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Today we started our actual tour with 46 other travelers from around the world. We have a majority from the US and Canada, but we also have travelers with us from Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. Our day started off in Stratford-Upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare. We had a little over an hour to explore this beautiful historic area. We decided to take a tour of William Shakespeare’s childhood home. The house is completely the same as it was when Shakespeare lived there. The stone floor was not level, just as it was from the day it was built. It was very interesting to learn about how Shakespeare lived and more of the history. There were other places to see, but not quite enough time to see them all, so we elected to visit the Holy Trinity Church, which is where Shakespeare and his family are buried. The church was beautiful with lots of beautiful stained glass. The walk back to meet up with the coach brought us along the Avon River, which was gorgeous as well.
Next stop for the day was York. York is a city that still has the original stone walls in tact surrounding the older part of the city. It’s also known as being the most haunted city in Europe. We saw lots of ads and pamphlets for ghost tours, but sadly, we were there during the day, so none for us! We did walk down a couple of streets that are part of ghost stories though. One was Mad Alice Lane and the other was Langton Lane. When you walk down Mad Alice Lane, you may run into the ghost of Mad Alice Smith. She was hanged at York Castle for being insane and she haunts this alleyway just off The Shambles. Langton Lane seems to be haunted by a gentleman from the Victorian Era. It seems that many people have seen a man dressed in Victorian attire just standing in their way as if blocking their path. The person haunting this alleyway is thought to have killed a prostitute in that alley and then committed suicide there a year later.
We had a nice walking tour of the area and wound up at the York Minster. This church was HUGE! We weren’t able to go inside, but the architecture was simply amazing. The oldest part of the church was built in almost a thousand years ago and is still standing completely in tact. While we were in York, we kept our eyes peeled for the hidden cats in the architecture. Cats were very prevalent in the early days of York to take care of the rats. Now there are cats that are part of the buildings throughout the city…...some are pretty obvious, some not so much!
We finished our day in Leeds where we spent the night. We had a wonderful welcome dinner that was most delicious. After dinner, we enjoyed a few drinks with some of the others on the tour. But, it’s another early day, so time to close! See you tomorrow on our way to Scotland!
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