Ladies and gentlemen - The last of my November travels.
The weekend after Thanksgiving (which I did celebrate, my friends... just a week late), I once again boarded a lovely National Express coach to travel the highways of the UK. My destination: Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of William Shakespeare.
The town of Stratford, in addition to attempting to conserve the bard's houses and housing his grave in the Trinity Church, is apparently a small-town shopping mecca for the Midlands. 'Tis a quaint ol' place, full of boutiques and chain-stores, pubs and cafes, hair salons, toy shops, electronic stores, souvenir shops, Christmas stores, travel agencies... need I go on? For my Michigan readers, think Downtown Plymouth tripled. For my Ohio followers, think Medina doubled. That'll give you a pretty good idea of the place.
My main motivation for visiting Stratford was, of course, the theatre. That Friday evening I attended a new production called 'The Heart of Robin Hood' at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The show was entertaining - pretty family-friendly, lots of humor, etc. Nothing completely new on the Robin-Hood-legend front, except that the production focused on Marian, who becomes a good outlaw and teaches the thug Robin Hood the error of his ways. They did add a new character I liked a lot though - Marian's prissy French manservant, Pierre. I enjoyed myself and the theatre itself was amazing - an indoor version of the Globe... with real, padded seats (thank goodness!).
I also fulfilled the requisite visits for a literary pilgrim. A slightly over-priced pass got me into three of Shakespeare's residences in the town. Did I say three? I mean two of his residences and one museum in the building next door where his final house (now demolished) once stood. C'est la vie. The exhibit and birthplace of Shakespeare are pretty sweet though, and I actually learned a thing or two there.
The problem about my visit to Stratford was that it was too long for a broke college student by herself. After seeing all the Shakespeare sites, I still had hours before my coach back to London Saturday night. So I did what everyone else in Stratford was doing: I shopped. Bad news. I do have a nice new overnight bag and some delicious luxury white hot chocolate though. But even shopping couldn't keep me amused for that long. I ended up at this tiny little Italian cafe, attempting to read over a cup of coffee. The waiter convinced me that I needed a crepe too as I sat there for a few hours. Lucky for him, it was a good crepe.
Shakespeare Monument on the river Avon
Avon
Royal Shakespeare Co. Theatre
Hall Croft, the home of Shakespeare's eldest daughter and her husband. Will resided with them for a time.
The Bard's grave in Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon
The town decorated for Christmas. Notice all the shoppers.
Coffee and a yummy crepe.
Christmas lights!
At Shakespeare's birthplace.
So ends my final weekend of mayhem in the month of November. Here are some things I have learned:
-Hostels - not as bad as people hint they are, but then again, I've been pretty lucky.
-Food = expensive. Coffee = less expensive. When broke, drink coffee for that third meal of the day.
-Traveling alone - this is very tricky. Some of my solo experiences were amazing (Laugharne in Wales, St. Andrews in Scotland), while others brought me to the verge of tears when I had no one to sympathize with me (Swansea in Wales, almost Stratford). Places of natural beauty and an energetic local character were wonderful to see alone - I liked being able to just enjoy myself without worrying about what anyone else wanted or thought. Places filled with shoppers and, in the case of Swansea, appalling weather were not good - I got very lonely and bored once I had finished seeing and doing what I wanted. Part of the joy of travelling is companionship and sharing those travels (mishaps and high points alike) with someone.
-Christmas markets MAKE you spend money. Seriously. They advertise these amazing deals that you cannot refuse.
-Waterstones bookstores are everywhere. Foyles is not.
-I love London. It has Foyles. And friends. And church. All great, amazing things.
Well, that is all for my crazy month, folks. These first two weeks of December are dedicated to schoolwork (lots of essays to start and finish), friends, and Christmas in London. My grandmother is coming a week from Friday (YAY!) to stay with me for three weeks and my travels will commence again at that time. In the meantime, when I am avoiding homework, I may do a few posts that I've been meaning to do about more ordinary things like classes, church, etc.
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