Delightful Day

We started our day with a "Belly Buster" breakfast at the Anchor Pub on the canal by Helen and Kathryn's place.  The breakfast lived up to its name.  Helen had posted a picture of the veg version last month, but the "original" included bacon and sausages in addition to the egg, toast, potato cake, tomatoes and mushrooms.  It was very tasty AND filling--and  it was a very good strategy to eat before our next stop at Sainsbury's grocery. 

The grocery shopping was relatively easy.  Helen had rented a car for the weekend, so we stocked up on what we needed.  The hardest part was figuring out what was liquid laundry detergent as opposed to fabric "conditioner".  We were able to use our credit card to pay for the groceries, which was a big relief.  I had heard that it might be difficult to do so because British credit cards use a chip which isn't in the American card, but there was no problem.

We headed off to Stratford Upon Avon to see A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by Tread the Board's Theater at Cox's Yard.  It was a terrific performance with some very inventive staging and script additions.  Everyone was in on the act--including the producer and the director.  The music included the theme from Pan's Labyrinth, as well as a hilarious send-up of "Call me Maybe".  Writing in the program, the director alluded to the "dark side" of the play, because he wanted the audience to appreciate that darkness inherent in the play..  That was the one weakness of the performance--the darkness was only a passing reference which seemed unresolved--otherwise, it was a rollicking good time.

Our young friend Kaitlyn turned to her mama and said, "I don't understand half of what they're saying."  She later amended that to say "I only understand the first word of what they said"--and the proportion kept diminishing.  She quickly got into the play and in very short time was enjoying herself, laughing and exclaiming with surprise and delight.  After the play she proclaimed it enjoyable and interesting, BUT, she said, "I liked the English bits the best."  As we walked to the car, she asked Helen if there was any more  Shakespeare because she'd like to see more.

We didn't explore the city, there wasn't time and the city's become terribly commercialized.  It really wasn't what I remembered from 1972.  We stuck to the vicinity of the theater, which included "The Gower's Memorial.  The Gower's Memorial is across the river from the Royal Shakespeare Theater.

The characters surrounding the memorial were wonderful.

Falstaff

Lady MacBeth

We enjoyed tea by the canal as a guitarist played Spanish songs on a plaza.

On our way out of town, we saw the "Loo of the Year":

It seemed a fitting end to a fun and funny day.