We arrived in good time and parked a short walk from the Swan's Nest Hotel which sits right on the river. We left Keith and wandered over to a small tea-room for coffee and cake. The one we used to visit had changed hands and was now a steakhouse called The Lazy Cow, but the new place was nice, if a little frosty when it came to service. We sat outside with our drinks and were bombarded with wasps who took a liking to Sophie's ice-cream and Mikey's bottle of orange juice...
After our refreshments we strolled over to the marina to have a look at the boats and watched a canal boat making its way through the lock. It brought back memories of when I spent a week on a narrow boat in my late teens. I remember opening and closing all the locks - hard work!
The large area in front of the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) is a hive of activity and attracts large crowds of tourists. We happened upon one of the entertainers just as he was starting his show. We all thought he was very good as he juggled fire-sticks and then put a child on his shoulders to ride a unicycle. The first little girl who volunteered wasn't too keen when she found out what he was planning so a little boy went forward from the crowd...
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| She swiftly asked to be put down when she found out he was going to ride the bike! |
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| Another child volunteers and looks like he enjoyed it! |
His last trick was to ride a ten foot high unicycle and juggle fire-sticks at the same time! He asked people in the crowd to help him onto the bike and then to throw the fire-sticks to him. One woman kept missing...I'm glad he didn't ask me!
When the show was over we put some money into his hat (I wonder how much these entertainers make?) and then walked over to the RSC to see what plays were coming up. Sophie had mentioned she wanted to see a Shakespeare play but to be honest there was nothing that we fancied.
We walked into the town and made our usual trip into WH Smith where Sophie picked out two new books. We managed to persuade Mikey to have one as well as it was buy two, get one free! The town was very busy but a great shop caught our eye - "Old Guys Rule" - so we went in and treated Keith to a new tee-shirt. We were going to save it for his Birthday but we couldn't resist giving it to him later!
We back-tracked and called into the RSC again to use their facilities and then, after a short argument about where to have lunch, decided on Costa Coffee...I wonder why!
We just had time to meander about by the river before it was time to go and collect Keith. He was a bit merry but had been drinking weaker beer than he normally does so he was still coherent and able to walk normally. We met Malcolm's wife, Joan, and her grandchildren and then it was time to head for home.
Rather than go across country, we retraced our steps to the A45 and then carried on along this road to the M45 which was empty as usual. Keith and I decided to call into the Royal Oak for a drink as we'd ordered a Chinese take-away. The place was heaving and was very noisy! What is it about our local pubs at the moment?
Back home we enjoyed our meal and then Keith disappeared upstairs to "watch" football...I think the last two pints tipped him over the edge as I knew that he would be asleep within minutes!
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