STRATFORD (June 11-14)

(roomies in Stratford)
(Shakespeare's grave)
(RSC's Taming of the Shrew)
(Anne Hathaway's cottage)
(Warwick Castle)

Last Wednesday the theatre kids and our professors (Stacy and Valerie) went to Stratford for two nights. Stratford is the birthplace of William Shakespeare so the whole town is on Shakespeare overload. We arrived mid morning, by train, and walked to our B&B. Our B&B was absolutely wonderful! Greta, Rachel, and I shared a lovely room with extremely comfy beds. It was nice to get away from Schiller for a little bit and stay somewhere that felt like a home. They put the boys in a totally separate B&B down the street and the owner of our B&B read us off a list of rules where under no circumstances were the boys to come into our B&B and how if we wanted to see them, we should meet them in the park across the street. Very funny. And probably Charlie's fault from last year, but that's another story.

After we were read our rules, we took a nap for a bit (we were just soooo excited about sleeping in real beds). After a wonderful nap, we went to the boys' B&B and stood under Trevor and Kurt's window and made jokes about Romeo and Juliet. All of us went to a pub called The Lamplighter for linner for cheap, delicious food. After that, we stopped in a couple little shops and then went to Trinity Church to see Shakespeare's grave. Stratford is beautiful and the walk to the church was along the water. It was nice to see a different side of England that didn't include big red buses, crowded streets, and newspaper salesmen. We went to the theatre and got cappuccinos and sat outside for a bit. We saw RSC's Taming of the Shrew and it was very well done. It was a much darker take on Taming of the Shrew than I had every seen, but I really liked this approach and thought it was very cleverly done. After Taming of the Shrew we went back to our repective B&Bs to go to sleep.

We woke up at 8:00 on Thursday, which we were not too happy about. But, when we got breakfast I'm pretty sure we realized we would have gotten up at 5:00 to eat this breakfast if need be. We had eggs, bacon, orange juice, English tea, and hash browns... it was sooooooo good. After breakfast, we showered and got ready for the day. We took a bus tour for a good portion of the day. We went to Anne Hathaway's cottage (Shakespeare's wife) and Mary Arden's farmhouse (Shakespeare's mom). Anne's place had a beautiful garden and it was lots of fun to watch Kurt trying to get around in the cottage. It was not made for people of his height. Mary's pad was fun as well. There were really big pigs and cows and all that kind of stuff. There were also actors eating dinner in period costume, which was pretty groovy. Trevor decided that this was a career he must have- getting paid to act and eat. We took the bus back into the main part of town and split up for lunch. Mal, Trevor, Kurt, and Greta went back to The Lamplighter and the rest of us tried a new pub where I got delicious lasagna. After that, Nobe and I split from the rest of the crew and went back to the B&B for a bit. Then, we did a little shopping. We bought some chocolate truffles and found a big beauty supply store where we got shampoo and conditioner that was pretty inexpensive. The two of us then went to a pub where they had a burger and a beer deal for five pounds. Believe it or not, we actually got some Coors Light to go with our chicken burgers. We met the rest of the group at the theatre for A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was not my favorite. Visually, it was incredible. The costumes were fabulous and the fairies flew in the air. But, the 3/4 of the lovers weren't that impressive and I didn't really laugh at the acting troupe as much as I wanted to. After the show, we went to the pub where all of the actors go- The Dirty Duck. We talked to the guy who played Oberon, the fairy king, for a while because he knew our professor, Valerie. We met ten or so theatre students from Vermont and the ten of them, all of us (minus Jared and Preston), and a bunch of the actors went to a kareoke bar called Ripple after the pub closed. It was such a good time. We were the only people there and we had a ball singing, dancing, and getting half priced cocktails. This was also the night that Mal, Nobe and I discovered Pimm's and lemonade... our new favorite drink. Trevor and Kurt did a great rendition of Tainted Love as well as I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing. Greta, Mal, and I sang Son of a Preacher Man and there were loads of other songs performed throughout the night. We stayed until they closed, exchanged facebook info with the Vermont peeps, and walked back to the B&B.

Friday, we had a wonderful, early breakfast again and then took a bus to Warwick Castle. This was uber amounts of fun. There was a trebuche demonstration that we went to where Preston almost got attacked by a swan. Trevor, Nobe, Kurt, Mal, and I went on a Ghost Tour of one of the towers where actors jump out and yell in your face. It was hilarious... especially because Trevor was screaming. We walked in the non-haunuted towers, went to the dungeon, and saw a really cool birds of prey demostration. After a full day at the castle, we went back to the B&B and got our stuff, then went back to Schiller. At Schiller, a bunch of us hung out for a bit in Rick and Evan's room and just watched Ricardo, an Italian guy who goes to Schiller, be ridiculous and make us laugh.

web address to more Stratford pics in an online album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030173&l=cc341&id=47002203