Our UK/Ireland Trip, Part II - England (The first two days)

On the morning of Saturday, October 5, our Tour began in earnest when our coach left London and headed for Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, an English playwright of some prominence.  Over the next two days, we visited York, Harrowgate, the Yorkshire Dales, and the English Lake District before we left England and crossed into Scotland.

Not going to be very wordy here.  Just a lot of photos with some commentary.

John Barleyman, a New Zealander now living in Devon, England 

was our Trafalgar Tour Director.  Friendly, knowledgeable, and entertaining.

 The home of Ann Hathaway, 

Shakespeare's wife, not the Hollywood actress.

Stratford Street Scene

 Would Shakespeare approve of a touristy gift 

shop named after him?  Probably.

In the home of William Shakespeare, this guy was singing 

Bob Dylan songs.  It seemed appropriate.  And, yes, 

I did put some bread in his jar, or, in this instance, his guitar case.

Marilyn and I couldn't seem to shake our working career roots. 

Me selling Blue Cross, and her, using an ATM machine.

Yes, this is me coming out of a, ahem, public facility in Stratford, and that leads to a funny story.

Many of the public restrooms in England are pay facilities.  That is, you had to insert coins into the outer door to unlock the door and gain entrance to the room, which were single toilet/sink rooms that were open to either sex.  Before we left Stratford, Susan, Marilyn, and I each had to go.  I put in the coins and went in first. When I was done, I held the door open and let Marilyn in, and when she was done, she held the door and let Susan in.  Three people whizzed for the price of one.  How I wish my Dad was still around so I could have told him that story.  It is one that he would have absolutely loved!

We had a delightful visit in York.  Once a walled city, and the center of commerce, it is now home to many shops and boutiques. And chocolate.  Lots and lots of chocolate shops.  It is also the spot where the Emperor Constantine declared Christianity in Britain and established the Holy Roman Empire, so it's a pretty historic spot.  That's Constantine in the background below.

We ended up on Saturday night in the town of Harrowgate, where we had a great dinner, enjoyed the company of  our fellow travelers, and stayed before heading out on Sunday morning and leaving for Scotland.

We rode through the Yorkshire Dales, where 

we saw sheep.  Lots and lots of sheep.

Then it was on to the English Lake District, where William Wordsworth did his thing so many years ago. 

We then took a brief steam train ride....

Followed by a boat ride on beautiful, and on this day, very cold, Lake Windermere.

At the end of the boat ride, it was back on to the Trafalgar bus, and on into Scotland, and that part of the trip will be covered in the next installment of this little adventure narrative.