Tour of Stratford Upon Avon, the Cotswolds and Oxford

                              Shakespeare’s Stratford-Upon-Avon – Shakespeare’s Birthplace
A market town with a difference, Stratford-upon-Avon is the famous home of arguably the world's greatest writer, William Shakespeare. We visited the picturesque half-timbered house where the Shakespeare was born and to see how he grew up. This was the first stop of a tour we took on our second day in London. 

                                                    Interior of the Shakespeare Home.

 Gardens of the Shakespeares' home where they also perform his plays all day long. 

Some street performers in Stratford upon Avon.

                               Streets of Stratford upon Avon...we liked the crooked house. 

After leaving Stratford we headed to a village in the Cotswolds.  We had lunch and a brief stop to look at one of the villages.  The Cotswolds are a range of hills in southwestern and west-central England, an area 25 miles across and 90 miles long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

 Next we headed to Oxford.  The city is known worldwide as a university home and home of the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the country and the English Speaking world. 
The University is a 'city university' in that it does not have a main campus. Instead colleges, departments, accommodation, and other facilities are scattered throughout the city centre. The science area, in which most science departments are located, is the area that bears closest resemblance to a campus.
Iconic university buildings include the Sheldonian Theatre used for music concerts, lectures and university ceremonies and Examination schools where examinations and some lectures take place. The University Church of St Mary the Virgin was used for university ceremonies before the construction of the Sheldonian. Christ Church Cathedral uniquely serves as both a college chapel and as a cathedral.

Christ Church, is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As well as being a college, Christ Church is also the cathedral church of the diocese of Oxford, namely Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.
Christ Church has produced thirteen British prime ministers, which is equal to the number produced by all 45 other Oxford colleges put together and more than any Cambridge college (and two short of the total number for the University of Cambridge, fifteen).
The college is the setting for parts of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, as well as Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.  More recently it has been used in the filming of the movies of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and also the film adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel Northern Lights (the film bearing the title of the US edition of the book, The Golden Compass)

 The Accommodation is usually provided for all undergraduates at Christ Church, and for some graduates, although some accommodation is off-site. Accommodation is generally spacious with most rooms equipped with sinks and fridges. Many undergraduate rooms comprise 'sets' of bedrooms and living areas. Members are generally expected to dine in hall, where there are two sittings every evening, one informal and one formal (where jackets, ties and gowns are worn and Latin grace is read) The dining hall here at Christ's Church inspired J. K. Rowling in her Harry Potter series.

 The quad area where most of the students accommodations aka dorm rooms are here.

Christ Church in Oxford Quad area.

The Radcliffe Camera, built 1737–1749 as Oxford's science library, now holds books from the English, History, and Theology collections.

Tower of London Bridge

After a all day tour, we went to our hotel room by the Tower of London Bridge.  We walked along the Thames river walk and enjoyed the night life.