Today we were able to travel to Stratford upon Avon. We took a train this morning after eating breakfast at the hotel and arrived around 10:30am. I noticed the public transportation here is more comfortable and cleaner. After leaving the train station we had to take a walk to meet our tour guide at a statue of William Shakespeare. The tour was around 6 hours total with a 2 hour break !
We started with a walk around the many bridges in Stratford and were able to see the gorgeous views of the town. We walked by a market in the town that was set for the Bank Holiday which is nation wide. The market was full of all different kinds of people and overall just looked like a happy place. The view from one of the bridges showed us our next location of the Holy Trinity Church. This church is were William Shakespeare was buried himself along with his wife, Anne Hatheway, and a few other relatives. We learned about the curse that Shakespeare put on his own coffin so that his body would remain buried in the same place and not disrupted. While in the church we were able to see the architecture and stained glass windows that had been built centuries ago. Shakespeare had 3 children in his lifetime and all of them were also buried within the Holy trinity Church property. Susanna was buried a couple spaces down from her father within the walls of the church. The other 2 children, Judith and Hamnet, were buried in the graveyard of the church but nobody knows which headstone is theirs. Because their stones were unidentifiable, 2 trees were planted in their memory on the grounds of the graveyard. Hamnet, the only boy of the children, died at a young age of 11 which made Shakespeare very upset. The play Hamlet, which was written by Shakespeare, is said to have maybe been written after his son.
After touring through the church we made our way through Stratford seeing and learning more information about Shakespeare as we walked. We went for a tour break at around 12:30 which is when we were allowed to go on our own little adventures. My group and I first go iced coffees at one of the first places we saw on the street. I really enjoyed the way the coffee was made and could taste a difference from how it is made in America. We then made our way over to the market where I had fish and chips for the first time ! We took our meals and sat on the lawn right near the canal and had a nice time. I really enjoyed this snack along the way and shared it with my other friends. We also tried mushed peas on the side which I didn’t like very much. After our food break we went back to the Shakespeare birthplace and were able to take a tour of where he was born and lived. The most interesting part I found was the Shakespeare and Me movement that we were able to see. This movement happened around covid times and allowed people to take a Shakespeare quote and show how they have influenced or been involved in their lives.
After the guided tour was over we took a train back to Birmingham and had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. I really enjoyed my meal of lemongrass chicken and egg fried rice in a vegetable bowl. After the long day of walking and touring I was excited to sit down for a nice and refreshing meal. We walked around for a little after dinner as a group and I ended up seeing a building for plasma donations. I thought this concept was interesting and I realized how uncommon it is in the United States.
My favorite part of today was learning more about Shakespeare because I realized how down played he is in American literature compared to the United Kingdom. I also really liked getting to roam around Stratford on my own time and taking the time to people watch. I enjoy seeing the mannerisms and conversations around me, while comparing it to the norms of America. I’m excited to try more food in the next couple of days and get to experience more!
