Before we even left Abilene, Stacy and I bought tickets see
Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors" in Stratford-upon-Avon
(Shakespeare's birthplace). Kirsten bought a ticket and decided to join on this
adventure, so the three of us journeyed to Stratford together. First off, we
went to the visitor’s center where we ate the lunches we bought back in Oxford,
and then we headed into the town. Stratford is a CUTE little city, and
everything we wanted to see was very central. The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is
where we were going to see the play that night, so we headed over to pick up
our tickets early. The theatre has an awesome gift shop, and all three of us
bought significant amounts of Shakespeare paraphernalia. Then we saw signs for
Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare was baptized and buried. I got to stand
less than 5 feet away from the greatest playwright’s body and resting
place—really cool. Actually, it was a sweet little church, and if I wanted to
be buried, that would be the place to be. After we left the church, we wandered
around the town and into an old bookstore. I bought two really old books, of
which I have a soft spot for, and I got them for super cheap.
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| A swarm of swans |
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| Lady Macbeth is terrifying! |
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| Tree hugger!! |
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| The Avon river |
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| Sad that Shakespeare died |
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| I'm from the Elizabethan Era |
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| The water under the stage |
One of them is a
copy of the Apocrypha, and I’ve never read that, so it’ll be fun to read the books
that didn’t make the cut into our Sunday School Bibles. There was an antique
market outside of the bookstore, so we wandered around there for a bit until it
was dinnertime. We grabbed some chips to snack on from a kebab stand and then
headed over to the playhouse. Inside the theatre, the stage literally was
floating on water, and there was a crane that moved the sets around on stage
during the performance. It was an awesome set, and The Royal Shakespeare
Company put on a great show as well. Top-notch job. Something cool, however, is
that I’ve seen Shakespeare plays at our own ACU that could hold their own
there. Our theatre department back home is pretty amazing. Anyways, after the
play, we found out the hotel we booked was way far out of town unlike what it
advertised online. Public transportation stopped running at 6 p.m., so we had
to get an expensive taxi to drive us out there. But the trip was made better
because our taxi driver is the mayor of Stratford. We thought he was kidding
when he told us that, but he said that he owned this taxi service before he
became mayor. Now, he just drives for fun when he wants to. And when we finally
arrived at the hotel, it blew our minds. For cheaper than the price of the
horrible Friend’s Hostel in Paris (I found a great deal online), we stayed in a
4-star, POSH hotel. And I’m talking super ritzy. When we waked in, everyone was
wearing tuxedos because a wedding reception was happening right then, and we
might have snagged an extra cake that was left over)! Our room was just as nice
with heated towels in the bathroom, hot tea, and a giant flat screen TV to name
a few of the amenities. Basically, we three girls were living the life, and we
decided to take advantage of all the free things that were at our disposal. The
reception even delivered fresh milk for our tea right to our room—after staying
in so many crumby hostels all semester, we really enjoyed pretending to be rich
for a night. Online it said that
they had a sauna, pool, and gym, so Kirsten and I tried them out the next
morning. It was the first time I've been able to swim all semester, and it felt
absolutely great. Especially after being hot and sweaty in the steam room and
the sauna, getting in the water was so refreshing. After an hour or so of
swimming, we headed back to the room, showered, and checked out. Unfortunately,
we learned in the morning that almost no public transportation runs on Sunday, so
we were stranded in Coventry. Not only stranded, we were stranded outside in
the cold and the rain. We miserably waited outside for a bus that wasn't
supposed to come for another hour (if at all), so we decided to do what we were
told to never do. Yes, Mom and Dad, I hitchhiked. After a few minutes of
sticking out thumbs, a man stopped for us. He was a cute, sweet old man named
Melvin, and we talked the whole time he drove. Sounds like it might have been
sketchy, but it wasn't--and we didn't have much of another choice. Actually, it
was a great experience, and now I can say that I've hitchhiked, which is
awesome! Thanks for being born, Shakespeare, so that I could have a wonderful trip
to Stratford-upon-Avon.
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