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Shakespeare’s birthplace was Stratford Upon Avon. The Bard was born on April 23, 1564 to Mary Arden and John Shakespeare, the latter of whom was a successful glover.
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Shakespeare was supposed to marry Anne Whately. However, when he was eighteen he got twenty-eight year old Anne Hathaway pregnant.
When the two of them married for the sake of her coming child (which turned out to be twins), Shakespeare became the fodder for gossip and in the town registry where all marriages were recorded, his name was entered as William Shag-speare.
After the marriage Anne and William moved into her house together. It is a large two storied house with a beautiful garden.
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The London Eye overlooks the entire city! Below me, you can see the Tower of Big Ben. Big Ben refers not to the tower itself, but to the thirteen ton bell hung within which was named after the first commissioner of works, Sir Benjamin Hall.
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The infamous Tower of London can be seen from the River Thames, and has held such prisoners as Elizabeth I, her mother Anne Boleyn, Sir Walter Raleigh, Lady Jane Grey, Catherine Howard and many many others.
The Tower is actually more than just a tower. It is a complex of buildings, the oldest of which dates back to William the Conqueror in 1078. |
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Stonehenge needs very little explanation. The mystery behind this man-made rock formation is one of the most legendary mysteries of the ancient world.
A Bronze Age monument possibly dating back more than five thousand years, most archaeologists date it to anywhere between 2000 and 25000 BCE. A variety of theories have been put forth as to who built Stonehenge and for what purpose.
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London’s skyline is incredibly impressive. Here, Big Ben overlooks Westminster Bridge and the Palace of Westminster. The bridge, which was built in 1862, is predated by the sprawling palace whose construction began with Westminster Hall in 1097. |
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The city of Llangollen is cradled within the Dee Valley in beautiful northeastern Wales. Each year it hosts the famous Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
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We traveled to Llangollen by canal boat. Inside the canals are locks. These massive doors are used to control the canal waters, and many canals date back to the 18th century. |
Traveling through England by canal-boat has to be one of the greatest ways to see England. |
Up ahead is an aqueduct. The canal boat travels on top of it. |
View From the Top of the Aqueduct |
A view of the Aqueduct from afar |
Every night you have to dock the boat. |
The River Cam flows across the university town of Cambridge. Cambridge is the second oldest university in the English-speaking world, after Oxford.
The first gathering of scholars in the city of Cambridge dates to 1209 AD. These scholars were Oxford graduates, and their university was officially recognized in 1223 by Pope Gregory IX and later in a papal bull in 1290 by Pope Nicholas IV. |
There are many ancient caves in Nottingham. These caves rest below Nottingham Castle. |
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem claims to be England’s oldest pub, dating back to 1189AD. It is called Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem because in 1189 King Richard the First, known as Richard the Lionheart, ascended the throne and one of his first acts as King was to crusade against the Saracens who at that time occupied the Holy Land.
Legend goes that the Crusaders stopped off at this Inn at the foot of Nottingham Castle before leaving for Jerusalem. |
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Stratford Upon Avon
My ticket to go see Shakespeare’s birthplace.
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Nottingham’s countryside is spotted with cows. |
These are the remains of Lady Jane Grey’s childhood home. Lady Jane Grey was young, beautiful and supremely intelligent.
When King Edward died, her father-in-law, John Dudley, tried to persuade her to make an attempt for the English throne so that his son would be King.She was an unwilling queen, and when she was crowned she refused to make her fifteen year old husband King. Instead, she insisted on making him a Duke. Her reign lasted for nine short days before Mary arrived in England from Scotland, proclaimed herself queen, and ordered Lady Jane Grey beheaded.
In the days before she was executed, seventeen year old Lady Jane truly believed she would be let go to return to her childhood home and live out her days as a noblewoman. |
All that remains of the castle overlooking the estate of Lady Jane Grey is a single tower. |
