Day 3-Stratford-upon Avon, The Bard, Shopping, the Cotswolds, Diddly Squat, New Friends

May 22, 2025

Today we headed out to Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare. This was the most charming little town and we got to see the house where he was born in 1564 along with the house his wife lived in as well. The house of his birth is now a museum and has been restored to look like it did at that time. We opted to skip the tour but spent a few hours in the town in the cutest little gift shops. The old English buildings were on every street. It was just a really cool place to visit. There were a lot of older adults and tour buses there, but it wasn’t so crowded with people to be annoying. It was easy walking and crossing of streets. Everyone was so nice and polite and there were tons of shops and places to get food and drinks and English teas and biscuits. I told Adam that I thought England had the best town names of anywhere else.

From here, we headed to the Cotswolds and to Diddly Squat Farm Shop in Chipping Norton. I have been looking forward to this area of England. It is known for rolling hills, farmland, villages, and stone cottages and pubs. The area is designated as an Area of Outstanding Beauty and is a popular scenic tour for anyone wanting to see some English countryside. I enjoyed traveling through the villages and appreciate Adam so much for entertaining my wanting to do this as it undoubtedly wasn’t a thing the 20 somethings were probably interested in doing. So cliché, but the pictures are nothing compared to seeing it in person. Some of the villages still have thatch roof cottages and cars are not allowed and you have to walk into those on foot. We didn’t make it all the way through the villages because we also had other plans pop up. We did get to stop at Jeremy Clarkson’s farm shop, Diddly Squat, and stood in line a short time to go inside. David and I were both Jeremy Clarkson fans since the early Top Gear days. SL grew up watching old episodes along with David, so she is quite familiar with the trio as well (Clarkson, Hammond, and May).  Adam was also a Top Gear fan, so this was a simple little stop but a highlight of the day. Only thing better would have been seeing Jeremy in person. You can check out the show (Clarkson’s Farm) about his farm and the surrounding areas on Amazon Prime. After leaving the Cotswolds, we went over to Worcester to pick up a friend of Adam’s. The kids have plans to visit an amusement park on Friday, Alton Towers in Stoke-on-Trent (again with the town names). They dropped me at the hotel and the friends went out to do young people stuff.