…Because of thespians, thatched roofs, and three tons of rain!

Cute row of buildings in Stratford

Days 29&30:

Question: Who am I???  An actor and play writer, I was once married to Anne Hathaway……

 ….oh and I should probably mention that I’ve been dead nearly 400 years. 

Answer: William Shakespeare

The Globe!

Tuesday night we kicked off our Shakespearian adventure by attending the Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe theatre!  We got to be groundlings…it meant that we had to stand for the entire production, BUT we were close enough to get spit upon and nearly kicked in the heads by the actors. (Don’t worry, I was able to narrowly avoid both!)

The show was thoroughly entertaining!  A comedy full of pranks and plots, singing and dancing, and merry-making in general!

Here we are on the Millennial Bridge after the show!  

It got chilly—glad I decided to bring my Michelin man coat!

Early the next morning we set off on our “parade of homes”—Shakespeare style. 

Anne Hathaway’s family cottage:  Here Shakespeare courted his future wife.   

Picture Perfect thatched-roof cottage, complete with an overgrown garden.  It doesn’t get any more English than that! 12 rooms, 0 baths, stone floors, large hearth.  Fully furnished in Late Tudor/ Early Elizabethan style. Interested? Contact the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

So I think I’m clever….but enough with that. 

Fun fact: When they married, Shakespeare was 18 and Anne was 26 (and pregnant with his child…she’s the ultimate cougar!) That’s like Rebecca dating one of David’s friends….

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Mary Arden’s farm: Shakespeare came here, to his mother’s  farm, as a boy to escape contagion of the plague.  Look how crooked the house is!

Despite my slight aversion to smelly farm animals, I loved the farm! (There are a couple of group shots I have yet to get so look for them in subsequent posts!)

Don't pastel pink and sage-y/olive green look great together?

I was just happy I decided to shove my raincoat in my suitcase at the last moment!

Having a Snow White moment by the well

Best part? Sheep! I have a thing for sheep in case I forgot to mention it before…

 

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Our next stop took us right into Stratford-upon-Avon.  We came to see the first house on the left.  It is....

Shakespeare’s Birthplace: Disneyland style museum at the beginning( i.e. light up displays, videos, narration leading you from room to room) and then a walk through his house.

Oh you know just chillin' in Shakespeare's backyard...except it probably wasn't a backyard back then...

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Newplace:  Shakespeare purchased this 3 story-22 roomed home after gaining his wealth and prestige.  He spent the last 19 years of his life here.  Today the house no longer stands, but has been turned into an archaeological dig.  The dig was started in the Victorian era and the first archaeologists built stone walls to protect the stone foundation recovered from Shakespeare’s time.  However, today those protective walls are considered archaeological artifacts too so the scientists can’t move them.

 

Dig Site.  The house you see next to it is called Nash house.  One of his relatives lived there or something.  The knott garden is on the right.

The group listening with umbrellas

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Hall’s Croft: Susanna Shakespeare and Dr. John Hall’s family home.  They lived here with their only daughter Elizabeth.  This is the nicest of all the homes we saw as both Susanna and the Dr. had money.  Most people of the day lived in houses half the size of their dining room with families 2 and 3 times as large.

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Holy Trinity Church: This little church is where Shakespeare is buried.  I’ve seen so many churches now that this one didn’t strike me as anything special…However, they have a first edition 1611 King James Bible!  That was pretty cool. 

 

All in all a fun trip—despite that fact that it rained the entire day!

Xoxo!