I have been at the epicenter of geekdom, and I have found it good.

At last, the leg of the journey I'd been waiting for most eagerly: the trip to Stratford-on-Avon, to see the Tennant-Stewart production of Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

We all — Houston, Margaret, our friend from America, and I — piled into the rental car and drove out to Stratford. We had enough time to do a little bit of tourism:

Shakespeare's birthplace.

Soon, though, it was time for the show. We fell in with the crowds making their way to the theatre, and took our seats. The instant the show started, we were transported. Patrick Stewart is an absolute master of Shakespearian acting, and David Tennant did a fabulous job as Hamlet, manic and brooding by turns. Moreover, the supporting cast were uniformly strong, and the staging was ingenious and very, very subtle. We left at the end a bit dazed!

The next day we hit the road to meet up with our Melbourne friends in Cambridge ("Yes, dahling," we said last time we saw them in Melbourne, "faaaahbulous lunch, dahling, we'll see you in Cambridge next month, dahling"). Among other cool things (with which Cambridge is replete), we saw the Chronophage:

Otherwise known as the Corpus Clock or the Time-Eater.

Not only that, but we stumbled upon the very pub where Watson and Crick announced their revelations about DNA. Not only that, but it has a ceiling covered with graffiti from World War II pilots (burned in with lighters and candles, and scrawled with lipstick). And not only that, but the food was fantastic!

Then it was back to Stratford for more walking around and looking at olde stuffe.

The bust of a rather paunchy Shakespeare, clearly showing that age alters us all.

Shakespeare's grave.

This is the Crabtree & Evelyn in which Shakespeare's daughter Judith lived. "How handy for her," I thought, "when she was in need of cosmetics or a lovely scented soap."

And lest you think there should ever be any escape from Doctor Who...(this is a fish-and-chip shop).

And now it's a while of waiting in Heathrow, and on to France! The Geek's Tour of Britain (and Ireland) is over, but more adventures await!