old pubs, closed graves, boats named after famous women, and a theater experience of a lifetime

last week we all took a coach (aka a bus..."coach" sounds so fancy, doesn't it?!)

to stratford-upon-avon to see the royal shakespeare company perform

"the merchant of venice."

we started out by finding food, and just haphazardly ran into the oldest

pub in the city, and decided to eat there.

my tea was perfect, and the curry was so comforting.

we tried to hurry and run to shakespeare's grave, but were too late.

at least we got to stroll around the church grounds and look at the headstones.

very pretty city indeed. hoping to have time to go back and explore.

i had never seen the merchant of venice performed before

so i didn't really know what to expect.

i was worried, at first, when i saw that it was a las vegas theme...

but it ended up fitting the plot and characters quite well.

and, to top it all off, i was really thrilled to see patrick stewart

play shylock, the rich jewish money-lender.

was a great night. next week we go back to see macbeth!