We didn't leave until midday as Mike had stayed out overnight at a friend's house and Sophie and I went to pick him up at 10am. He was very bleary! I have to admit to all of us being a bit tired as we didn't get to bed until 2am (we'd gone over to Sue and Paul's and seen the New Year in with them and Richard and Michelle, with a bottle of Champagne) and a nuisance phone call had woken us all at 7.30am. It was one of these automated messages and Keith had bounded downstairs to answer it thinking it was Mike!
We set off in the rain even though the New Year had dawned sunny and bright. Google maps on my phone told us which way to go and as we made our way over towards Stratford-upon-Avon, the sun came out, which was great. It was a bit cold, though - 5c.
We parked easily in Broadway and walked into the village to find a shop to get some change as Keith only had £1 to put into the meter. Hardly any shops were open and in my opinion, they certainly missed a trick as there were loads of people walking about and taking advantage of the blue skies and sunshine.
We went into the Edinburgh Woollen Mill and amused ourselves by looking at the clothes and we picked up a box of orange chocolate straws which cost £1 to change a £20 note. The woman at the till was not amused and asked in a demanding tone whether we had anything smaller! Well, of course not, otherwise we would have used coins!
Sophie and I went to feed the meter while the boys went to a nearby pub as the intention was to have lunch. However, when we met them walking down the High Street we knew that the pub was full. This set the tone for the rest of our visit as every pub, even one tucked away down a side street, was packed to the gunnels with people eating and drinking. I hate it when you walk in somewhere and there's no tables to be had and the people already there look very smug. Ho hum!
We made the decision to go somewhere else as there was no point staying and waiting for a table as in one place there was already a queue! As very few shops were open we went back to the car (£4 wasted) and drove to Evesham, thinking that as it was a bigger place, there would bound to be somewhere open for food.
We weren't impressed at all with Evesham. Driving in, the town looked a bit run down and tired so we drove straight through and decided to head back to Stratford. There were a couple of pubs on the way and off the busy A46 we saw a sign for the Blue Boar.
The car park was almost full and inside it was rammed with people and a group of Morris Men who were very jolly indeed. We found it very difficult to actually walk through the pub and I'm sure I stood on a poor dog's toes as we made our way to the crowded bar. With all the people and the noise of locals having a wonderful time, we made the decision to leave and push on into Stratford itself. The day was not shaping up to be a good one!
Keith regularly meets his old friend Malcolm at The Swan's Nest hotel right on the river so we headed there and parked nearby. The pub attached to the hotel, The Bear, was very busy (where wasn't?) and we ordered some drinks at the bar hoping they were still doing food. They weren't. The kitchen was closed.
By now it was almost 3pm and we had hardly eaten anything. Next to the pub was a bistro with empty tables and as they were advertising pre-theatre meals, we hoped they would be serving into the evening. But, no...the kitchen was closed.
We drank our drinks and decided to have one last attempt at finding a meal by walking into Stratford. A lot of people were out milling about by the river and feeding the swans so we walked past the grand Shakespeare theatre (they still had tickets available!) and into the town. There was a fish and chip restaurant on the corner, but a few feet away was a branch of Zizzi, an Italian restaurant so we went in...and they had a table!
The first thing that struck me was the price of a bottle of beer - £4.85 for a 330ml serving! How they get away with it, I'll never know! Anyway, we had no choice but to settle down and look at the menu and we chose various garlicky breads to start followed by pizzas for Mike and Sophie, a shoulder of lamb for Keith and a chicken and vegetable skewer for me, served with herby potatoes and green beans.
Mike and Keith had an expensive beer each while Sophie had a glass of Pinot Grigio. Poor old me sipped a glass of sparkling water! The breads were lovely and served with a salsa-like dip and a garlic one but I was a little disappointed with my main course, as there wasn't much of it and as the kebab was served "hanging" the hook kept getting in my way!
Mike's pizza was wrong, unfortunately, as he had asked for an extra topping of chicken and this had been forgotten. Keith brought it to the attention of the waiter (after Mike had eaten a slice) so we got another one for free. That was great as I ate most of the original one!
We skipped desserts and returned to the car thinking it was much later than it was (5pm). The restaurant was still going strong when we left but I'm not sure I would rush to go back. Our journey home was fine until I almost reached the M6 and saw that it was signposted for the north so I carried on and ended up on the M69 instead, heading for Leicester! This meant that we had gone quite a way off our route but we were still home for 6.30pm and it was lovely to change into comfortable clothes and relax for the rest of the evening!
In 2018 I'm going to try and post a photo that sums up my day. Here is today's...the theatre in Stratford at dusk.
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