Wednesday, March 18, 2009

the strangely sketchy stratford-upon-avon

this past weekend, i was lucky enough to go on yet another usc-sponsored-all-expenses-paid trip--to stratford-upon-avon! i was incredibly excited to go, since i love little english towns--but especially since i love the bard!

so, on friday i tubed it to marylebone, where i caught an afternoon train (by the way: i think it's really cool how you don't have to have a car to get anywhere in england. you can take buses, tubes, and trains anywhere you want to go. it's perfect for baneful drivers like myself!). i was expecting a pleasant, quiet train ride, but unfortunately was surrounded by loud, fighting british children. i tried to drown them out with my ipod, but even at the highest volume it couldn't mask the screeches and whines of the little beasts. NB: i like kids. these were monsters.

anywho, i was glad when the wretches finally disembarked over an hour later. then, after another hour, i finally arrived in stratford. i met up with helen at the station, and we meanderingly managed to find our comfy b and b. on the way, a shady car with local townies rolled up on us, one young man shouting out the window, "TALK TO ME!" as it went by. needless to say, the romance took my breath away.

that night, usc treated our group to dinner at a place called marlowe's (named after shakespeare's peer, christopher marlowe, perhaps? just a theory). it was quite a nice restaurant, and we definitely took advantage of the free food. we got some lovely appetizers, and for dinner i had the "drunken duck," which was delectable. for dessert, a group of us shared some dishes, and my favorite was by far the sticky toffee pudding, which i'd never had before. it was one of the best desserts i've EVER HAD, and i've had my fair share (as i'm sure you all know).

bryan and jason, goofballing in marlowe's

much to our delight, our tables also got served bottles of wine. it was really nice being able to have glasses of wine with dinner, it just made the dinner that much more complete. i'm glad that i'll be 21 by the time i come home. it would be brutal not being able to drink in restaurants after getting spoiled over here! anyways, after dinner we headed to weatherspoon's for some drinks, and a drunken, hostile man was outside. i saw him say something to girls ahead of us, so i kind of shrank away as we walked past. he must have noticed, because he angrily asked, "EXPECTING A COMMENT, THEN?" i meekly replied, "errr...no!" to which he retorted, "SHUT UP." what a plank.

weirdly, as helen and i walked home from the pub, more threatening men crossed our path. a car packed with lads slowed down to talk to us. helen, not one to suffer fools gladly, instantly turned into an amazing ice queen. out of the blue, she practically shrieked, "GET AWAY FROM US! WE DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU! KEEP DRIVING! GO! GO! WE DON'T LIKE YOU! GO AWAY!" over and over. they weren't giving up, but neither was she! finally they swore at us and drove away. i must say i was incredibly impressed and stunned by helen's reaction. you go, girl!

the next day, helen, our new friend kevin, and i walked a bit around stratford before our guided tour. here's what we saw!

holy trinity church
garden!

nash's house! right next to where shakesy lived

stratford street

helen and kevin outside shakespeare's birthplace

the dirty duck pub! it had been named "the black swan," but american soldiers during WWII renamed it. one the other side of the sign it stil says the black swan.

the swan theatre

geese! in a pretty park

rowin'.


boys climbing things

holy trinity church, where will is buried!


trying to look somber in the graveyard outside the church. fail.

helen is even worse.

the inside of the church


HIS BONES! i had wanted to put a flower on the grave, but it was all roped off. sorry, shakes!


stained glass pictures always turn out horribly...sorry about that! i tried for ages to get a good one of these, because at the bottom it says, "AMDG," which always reminds me of dave. you're welcome, davius.

where shakespeare was edumacated!

posing outside the school

the room with the cutouts is where "teletubbies" were invented!

outside the house where shakespeare was born in 1564!

my favorite part of the day was going to shakespeare's birthplace. it was so amazing being inside the very walls where he grew up! also cool: apparently, when the original glass was still in place in the 19th century, visitors to the house would etch their signatures into the glass. they had the pane on display, and the signatures of dickens, hardy, carlyle, and other famous blokes were on't! it made my english-loving heart glad (even though hardy is the snore of the 19th century).

anywho, we lunched in a teahouse (my FAVORITE kind of house) that had over 80 types of tea! it was fantastic--i had the "mediterranean sun" tea, which had chunks of fruit zest, spices, and other delectables inside the pot. the english do tea right, let me tell you!

that night, we were taken out to yet another restaurant--this time, to "georgetown," a malaysian-themed. the food wasn't quite as good as marlowe's, but the wine still flowed freely, so none of us really cared, haha. i had a bit too much wine, actually, so i kind of fell asleep during the first half of "the tempest" at the theatre that night, hahaha. oops! i perked up for the second half, though, and was glad i did--it was great!

after the play, we (and a big chunkof other audience members) headed to the dirty duck for drinks. i sampled a bit of helen's delicious, very appley cider, but decided i should lay off the booze after the dinner's wine extravaganza.

we turned in after the pub, and the next day i was just about ready to head home. on the train, i tried to read my book for class, but couldn't resist looking out the window for the entire journey. i just love the countryside here so much-- it's beautifully green and dotted with sheep, horses, and the occasional cow. i'm thinking that in the coming months i'd like to explore more of england, rather than going to other countries. why leave somewhere you love (especially if you haven't seen most of it)?

well, on that note, i'm off to make some burritos...hopefully they won't taste indian this time. fingers crossed!

got my mojo working (shakespeare invented that! what??),
lilly

1 comment:

  1. Wow, lots of shady characters.

    And thats tight about the AMDG, gotta love the Jesuits.

    One of my favorite small town to visit was St. Albans. Its very quaint, has a really neat church, and is home to the oldest pub in England. Faversham is also really cool, and if you do some work in advance you can get a tour of the Shepherd Neame Brewery. I'd recommend you do that, since the town otherwise is tiny.

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