Walking through the Cotswolds : Day 1

The Bank Holiday weekend saw us making a trip to the Cotswolds - immaculate green fields interspread with splashes of yellow, flowers everywhere, hidden villages and one track roads. This is the heart of England, as quaint as you can get and some breathtaking views. Our weekend began on Saturday. We drove to the B&B where we had booked a room for the stay. Our room overlooked a little garden and it was in a tiny village called Aston Magna. It was as if time had stood still there. For the first time, we were in a place where we couldn't hear the motorway. The constant hum of cars that becomes background noise in England was replaced by the uh, scarier sound of bees humming inside the window.

Dumping our bags, we drove northwards to Stratford upon Avon - Shakespeare's hometown. The town was bustling with tourists. It was like Bandra Fair at one point!! Hundreds of people from everywhere, especially Japan walked through the beautiful cobble stone streets, watched the loch on the river Avon open and close for the boats, visited the five houses that Shakespeare is associated with. Stratford is a lovely town dotted with images of the Bard's life. Every shop, pub, bookstore and souvenier stall is named after something or the other from Shakespeare's work. The gardens have monuments with statues of characters from the famous plays.



Walking through Shakespeare's birthplace was an unique experience in itself. As I walked through the rooms, the gardens, the street, I kept saying to myself - this is where he probably walked or wrote. The exhibition in the house goes a long way to explain how a lot of the characters, animals and locales in the plays have been inspired from his life in the town. Shakepeare's journey into London took over four days (one way) from Stratford. He would have been happier living in these times and be able to go down the motorway in less than 3 hours. I wonder what his writing would be like if he lived today...