I got a semi-early start this morning. Had a traditional english breakfast before heading into the village to start my tour. The breakfast consisted of toast, eggs over easy, bacon that looks exactly like ham and pork and beans.
After breakfast, I headed into the village to begin the Shakespeare tour. I knew this would be the easiest way to see a couple of Shakespeare’s properties since they are located outside of the village. I wanted to make sure I got to see everything before the play tonight. I stopped at Nash’s House and New Place. Nash’s House was the home of William Shakespeare’s neighbor and his grand-daughter’s husband. Shakespeare’s house is no longer standing. It was torn down by someone who owned the property and didn’t like all the tourists trying to get onto his property because Shakespeare had once lived there. I walked behind the back part of the house and took a photo of an english knot garden.
Then I headed to Hall’s Croft which is where Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna lived with her husband. I walked down to Holy Trinity Church which is located right by the water. I wanted to find Shakespeare’s grave. It turns out his grave is located inside the church and you were not allowed to take any photos. I would have tried to take a photo but there were too many people walking around and I didn’t want to get caught. After walking around the church, I headed back to the bus and went to Anne Hathaway’s cottage. The cottage has a thatched room and it turns out they still have thatchers in the U.K. I believe the driver said there were between 600 -800 thatchers still in the U.K. How would you like to make thatched roofs for a living? My last stop on the tour was Mary Arden’s house. Mary Arden was William Shakespeare’s mother. It turns out the house that I walked through wasn’t Mary Arden’s house after all. I guess the trust that owns the Shakespeare properties found this out about nine months ago. Her house is located a little further down the road.
Headed back to the room for a bit before going to see the play tonight. Headed down to the Royal Shakespeare’s Theatre at 6:00 to pick up my ticket. Thought the play would only be two hours long. It ended up being four hours long with two 15 minute breaks. So much for going to sleep early which means the play won’t be over until 11:00. The play was amazing and I am so glad I went. Samuel West played the part of Hamlet. His performance was great!! I clapped along with everyone else when the play was over. The performers came out at least four different times because of the clapping which showed how much we liked the play. The play was a little different then I expected. I was expecting there to be sets but the only props used was a couple of chairs, a mirror and lighting.
Leaving for London at 7:05 in the morning.
