Ludlow Days: June 27th and 28th

Our first destination, after a arriving in London and immediately going to the Globe to see a fantastic production of Midsummer Night's Dream (6/26), was Ludlow, a beautiful 15th century town in the western central part of England known as the Marches. This is the border land between England and Wales, and Carter and I have been coming here for years now. We love the rolling countryside, the incredibly quaint and lovely town (of which, sadly, no pics), the burbling River Teme, the glorious parish church of St. Laurence (my namesake saint, on which more later) and the summer festival, which often coincides with our travels. Ludlow is in Shropshire and claims A.E. Houseman as one of its notable sons.

The first time we came here, the festival included a folk music day, which in these here parts means Celtic music, culminating with a performance by Steeleye Span (anyone remember them?). It was a typical English summer day: cold, intermittently windy and and rainy, with sudden patches of blue and sun, and we discovered the joys of The English Bacon Sandwich. Huddling under trashbags on a patch of ground in the shadow of the castle listening to amazing music, drinking hot tea and eating bacon sandwiches - well, you see why we keep coming back!
This time, we went to a performance of the Globe musicians, a group who plays Renaissance music from Shakespeare's plays on period instuments, and then stumbled upon....Frank Sinatra!
Well, okay, he was channeling Frank. They were actually very good and had a rapt, passionate audience who occasionally sang along. They were SO fine, indeed, that we went back to hear them the next night, skipping out on the second half of Richard III which, while pretty good, was no competition for "The Lady is a Tramp"!