A day with the Bard.

We took a day off touring yesterday to do some housekeeping and just plain nothing other than reading our books - it's the first day off we have taken since we left home. That left us in a position to receive a skype call from Brian who had some disturbing news for us re the house. Rick and Eva had a lucky escape as a local youth, inebriated or high or both, launched a rock through their bedroom window. Rick was sleeping, heard the bang and turned over. He emerged from bed later without cutting his feet on the shattered glass. Eva later discovered the situation. It seems that same youth proceeded to do further damage in the town, particularly at Friel's Hotel. Sir Geoffrey and his comely wife to the rescue and order should be fully restored tomorrow! The second piece of disappointing news for us was that Oli cannot join us here in Grimsby. We will just have to view Niagara Falls without her. I think Ireland's performance in the European Cup was possibly a bit of disappointing news for Jim. As far as I was concerned it was a case of "What Cup?"

Today we resumed our travels and ventured into Perth County. Steph had told us that Stratford was a lovely town so that's where we headed. We passed through rolling countryside with lots of farmland - a scenic rural area. The trees were lovely and the golf courses looked inviting even for non-golfers like us. Shortly before Stratford we passed through a village called Shakespeare which, with its surrounding area, seemingly, is rooted in Amish and Mennonite traditions. There was no evidence, however, of that. Shakespeare is known for its antique shops. We had no problem getting parked in Stratford as Mondays seem to be quiet everywhere. The town is very pretty, especially along the river Avon where it was possible to hire pedalos and canoes or take a boat trip. We decided that a walk would be better for our health despite the heavy heat of the day.

A view of the river Avon.

These are The Shakespearean Gardens alongside the River Avon.

The Bard himself!

Cleve Home, a Canadian sculptor, designed this bust of Shakespeare. At the time of its unveiling, in 1949, the youthful depiction of Shakespeare with its flowing hair was thought scandalous by more than a few women of the local church auxiliaries. So much so, that many thought it should have been removed. Personally, I think it scandalous that women were local church auxiliaries - did they not know their place, behind the teapot. In Raphoe they would!

The Perth County Court House.

Food for thought at an interesting eco shop!

The only double-arched road bridge in North America still in use by motorised vehicles.

The River Avon.

Deux ducks!

Herself in a pergola in the Shakespearean Gardens.

Herself trying to hide in another pergola!

This neoclassical Pergola is the second to be built on this site. The first was constructed in 1931, and was swept away when the Avon and Thames Rivers flooded not only Stratford but nearby St. Marys, Ingersoll and London (where Steph is from). It was the worst flood in Stratford's history when the floodgates failed to effectively deal with the overflowing as a result of a severe rainfall.

The Town Hall in Stratford.

Having seen much (but not all) of Stratford, we decided to investigate St. Marys which the guy in the Visitor Information Centre said is a lovely town. Again no problem to park, even less as it was free but very few about - Monday syndrome! St. Marys is nicknamed "The Stonetown" because of the number of old limestone buildings. The Municipal Buildings are nice.

The Municipal Buildings.

St. Marys is on the Thames which looked pretty nice from here.

A castle-like buiding that I couldn't find any information about. It seems to house lots of things including a theatre.








We got back to Grimsby in time to skype Carol before she went to bed and before we ate our beef bought at St. Jacobs market.

That reminded me that I hadn't posted our second day in St. Jacobs where we went to the market. The weather was horrendous and we ploughed our way through mud to join the hordes of others who know that the market is the place to be no matter what the weather is like. We bought fantastic prime rib of beef that we ate tonight with enough for rare beef sandwiches tomorrow. We also bought lamb for our barbecue last night and a selection of Mennenite home-baked butter tarts (lovely,) oat and raisin cookies and ginger cookies - all for Oli but, sadly, I will have to eat them all now!