October 2 2016

Our time at the Marriott and Bristol were far too short, but we had to depart in order to pay our respects to the Bard and the Beatles. After about an hour and a half on the coach Valter had us at Anne Hathaway's Cottage on the outskirts of Stratford-Upon-Avon. Our tour of Shakespeare's Wife's house started with a stroll through the garden. One might think he was in the Garden of Eden with all the apple trees, fruit trees, and vegetables growing in this huge garden. Inside the cottage we found very friendly and informative docents explaining the everyday life in the 16th century. The cottage itself was quite large with a huge fireplace in the kitchen.

 One of the interesting facts we learned was that the lady of the house was responsible for keeping the fire going. If she were so unfortunate as to allow the fire to die out, her husband was free to beat her. A similar punishment resulted if she burned the bread. But it was not all barbaric. So as not to disturb the neighbors the husband was required to gag her! Aren't you glad you weren't born back then?


Moving on we next visited Shakespeare's Birthplace. This was within the village and was also a quite large house that, in later years, operated as an inn, the village being an important crossroads on the way to London. I was surprised to find that, back in the day, several family members would share the bed at the same time!




After a simple lunch we were back on the coach headed to Liverpool and our Magical Mystery Tour. Our guide, Adrian, was phenomenal! He had so much information about the Beatles that you thought he must have been a close friend. Adrian took us to

Harrison's Boyhood Home

visit the boyhood houses of each of the Beatles ad explained in detail how they met and how the relationships grew, and how their career as a group developed. I found it amazing that they had mostly come from such modest beginnings. And the coincidences that brought them together were almost eerie. As part of the tour we visited "Penny Lane"
and learned of its significance in the lives of Lennon and McCarney, and saw many of the landmarks described in the lyrics. Then did the same for Strawberry Fields. The tour ended with a visit to the
famous Cavern Club.


Running late, we finally arrived at Ruthin Castle in Wales, where dinner was planned and had been delayed. The staff was very accommodating and delivered our bags to the rooms as we sat down to dinner. It was a great meal but everyone was ready to hit the sack as we had an early departure scheduled for the next morning.