4-3-07 Stratford-Upon Avon

Woke up late-ish, and headed out to the Tourist Information for some, well, touristy-type information. Misty rain threatened all day, but never became a problem. After perusing our options on a list, we decided to go with a multi-ticket thingy that let us use a bus to get around to all of the points of interest in Stratford.

First stop: Shakespeare's birthplace - the seed of this journey began with a simple text message to my mom that we should visit Shakespeare's birthplace together - and now we've made it. It's mostly a museum of exhibits now, but still interesting. As someone with an interest in making props for plays, I was eating it all up with a spoon. From gloves similar to those William Shakespeare's father made, to the furniture and furnishings, I loved it. It was hard for me to feel any resonance to Shakespeare himself, but I did enjoy seeing the rooms set up as they would have been, and hearing about daily life in Stratford in the early 1600's.

After that, we headed to the Royal Shakespeare Company's Stratford headquarters. I was really looking forward to this, not only for the backstage view of the theatres, but also for their exhibit showing costumes from their past productions. I especially wanted to see Antony Sher's costume from Richard III, described in such detail in his book Year of the King (thanks to Kat for introducing me to it!). We did get to see the theatres - The Swan was being renovated, and Coriolanus was being struck from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre - but much to my dismay, the costume exhibit was being taken down, and we were not allowed inside to see them. I can only hope that I can find them on display sometime in the future somewhere else. Or, I can make do with this page.

From the RST, we went through the brass rubbing centre, something I might have gotten a kick out of if we were staying longer, but it did look like a fun activity for either a rainy or stiflingly hot afternoon. After that, we went to Holy Trinity Church. Mom had been to several of these places back in the 60's, and her recollection of the church was that they were able to actually take rubbings from the grave itself. Apparently, that became problematic somewhere in the meantime, because we were kept back from the gravesite by a satin rope. The church is lovely and ornate, but they are having some structural problems, and are taking donations to help repair it.

From there we went to Anne Hathaway's cottage. Again, I enjoyed the trip through the past, going from room to room looking at the old furnishings. There were lots of people, so we had to keep moving, but it wasn't unbearable, and the weather was cool and pleasant. I wonder what it's like in the peak of the heat and tourist season. We got back on the bus to continue the tour, but it was closing time for the rest of the properties, so we didn't get to visit the home of Mary Arden. But we did find out that they have begun a program of costuming the guides at the home, so I think it would have been lovely to see them. From the windows in the bus, we did see some of the guides in costume getting off their shift, but not up close, and we weren't able to talk with them. ...Next time, I guess!

We got back to town, and had enough time to visit the Falstaff's Experience -- twice! They gave us a deal for going through it once on the regular tour, and again for their after-dark Haunted tour. In one of our very few disagreements, Mom liked the day tour best, and I liked the night one.

By the time we got finished with our tours, we were feeling a bit peckish, so we went to The Garrick Inn. It's a charming looking place on the outside, and the inside did not disappoint. The walls are close, floors uneven, ceilings low, and the atmosphere was fantastic. We were a bit confused about the seating/ordering process, but we either managed to sort it out, or they took pity on us and helped us through it, I'm not sure which. The food was absolutely delicious, and the lovely wine I had to go with it left me feeling full and warm and happy for the walk back to the B&B.