Today was my first whole day in the United Kingdom! After having a great sleep we got up and headed straight to Stratford-Upon-Avon. I loved this town! This town is where William Shakespeare was born and lived most of his life. As soon as we went into the town I noticed how different it was from Birmingham. This city contains many older houses and buildings that have beautiful architecture and unique styles. I think the city in general with all the small local shops and restaurants were one of my favorite things of the day.
After getting to the town we met up with our tour guide, Tim, who is also an actor for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was another favorite part of this day because he was so energetic and was so passionate about the city and the history of Shakespeare’s life. He recited many quotes and sonnets from Shakespeare’s work which is so fascinating to see because I know those are not easy to memorize. The Holy Trinity church where Shakespeares and other family members are buried was one of our first stops on the tour, and it was beautiful. From the stained glass windows, the statues, and the tomb it was all so neat to see. I learned that even though Shakespeare is Catholic he was buried in the Holy Trinity which is actually an Anglican church because the church of England was forced to break away from the Catholic church by the monarchs.
I knew Shakespeare was born in Stratford Upon Avon, but I never realized how much of the details of Shakespeare’s life was all in this town. For instance we saw where he attended school, church, grew up, was born, where some of his family and acquaintances lived and were buried, and more. I find it really interesting that they were able to keep all these major areas and houses intact all these centuries. Except I learned where he died was torn down because the owner did not like all the people coming to his door asking to see a tree Shakespeare planted, which I found a little funny.
We got some freetime in the middle of the tour and me and some of the group got really delicious coffee, where I learned that we are supposed to say “takeaway” instead of “to go” here in the UK. As we walked around we found a market area with tons of street food vendors, and street food is a very popular dish in the UK. When I was waiting in line I got to speak with a couple locals who recommended the one vendor to me that they said was their favorite. At this vendor I got “The Classic ” which was chips (fries) with pork, gravy, stuffing, and crispy onions, and it was delicious.
After getting back with the tour group we went to where Shakespeare was born. This museum type display was another favorite of mine. Here I learned a lot about different ways they would live out their daily lives during the time of Shakespeare. I also learned that his father was a glove maker for children and we got to see all the different types of gloves, which was really interesting. In the garden we saw two actors perform scenes from Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I think actors who perform Shakespeare are really amazing and talented because his scenes are very complex and have lots of monologues to memorize.
Following the wonderful day in Stratford Upon Avon we ended our night with heading back to dinner in Birmingham. This was another one of my favorite meals that we had at a Vietnamese restaurant where I got chicken dumplings and pork spring rolls. This was definitely the best Vietnamese food I have ever had. I had such a wonderful day as we began our exploring of this country and I am so excited to meet everyone at BCU tomorrow!
