STRATFORD-UPON-AVON VISIT IN PICS

Regular visitors to this space will remember that Cathey and I recently visited Stratford-upon-Avon to take in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Twelfth Night. As someone who appreciates language and writes for both a living and for pleasure, that pilgrimage checks off an item on my bucket list. Hardly on a par with climbing Kilimanjaro when all it took to get there were an easyJet flight and short train and car rides. But important to me on a gut level just the same.

Had Shakespeare been an American author and had Stratford been a small town along the Hudson River an hour or two north of New York City, the place would have been transformed into a tourist trap. An avalanche of gaudy advertising and cheap trinkets would have overtaken any bit of remaining history.

Stratford seems to have managed to avoid that trap. To be fair, we arrived in February, not the height of the season. The groups of school children and camera-laden tourists that we encountered
were to be expected although I can imagine the difficulty navigating the sidewalks in July and August. We did sight one brazenly opportunistic little souvenir store and every one of the historically preserved sites like the Shakespeare Birth House had its gift shop at the exit. But on the whole, I felt no more hassled by huckterism in Stratford than in Bath or Winchester or anyplace else that we've visited in England. Yes, Shakespeare's visage does seem to pop up now and again. But on the whole, we found Stratford to be a pleasant little village.

Check out the pics. You'll see previews of a restaurant review or two to come. Enjoy!

Cathey with our friends/guides Jeremy and Claire.

The Avon upon which Stratford is...upon.

Restaurant boats...

Swans upon the Avon that Stratford is upon.

The garden at the Big House that no longer exists. Be careful to whom you sell. Look it up.

Also at the Big House, for some undetermined reason.

The Birth House...

...is for short people.

An actor leads kids in an 'impromptu' play complete with sword fight.

Cheese shop. There was cheese. We didn't have to guess which. They were on display and labeled.

Every tourist town has a Christmas shop.

Dinner here. Review in time.

Garrick Inn

Garrick Inn dinner

Hathaway House. Check your history. How old were William and Anne when they married?

According to our guide, taxes were calculated using the footprint of the house. Thus, second floor overhang.

There it is. Souvenirs.

Specifically for our niece. Magpie.

Our hotel. We stayed in a newer wing. Nice and close to town.

For dressing British fast food. All American. Who knew?

This is February. Imagine July.

I don't remember anything about this except that I liked the way that the construction detail was shown.

Built before Columbus sailed...but after the Vikings...and there were people already there...

The Theater. The reason for the trip.

RESTAURANT TEN, UZES: RESTAURANT REVIEW

Ten sits just off the market square in Uzes, one of the prettiest villages in southern France. The newly renovated space is airy and comfortable with tables of sufficient size and sufficiently spaced to provide for a pleasant dining experience. Service was cheerful, fully bilingual, and attentive without being overbearing. The food presented well to both eye and tongue. And the rate of approximately 30 € per person for a party of five included starters, mains, a dessert or two, two bottles of local wine, and coffees at the finish. Reasonable if not cheap eats. So why am I hesitant to give an unqualified thumbs up? It took me a while to figure it out. Uzes is a quintessentially French village in a quintessentially French region of southern France. There are those who will say that the Languedoc is just as beautiful but less crowded and less expensive than its eastern neighbors. I know. I'm one of those people. But the fact remains that for many people, villages like Uzes are t

CONGRATULATIONS, DUNCAN AND FIONA: JUNE 1, 2019

We've known Duncan since he was about 5 and were honored to be invited to all of the festivities surrounding his wedding to Fiona. The wedding was held in a magazine converted to a military museum in Gosport. Duncan's dream...a wedding in a place where they used to blow things up. I've never been around so many uniforms. Live Long and Prosper! A kiss was the price to continue... That's Duncan's sister Clair arriving on the right. Grandparents...headed for 100 and sharp as tacks. Reception in an old magazine/museum. Mom baked the cake and made the ducks to order. Not from the wedding but seemed appropriate.

Kreuz Market vs. Smitty’s Market: Texas Barbecue in Lockhart

I was born and raised in New Jersey. I didn’t taste Texas barbecue until I was twenty-two years old. What the hell do I know about barbecue? And what could I add to the millions of words that have been written on the subject? Well, I know a bit about food. I’ve managed to check out a few of the finer joints in Texas – Sonny Bryan’s Smokehouse in Dallas, Joe Cotton’s in Robstown before the fire, the dear departed Williams Smokehouse in Houston, and the incomparable New Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Huntsville . So I can speak from a reasonably wide experience. This will not be a comprehensive discussion of the relative merits of Texas barbecue as opposed to the fare available in places like Memphis or the Carolinas. It’s simply a take on our recent visits to Lockhart and the relative merits of Smitty’s versus Kreuz from our point of view. I’ll get all over academic in a later post. On our way out to the ranch in Crystal City, we stopped at Smitty’s. You have to look

France, Food, Scooters and More

Search This Blog