Stratford Ontario is a quaint little town with a large theatrical presence. With a name like Stratford next to a river called Avon and the town of London nearby, you just have to expect some connection to the bard and the theatrical arts. There is even a Shakespeare park in town and the town of Shakespeare is just down the road.

There are four main theatres in town. Unfortunately for me, the theatre season has not fully begun. There are a few shows open--mostly during the day when I am already engaged.

Monday I walked through the center of town looking for a place to eat. Evidently in the off season, every thing closes on Monday so my choices were limited. I really enjoyed the walk though. One of the reasons I always loved going to Europe was that I was able to safely walk or take public transportation everywhere. In most of the US it seems like everything is designed to require transit by car. There aren't always sidewalks and safe ways to cross the street. Anyway, I really enjoyed the walk and cursed myself for not bringing a camera. I also really like the old look to the town. I live in a suburb where everything kind of looks like everything else and those small architectural details you see in older buildings just don't exist--and if they do, every fifth house or building has the same architectural detail.

Today I went for a walk around the little lake in the northern part of the town. It was a very nice night, a little on the cool side, but nice none the same. Spring has just come to Stratford and there were still a few tulips in bloom. There were swans on the lake as well as geese and duck. It was cute to see the little ducklings swimming around while their parents watched on chasing after them when they strayed a little too far. As I was walking on the path I passed a small group of goslings on one side of the path with the two adult geese on the other side. While the geese did not move when I approached, they did give off this menacing hissing sound. I really can't fully describe how cute the whole thing was and again I cursed myself for not having a camera.

Anyway, I would put Stratford on my list of places I would like to come back to.