedic characters, during the Royal Shakespeare
 Company’s production of Henry IV.  He’s a liar, a braggart,
 a glutton and a coward, but the audience still loves him.   
The day we toured Shakespeare’s
home, live actors were performing
short scenes from plays on demand
from the audience.  Here is Juliet,
asking, “Wherefore art thou, Romeo?”.
Prince Hal contemplates his royal birthright, with
Shakespeare watching over his shoulder.

There are 2,200 miles of navigable
canals in the UK, with hundreds
of locks.  Built by the Romans,
today they’re mostly used
 by leisure houseboaters.
This parking garage in Stratford boasted a “Healthy
Heart Level 3″, which is code for “we have no elevator”.
Loved the reference to Hamlet’s jester, Yorick.

The Royal Shakespeare Company,
or RSC as it’s known here, where
great actors, directors and backstage
crew interpret Shakespeare’s work
with reverent passion.
The Avon river has a healthy thriving swan population.
At least 100 adult swans were aggressively cruising,
looking for a chunk of bread or a photo op.
All quotes from Shakespeare.

Shakespeare’s father was a tanner, and this workshop
was right next to the kitchen where he grew up.  Pretty
disgusting when you realize the leather was tanned with
urine.  Smelly household :P
An example of a traditional English garden, with boxwood
hedges surrounding geometric plantings of colorful
flowers. 
Anne Hathaway’s family home, where she grew up,
before she married Shakespeare.  She was actually
pregnant prior to the wedding, quite the scandal.