Grand Tour #8

I would love to tell you that we took Stratford-upon-Avon by storm. But unfortunately I have to report that Stratford took us by storm – literally. We started the day with rain showers and by 4:30 we were soaked to the bone – even with an umbrella and rain coats. Lucky for us, we had a bit of time that was rain-free and were able to snap a few pictures. We had a great time exploring the town and seeing the many Shakespeare sites. I have traveled to Stratford before with Sir and the daughters, but have never taken the time to explore like we did today. We started the day at The Shakespeare Center and Birthplace. There was a great exhibit, beautiful gardens and various actors walking the grounds entertaining visitors as characters from some of Shakespeare’s plays. The house was interesting too - we enjoyed the comparison of the middle class to the upper class, a theme we have been seeing. We continued through town to Nash House & New Place. New Place was one of the biggest houses in Stratford when Shakespeare bought it. Unfortunately, it was torn down in protest when the owner didn’t want to pay taxes on the house. Part of the foundation still exists today, right next to Nash House – the house owned and lived in by Shakespeare’s granddaughter Elizabeth. The gardens were really pretty and quite large for being in the middle of town. Our next stop was Hall’s Croft – the home of Shakespeare’s daughter Elizabeth and her husband Dr. John Hall. This was a great house for the time period. At the house we even enjoyed a short interlude while watching a short scene from Macbeth. We marched on to Holy Trinity Church to see where Shakespeare is buried (along with all the other crazy tourists). Such tourists have been coming here for hundreds of years. Due to Shakespeare’s enormous influence on literature, crowds have flocked to Stratford to see the sites of Shakespeare’s life. Thanks to his devoted fans in the late 1800’s, Shakespeare’s properties were acquired and rebuilt so that future generations could enjoy the history of a great writer. Then we made our way back to the car and found Anne Hathaway’s cottage, the place where Shakespeare’s wife grew up. We learned that Shakespeare was only 18 (legally underage at the time) when he married Anne who was 26 – and she was three months pregnant with their first child. What a scandal! It is interesting that 15 generations of Hathaways lived in the Cottage - this was very uncommon for the middle class. During Anne’s life time, the Hathaways were well to do – later generations lost their wealth. We did love the gardens but once again we were the last ones out of the attraction. We went back into Stratford to enjoy the cinema. I know, you would think that we would see a play; but it is mid-term break and school groups are here from all over Europe. So unless we wanted to straddle a pole, they were sold out. While seeing the new Indiana Jones film we dried out, had popcorn for dinner, bit a couple of nails off, but enjoyed the movie immensely. Just an FYI: We have renamed our adventure. We are no longer on the England Adventure, but rather we are on our Grand Tour. You see, starting in the 1700’s young ladies would be accompanied by their mothers or other female chaperones on a grand tour of Europe, usually France or Italy. We have been told that Daughter 1 is of the age when this would have happened! There is a big difference - the girls would tour and then get ready for marriage. Daughter 1 will tour and then get ready for university! Tomorrow we are off again. Our hope is that we find wireless internet connection and pray that our phone has service!