Shakespeare's grave: Day 1 in Stratford-upon-Avon

We arrived in Stratford-upon-Avon in the late afternoon on Friday.  We are staying at the Victoria Spa Lodge (http://www.victoriaspa.co.uk).  Built in 1887, it is relatively young compared to some of the buildings in town.

View from side of Lodge:

After quickly freshening up, we walked into town along the canal.  It should have been about a 20 minute walk, but with all the birds and pictures to take, it probably took us about 40 minutes.

Greg at canal:

There were boats in the canal, and they had to go through locks at certain points. Several of the boats are used for houses. If you look closely at the picture, you can see a large black dog with a red collar in the bow of the boat.  

We arrived in town and went straight to the Royal Shakespeare Company box office, so I could pick up our tickets to the night's production, King Lear at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre  (http://www.rsc.org.uk).  

View of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from the gardens:

We had about an hour before our dinner reservations at the rooftop restaurant at the theatre, so we decided to walk down the road a bit to the Holy Trinity Church (http://www.stratford-upon-avon.org), where Shakespeare and his family are buried.

It wasn't very crowded so late in the day, and we had the church to ourselves.  Shakespeare's grave is inside the church.

Memorial to Shakespeare inside church which was added after his burial by his wife and friends:

After our moment alone with Shakespeare, we returned to the theatre's restaurant for dinner before the show.  After looking at the menu, I knew I had to have the bubble and squeak cake.  Although I didn't know what it was, I want this trip to be a food adventure, and bubble and squeak just sounded so British, I couldn't resist. It was quite delicious!  My bubble and squeak was followed by rhubarb sponge with vanilla custard, a yummy lemon and rhubarb cake smothered in warm, rich vanilla custard.  It is a good thing we walked to town.

The show started just after 7.  It was the first time I have seen Shakespeare performed professionally, and the first time I have seen King Lear performed. It was outstanding.  It was so well done, and there was so much to see, that I wanted to go see it again the next night.  Next time I go to see the RSC, I will be splurging on the tickets to get better seats.  That performance will stay with me; the art was nourishment to the soul.