The Life of Figuring Things Out: London Life: Day 37, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Today was our first and only full day in Stratford. We started out our day with breakfast at our Bed & Breakfast. We headed down to the dining area at 7:50. We were the first ones there! There was adorable set tables with tea cups and everything. There was orange juice, cereal, waffles, fruit, and yogurt. We snacked on those till they brought the toast, bacon, eggs, and baked beans plates out. It was such a delicious English breakfast and definitely one of the best breakfasts I’ve had since I’ve been in England. After Breakfast our whole study abroad group headed over to the Shakespeare Center and his birthplace. It was really great! We got to watch some videos on him and see the house he grew up in and later moved into with his wife, Anne Hathaway. It was crazy to think I was walking on the exact ground Shakespeare walked on. My love for Shakespeare has really grown since coming to London so it was cool to learn about him. One of my favorite parts about it was when we were sitting out in the courtyard and there was a guy dressed in time period clothes that asked if our group wanted to hear a story. Of course we said yes and he got volunteers to help him tell the story of Thisbe and Prosperous from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He got two of our professor’s kids to play Thisbe and Prosperous, Tanner to play the wall, and our professor, Brett, to play the moonlight. Tessa, Ali, and I played the lion. It was so much fun! I can now say I have been in a show in Stratford. Definitely going on my resume. The guy serenaded us as well and took pictures with us. I loved it!

^^Shakespeare walked on this floor....

^^That's my professor!

Next, we headed to Nash’s House and the site of New Place. Nash’s House was Shakespeare’s granddaughter’s house. It was a cute house with an interesting exhibition us stairs, but the best part about it was that the backyard was the site of the first house Shakespeare had built for his family. He was actually pretty wealthy by the time he was in his thirties so he was able to buy a pretty big house. After Shakespeare died, his daughter lived in it, but it was later sold to man that lived there and got fed up with all the tourists so he had it torn down. Crazy man! There were beautiful gardens in the back with statues of different Shakespeare’s shows. It was so gorgeous there.

Our next stop was Hall’s Croft, which was the home of Shakespeare’s daughter and her husband whom was a doctor. It was a cute house with a gorgeous backyard. It was cool to see where Shakespeare’s daughter lived and I loved that they kept the same stone floor in that was originally there.

When we finished visiting the Shakespeare sites, we had a break to go and get lunch so Tessa, McKenzie, and I headed back to the B&B to nap and rest for our show that night. It’s hard to sit through a Shakespeare, no matter how good it is, if you are tired. Then at 2, we had a backstage tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Definitely one of my favorite things we did in Stratford. It was so amazing to learn how they produce these incredible Shakespearean Pieces. I learned that they make all their own costumes and wigs; they also only have an hour and a half to switch sets between their shows and those sets are huge and so completely different. It is amazing how they do all they do. I am so excited to be in the professional theater world and be part of the theater magic. I am also seriously considering going into Shakespeare. Have to see if I’m any good at it first!

^^Our adorable B&B

^^New accessory! You like?

After the tour we went up to exhibition of costumes that they have used in different shows. There was costumes from The Tempest, Cymbeline, As You Like It, Hamlet, and so many more. There were costumes Judi Dench wore and costumes David Tennet wore. It was a really great exhibition with so many different interpretations of Shakespeare shows shown through the costumes.

^^Cymbeline costume

^^vvRosalind costumes!

^^Juliet in the center and a costume Judi Dench wore on the left!

When we finished at the RSC, we had a pretty long break before our show that night. Tessa, McKenzie, and I went back to some gift shops we had not had enough time to go to. I got a tshirt with an awesome Hamlet quote and some post cards that are production pictures from As You Like It and Hamlet. After, we went to the grocery store to get lunch and some treats for the show that night. For lunch, I got a delicious chicken salad sandwich with sweet corn. This sandwich is my new favorite. So yummy! With lunch in hand, we went to this adorable park by the river to eat our lunches. It was quite lovely. When we finished our lunches we found this awesome statue of Shakespeare and different characters from his plays, so of course we took some quality photos with them. We came upon an adorable toy store called Peter Rabbit, took some pictures there and then headed back to the flat to rest for a bit. Before heading to the show we found a tree in a park by Trinity Church, where Shakespeare is buried, that had Rosalind carved into it. Now if you know the story of As You Like It, you will find this as adorable as I do. It’s like Orlando came running through the park and carved her name. I love it!

^^Boats named after Shakespeare characters!

^^Lunch by the river! If you're wondering, I have candy in my cheek haha

^^Oh, Hamlet!

^^Knuckles with my Lady!

^^Feeling real dramatic in front of the Shakespeare statue

^^They just love this pose!

^^Just so happy!

^^Where Shakespeare is buried

^^The other RSC theater!

^^vvWe found the girl boats!

After the park, we headed to the RSC to see Hamlet. I was really excited for this performance. I had heard so many good things about it. I absolutely loved it! The guy who played Hamlet looked nothing like I expended but he did an incredible job. I also really loved Ophelia’s performance. She played the character in a way that really gave her more depth than I was expecting. The girl who played Ophelia had also played Rosalind so I knew she would be good. Another character I loved was Horatio, the guy who played him, played Orlando the night before. Horatio was the one character that stuck by Hamlet’s side the whole time. He played him so well! This whole production was incredible. I am seriously going to miss these amazing Shakespeare performances so much.