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Published: June 12th 2009
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Stratford
Rachel and I on the train to Stratford Sorry this is so late . . .
Monday June 8
Today we took an early train to Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare. We are staying there for two nights and three days. We arrived in the afternoon and checked into our guest house. It was called "Linhill" and it is a cute bed and breakfast. After we checked in and got our selves together, we walked around the town a bit and found a place to eat lunch. We ate at the "Rose and Crown" pub and they were having a really reasonable special, so I got steak and ale pie. It was my first time having it and it was really good. After lunch we went to Shakespeare's birthplace, which was really cool. The tour was part interactive and part self guided. The tour starts with a brief video about Shakespeare and it leads you through several different rooms that also have video's about Shakespeare's life and his family. After the video tour, we went into his house and saw what it would of looked like when he lived there. They were guides in some of the rooms to explain what each room was used
Stratford
Shakespeare's birthplace for and life in the Elizabethan times. I thought it was so interesting, they told us that people then did not sleep lying down, they slept sitting up and were propped up by pillows. I never knew that. After the birthplace exhibit, we went to a special exhibition next door and it contained the only "actual" picture of Shakespeare. it was discovered in 2006, a man went to an exhibit at the national portrait gallery and saw some paintings of Shakespeare and realized he had one that was very similar to those. It was being stored in his dining room and after having it tested and examined, researchers determined that his painting was the the original portrait and that it was done during Shakespeare's time. It was really amazing to see, to know that that picture is close to what he actually looked liked. And I must say, he wasn't bad looking!
After the exhibition we went over to the Nash House, which is where Shakespeare's grand daughter, Elizabeth, lived. We did not stay there long, there wasn't much to see. We had a light dinner at the oldest pub in Stratford called the "Garrick Inn" and after dinner
Stratford
Another view of the birthplace we went to see "As you Like It" at the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was wonderful!!!! I did not expect to like the play, because it is not one of my favorite Shakespeare's, but I have no complaints about this production. In the last five minutes of the play, the house manager came on stage and told the audience and actors that the fire alarm had gone off and the production was going to have to end early. I was so disappointed. I know what happens at the end, but it is so unsatisfying to watch an entire play and not get to the resolution. We went to the nearby actors pub called the "Dirty Duck" and had a few drinks there. It is called the actors pub because apparently all the actors go there after the shows to wind down, and sure enough 30 min later all the actors we had just seen on stage were hanging out in the "Dirty Duck" having a pint. It was someones 21st birthday today as well, so going out was part of their celebration. We ended our evening at the Dirty Duck and headed back to our guest house.
Tuesday June
Stratford
Our guest house, Linhill. 9
Just like the other guest house in Lincoln this one served us a traditional English breakfast. This one came with beans instead of mushrooms. Hmmmm, how I love breakfast! After breakfast we all hopped into a coach and headed out to Mary Arden's house. Mary Arden is Shakespeare's mother. We spent two hours there looking at the grounds and walking along the the nature and orchard trails. Mary Arden's house is still a working 16th century farm. When we walked in, a woman dressed in period clothes was making lunch on the fire and churning butter by hand. She was preparing for a school group. A lot of school children come and dress up and help out around the farm and then eat at the end of they day. We saw them around later on working in the vegetable garden, it was very cute. There was also a falcon showing. A woman gave a talk about how falcon's hunt and how she uses the falcon out in the wild and to cath prey etc. After her talk, she let volunteers come up and feed falcon, I did not volunteer, but several people from our group did and it
Stratford
Stratford's cute library was really cool to watch.
After Mary Arden's house we went to Charlecote Park to see the house, grounds and church. Charlecote is a 16th century Tudor house that the Lucy's , a wealthy English family lived in for many year's and still do. National trust has opened the grounds and part of the house to the public and pays for the up keep of the house, while the family lives in the other wing. The house is really beautiful and the grounds are even better. We stayed there for a while and hand lunch and tea there to help kill some time. We also visited Charlecote church which is a five minute walk from the grounds. It too is very beautiful. We hopped onto our coach and headed back to the town of Stratford. We went back to the "Garrick Inn" for a light dinner and headed over to the Royal Shakespeare Company to see "Julius Caesar". The play was good but I much preferred "As you like it". After the play we went back to the "Dirty Duck" and dinner was provided for us. We had mushroom soup, traditional fish and chips and apple pie with
Stratford
Jaime and I in the Nash House garden ice cream. Yum yum! After dinner, again, we saw a bunch of the actors. We turned in early, due to Stratford's lack of night life.
Wednesday June 10
We had breakfast this morning with one of the actors from "As you like it". His name is Jonjo O'Neill and he plays Orlando. I enjoyed his talk with us, he said a lot of things that I could relate to and was very open and honest in his responses to us. I got to sneak in a few actor questions, it was nice to hear how he got where he is and to learn a little about his process. After the chit chat with Jonjo we had a few more tourist spots to see. We headed over to Anny Hathaway's cottage, Shakespeare's wife. He apparently got her pregnant and that is why they married. He was 18 and she was 26. This cottage was a little nicer than the others and the grounds again were very beautiful. Most of the cottages we have seen all have very lovely gardens. After Ann Hathaway's cottage we went to Holl's Croft which was Shakespeare's Daughter house, Her husband was very wealthy,
Stratford
Mary Arden's house doctor and their home reflected their status. The rooms were much bigger than any of the other cottages, the ceilings were higher and the furniture was much nicer.
Right next to Halls Croft there is the Holy Trinity church where Shakespeare is buried. He is buried next to several of his family members. For lunch to went to a small cafe called "Mistress Quickly" and walked around the town for awhile until it was time to head back to the train station. Startford is a really nice town, but I liked Lincoln better. It was less touristy and had a bit more charm. The best thing in my opinion about Stratford was the Royal Shakespeare Company. It is definitely a must see. I'm excited to head back to London.
There will be more soon!
P.
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Mom
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Nice history lessons which I never learned in school. How are the blisters on your feet? Is the strike over yet? Love Mom.