Alexa, play “Sugar We’re Goin Down” by Fall Out Boy.
When you think of an small town in England, Stratford-upon-Avon is what comes to mind. The timber-frame homes, small marketplace and local shops made for cute Pinterest-esque photo opportunities during our short time in Stratford.
Our main experience in Stratford was to be the guided walking tour through the city with a focus on William Shakespeare and his birthplace, and the main thought I was left with following the tour was: Shakespeare may very well be a conspiracy theory.
Our guide explained how there are just under 10 years of information lost about Shakespeare, and the information they do have on him is minimal and questionable and rarely will new information be uncovered.
However, it was very interesting to find out Shakespeare’s head may possible be missing from his grave. Maybe it’s just me, but I love a good grave robbing theory.
After the walk-through of Shakespeare’s birthplace, I separated with Julia, Diego, Craig, Emma, Lexi and Naomi to walk through the city before we had to board the bus to leave. On our way to the group dinner the night before, we noticed tents set up for an outdoor market, but it was closed at the time. When we went back after the tour, it was open and filled with local vendors and neat, handmade crafts. I’m a sucker for a handmade craft, so you best believe I bought a few.
We boarded the bus at 3 p.m. to head out on our way to Liverpool, which was expected to take between two to three hours. I slept for much of the first half of the ride, but after we stopped for a restroom break, everyone woke up and pumped up the jams.
Lexi brought out her speaker and the back half of the bus belted lyrics, to the Jonas Brothers, Queen, Lil Nas and, bringing it full circle to the blog title, Fall Out Boy. David even has a video of us head banging to the chorus – which I now experience whiplash from – but it’s fine, I’m fine.
We made it to Liverpool and were amazed by the location of the hotel. The view from Julia and I’s room is beautiful.
We went to a Greek restaurant called Grilla for dinner. We were served a variety of apps (along with our main dish by accident) of food I couldn’t really explain because I don’t eat Greek cuisine, but I did like it, so that says a lot considering I’m picky. Then, we got a second round of the main plate since the first was a screw up, and we picked at the meat and fries even though our stomachs were screaming for room.
After a late dinner, which ended at around 9:30, we decided to celebrate the first night in Liverpool by embracing the night life of the city – and boy, was that an experience. More of the group came out this time than the first club adventure in London, and it was a blast. We hopped from a club near the hotel to another and finally to Popworld.
It was a blessing that the following morning was free because we certainly needed a few extra hours of sleep to recover from a night out in Liverpool, but it’s also just over halfway through the trip, so we’re certainly becoming sluggish at times.
Nonetheless, we only have six more days in this beautiful country, so we continue to keep the slugging to a minimum.