Why I absolutely detest Stratford (Stratford-upon-Avon in General)

Member Name: Orangeb

Product:	Stratford-upon-Avon in General
Date:	26/10/01 (427 review reads)
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Stratford-Upon-Avon is a town which I absolutely hate. Everybody else seems to be bursting with enthusiasm and praise for the place, but why?!! Okay so Shakespeare was born there....and that's about it really.

My reasons for my abhorrence are:
1) Stratford is bursting at the seams with pointless, tacky souvenir shops. Okay if you're a tourist but for the people who live there or visit regularly, it is damn annoying not to be able to walk down a street without finding gift shops all the way down it. They take up unnecessary space which could be used for more useful shops.

2) The place is so crowded! There are so many tourists that most of the time you find yourself walking in the road to try and keep moving. Often they are out on mass, cameras round their necks, trying to take pictures of absolutely anything they can!

3) You cannot drive through the main streets without stopping, even if all the traffic lights are green. For some reason, the people in Stratford seem to take great delight in stepping straight out into the road instead of waiting for the lights. The number of times I have had to stop because some complete idiot has just started walking without even looking. If you do happen to be driving through, I wouldn't advise going any faster than 15mph, as at least then if you hit some prat stepping out into the road you are less likely to kill them.

4) The tour buses! Now there are about three companies all competing with their tours which are "every 15 minutes!" and of course, they don't all come at the same time so there is usually one every 5. I'm sure you'd find that very useful if you were a tourist, but for everybody else, you can't get any peace and quiet as there is always a double decker bus growling past.

5) Because of all this commercialism, the prices in Stratford are also ridiculous. Normal everyday items are more expensive because with all the tourism, they know
they can make more money.

These are my main reasons for hating Stratford. What fuelled me furthermore to write this opinion was my experience there today. I was trying to catch a bus home but unfortunately the "runaway mop" (a small fair) was blocking off half of the main street. I was standing at the bus stop at the other end of the road so I couldn't see this. I was waiting forty-five minutes with my friend when we decided to wander up the street as it looked like there was a lorry or something blocking the road (we had only just noticed) and discovered the runaway mop. When the mop (a huge fair which fills the main streets) and runaway mop (smaller version which usually visits about a fortnight later) visit, the buses use a main road behind the main streets. There was absolutely nothing at the bus stop to indicate this. Unfortunately, we did not notice the mop for quite a while but luckily we knew what to do when we did, what about tourists and occasional visitors who do not know that the buses use the main road when the mop comes? There was nothing to tell anybody waiting for a bus.

I visit Stratford regularly which is obviously why all the tourism and tourist facilities annoy me! I'm sure I would be even more annoyed if I lived there, which is why I never would. I know the town has got some history which is very interesting to a lot of people, but the town makes such a big deal out of it and it has been commercialised far too much. There is nothing wrong with souvenir shops and guided tours, but there are so many in competition - it is unnecessary!
I just thought I should write this opinion because everybody makes Stratford out to be such a nice town with all its history blah blah blah but if you don't like history and you're not a tourist, it's really not that exciting.

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