Stratford-upon-Avon & Warwick Castle

You wouldn't think that after three and a half hours of sleep you'd be as good as new and ready for a new day. But there I was! Woke up before my alarm went off and was in perfect condition to take off again.

We left for Stratford at ten from our school and the trip there took us about two hours by coach (bus). I think I slept most of the drive, 'cause I can't remember anything about it.

This is my first view of the old centre of Stratford.

We were there for a couple of hours, did a bit of shopping and acted like tourists - polite ones, that is. I bought myself Shakespeare's sonnets and Much ado about nothing DVD and some souvenirs.

The river Avon. There were a lot of swans there.

Now that's one big tree!

Holy Trinity Church, the place where the Bard is buried.

From upper left: Shakespeare's birth home, the garden of the same house, the Eagle pub (a crooked house) where he probably spent time and Shakespeare's grave in the church.

Shakespeare's school; the King Edward VI School.

The main door of the school. It's still a school, by the way.

Then back to bus and on to Warwick Castle. I had high hopes for the place and really, I wasn't disappointed. I would've wanted to be there longer, though.

Midlands' landscapes. Just beautiful.

First view of the Castle. I was speechless.

I think some of Merlin has been filmed here, because part of  the castle seem familiar to me.

The mandatory tourist shot. XP

The Mound. Probably the most beautiful part of the Castle.

First stop for me was of course the Castle Dungeon. The tour was exiting, and a bit scary. There were all these actors in costumes and they guided us from room to room by inviting us in and showing us different things.

The Black Jester.

That guy was our first guide, who led us into the first chamber. Then there was this monk who preached us about the plague, after that the Castle's cook was doing an autopsy on the recently dead doctor. XD She was hilarious, pulling out his organs - she liked to talk about "losing your bits" - and spilling the inside of his bladder all over us.

After that it was off to the torture chamber, where this torturer locked one girl in a cage and picked a volunteer to show off what he could do. After that we went to court. And were sentenced. Then a labyrinth and then to the execution ground.

One man was selected as the traitor and he was to be beheaded, but the poor executioner missed and the man "lost" an ear. XD

The people on the tour were really nice and not very scared - except one little girl (who was too young to be there anyway) - and played along very well with the actors, especially at the court room scene.

Anyway, after that I went through the Kingmaker exhibition and then to the tallest tower - Guy's tower.

Some of the dolls in there. They're Tussaud's, by the way.

I can't invent anything to say about those pictures I took in the Guy's tower. I was so stunned myself.

After climbing down my legs wouldn't stop shaking, so I had to leave to the café outside. It was half an hour before we had agreed to meet our guide.

Again I slept most of the way back to Cambridge and now I'm off to bed. And if I do anything tomorrow - other than go to school - you can call me crazy! I'm beat.