Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Stratford-upon-Avon

January 8, 2013


Hey! My name is Hannah Roy and I am senior biology major/chemistry minor at CSS. This semester I had the opportunity to finish up my honor’s credits in London. My freshman year I did a similar trip to London but it was purely soccer based. Every day was structured around practice and games. This time I came to learn about more of London’s history and culture with a literature group.
Today the literature group broke away from the theater group and ventured outside the city of London, two and a half hours away to Stratford-upon-Avon. This is a small English town with a population that seemed to be much older than one sees in the city.

Our first stop was Anne Hathaway’s birthplace. Now, this is not the Anne Hathaway that has starred in the recent Les Miserables, but William Shakespeare’s wife and the mother of his children. The house was rather large with 12 fairly sized rooms. Alison, our tour guide explained that the house started off with two simple rooms and eventually two chimneys were added and later the upstairs. She opened our eyes to what life might have been like for Anne during this time. We literally were able to walk on the same floor that Anne and even William during their courting, walked on regularly.

The floor that William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway once walked on


The next stop was Trinity Church where both Anne and William are buried. Gravestones filled the lawn, and a small door, no taller than five feet let you into a small stone church that still functions today. A 12th century door knocker remains and it was once said that touching this door knocker would give any individual 37 days of sanctuary. Sadly, most of us missed this because we were too caught up in getting to Shakespeare’s grave.  At the front of the church was where William and Anne lay, next to other individuals that were a part of the church at some time. Along side the grave stood the same stone bath (font) in which William was baptized.

From here we walked along the river to our last stop on the tour, William Shakespeare’s birthplace. Today in the area where William grew up, main streets run through the city along the river. This is about a 25 minute walk from Anne’s house. The house was similar to that of  Anne’s but with small differences, like the addition of William’s dad’s glove shop.



William Shakespeare's birthplace


After a quick lunch in one of Stratford’s little cafes and some small shopping in the candy store and then we headed back to London in order to catch the 7 o’clock play of War Horse. Most were leary of watching a play whose main character was a horse, due to prior experiences with animal movies and how they typically end. Yet, we all watched and marveled at the play’s ability to capture war and create a realistic horse, all on stage. And to most people’s surprise the horse lived!

Now it is back to the hotel to catch some rest before having to wake up and run about London again tomorrow!

2 comments:

  1. Danielle was one of the few fortunate enough to grab the knocker on the entrance to the church. However, she didn't know what she was getting herself into by touching it - and since I had read the pamphlet - I informed her that she had received 37 days of sanctuary (protection) due to her touching this. We used this protection to our advantage when walking around London today in the busy streets and dark alleys ;)

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  2. Our bus driver was a maniac. I thought we were all going to be stars on the 10 O'clock news! Stratford was very enjoyable! What a difference to go from busy London to the quaint Stratford! I also saw my very first live swan!

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