Stratford-upon-Avon

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. On Wednesday, I went to Stratford-upon-Avon.

First we stopped at Anne Hathaway's family's cottage (not Devil Wears Prada or Princess Diaries Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathaway).  It wasn't that significant to me that Anne Hathaway grew up there, but it was really cool to be inside a house and see what it would have looked like at that time.  Another plus- the gardens were beautiful.  Hope you like loads of pictures:

Me and Summer (who I actually went to Highland with)

It was raining and we all had left our umbrellas in the bus since it was a quick stop... oops! 

I love the symbol here in England for women's restrooms (or I guess "toilets" is the proper word).  Look at the dress she's wearing!  hah!

Look how cool this tree is!

Me and Hilary (who also went to Highland!)

Obsession of the Day: Taking Flower Pictures

After the stop at Anne Hathaway's cottage, we went the mile into town and went to Shakespeare's birthplace.  The town was really little and cute.  My favorite part of the day though, was when we saw The Merchant of Venice performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company (they're stationed in Stratford-upon-Avon).  I have never enjoyed watching Shakespeare so much in my life.  The cast wore modern dress (business suits actually) and the set was very minimal, but the way they spoke the words was so beautiful but at the same time so easy to understand.  I was also sitting in the third-ish row and it was fun seeing their facial expressions. I feel like The Merchant of Venice was a really good one to see (even though in my past experience I don't really like it) because there truly are so many ways to play it and so many possible interpretations.  Before seeing this play, I had read the characters of Shylock and Portia as completely different, but the cool thing is, that it worked either way.  I was just fascinated and I wish so bad I could go back up and see Hamlet which is being played right now, but I think I'm too busy seeing the rest of London... what a bummer (haha just kidding).

Shakespeare's Birthplace

Stratford-upon-Avon