Windsor (again).

The morning we left Windsor, we decided we should actually explore the town in which we were staying. Smart idea, huh? Windsor is the cutest little town. I love how every shop and restaurant looks different. It adds so much character.

We had breakfast at a cute little restaurant. . .that of course had the pub right next to the dining area. You couldn't get away from that in England! At least this one didn't feel like a pub.

Then we went on a little walk and saw Windsor Castle. . .


. . .and the crooked house. . .(yes--it's really crooked. . .they even have postcards of the crooked house!). . .


. . .and more cute doors.

Then we got in our cool car. . .

. . .and headed for Shirley.

We didn't really go there -- we just thought it would be cool. (We were actually on our way to Northern Wales. More pictures to come.)

Blenheim Palace.

On our way back from Stratford we stopped at a place called Blenheim Palace. It was where Winston Churchill was born and grew up. When we walked up to the front, this is what we saw. . .


There were tons of trucks and what seemed to be a crew of some sort. There really is nothing worse than going to a cool attraction and finding construction. It ruins all of your pictures and I'm not good enough to edit any of that out.

As we walked further, we saw signs that said 'Fox Studios UK.' We thought, 'You've got to be kidding me. . .they're filming a movie?!?!?!?' When we walked in the main courtyard, this is the sight we saw.


We soon learned that JACK BLACK was filming 'Gulliver's Travels.' Unbelievable.


Here is a giant ice sculpture that is supposed to depict Jack Black's character. You can totally see the resemblance!

Here are more pictures of the outside courtyard.


They didn't allow photography inside the palace, but I'm sure you can believe it was gorgeous.

As we were leaving, we noticed the most beautiful lake behind the palace. We could have sat there for hours.

This will probably be a picture we frame. GORGEOUS!

Shakespeare's House.

When we arrived in Stratford, we needed to find the Information Centre. We noticed these metal plates on the ground that read, "Follow the Diamonds to the Information Centre." It was like a little treasure hunt. There were literally diamonds on the ground for you to follow.



We found the place and got our Heritage Passes. We decided to hop on the Shakespeare tour bus and visit a few sights. Here are a few pictures from the top of the bus.










The first stop was Shakespeare's birthplace. It is the neatest looking house.







We were lucky enough to get pictures of his house without people in them. Last time we went, I couldn't get a picture without somebody standing in the doorway or walking by the windows. But I'm very pleased with these ones.






We then had lunch across the street and walked around a little while we waited for the bus.

I kind of had this thing with taking pictures of adorable doors -- and Stratford had an endless supply of cute doors. I couldn't help it. Why don't we have doors like these at home?







Then we headed out to visit Anne Hathaway's cottage. (Shakespeare's wife)


(A picture of the square outside Shakespeare's birthplace.)

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

They used willow branches to make these little domes in the garden. Last time we were there, it was April, so the leaves hadn't bloomed yet. They were so pretty!



They had a beautiful woodland walk that wasn't there last time. Everything was just starting to bloom so I can only imagine what it would look like in the summer.

And this is my favorite picture of the day. The bus had stopped and we happened to look over the edge and see this cute old man crossing the street on his bike.

Windsor.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn near Windsor for the first two nights of our trip. We actually survived the drive there. Luckily it was only 15 minutes away from the airport. The only problem we ran into was the fact that we had too much luggage for the particular size of car we reserved. We had to upgrade!

This was the lovely view outside our hotel room window. Windsor Castle.

When we woke up the next morning, we decided we should go get our British Heritage Pass. It allows you to get into many attractions for FREE! We had to go to the Stratford-upon-Avon Information Centre to pick it up. Then we realized we forgot our map. We had to head out in morning traffic to find a store that sold a map. We ended up getting lost in a tiny little neighborhood with TONS of cars.

We got back on track and found a Tesco. (Kind of like a Wal-Mart--but nicer.) It was a 2 story building with parking on the lower level. There was nothing worse than figuring out which side of the parking structure you drive on. . .absolute craziness!

When we walked in, you had to take a "trolley" and go up the "trolley escalator." It was soooo cool! You pull the cart up to the escalator and a magnetic force kicks in and holds your cart in place! That way, when you have a cart full of groceries, you won't roll out of control on the way down! I wish we had that here!

We got our map (and a few other goodies) and were on our way. The next few pictures are from the 30 minute drive to Stratford. We decided we would go do all the Shakespeare things while in Stratford since we'd have our Heritage Pass.

We'll post all the Stratford pictures soon. . .I promise.