stratford-upon-avon

"To be, or not to be: that is the question." 
― Hamlet (Act III, Scene I)

Today I visited the lovely town of Stratford-upon-Avon with the International Society. It is more famously known as the location of William Shakespeare's birthplace. I probably don't need to tell you who Shakespeare is, since you've probably read/seen at least one of his plays. I have to admit that during high school, it was sort of painful getting through Shakespeare's works because of the old English language. I remember spending long weeks on plays such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, going line by line analyzing the text. But despite this, his stories really were fascinating.

The first stop was of course Shakespeare's Birthplace. There were tour guides in each room dressed in 16th century clothing that told us some interesting facts about the place--like how the wallpaper was made to ward off demons at night. I actually really liked the design and oddly want it in my own room. It was pretty neat to see all of the old furnishings, and it's crazy how the house has been standing all of these years (2014 marks Shakespeare's 450th birthday!). But whenever I walk into an old house like this, I have this uncomfortable feeling that there are ghosts nearby. Is that just me?

There were also two performers outside of Shakespeare's house, who were quite entertaining. And afterwards, we took a stroll around the town and had lunch at Henley Street Tea Rooms. The whole town is beautiful and seems like such a peaceful place to live (when disregarding all of the tourists, like me). I love all of the little shops and restaurants they have.

Our three other main stops were Nash's House and New Place, Hall's Croft, and the Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare's was baptized and buried.

The gardens of New Place

We ended our day with delicious gelato at Hooray's. I really love towns like this, and I wish we could've stayed longer to look around and shop some more, but we were on a tight schedule. Nonetheless, it was a very enjoyable day!