Shakespeare Extravaganza!

As you know, I've been studying Shakespeare for a while now since it is the 400th anniversary of his death. To be able to get even closer to Shakespeare, I visited his birth place, Stratford-Upon-Avon! I went for 3 days with mom, Cat and Tilly and Lavinia.
The hotel me and mom stayed in was right beside the river in the middle of the town, It was also only 5 minutes or so away from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and the house where Shakespeare was born and grew up. We explored the area for a while and noticed the many tudor buildings and shops. There were lots of tourists wandering around even though it was getting pretty late. We checked out the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust so we'd be able to find it easily in the morning. Maybe we should have taken a picture of it so we could remember where it was, just like dad does! After working out how we would get there in the morning, me and mom went back to the hotel for a delicious meal at the hotel resturant. We both had some bbq chicken and ribs. Tasty!


Shakespeare's Birthplace

 On the first full day of being in Stratford-Upon-Avon, we all visited the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for two talks about Shakespeare's life and Romeo and Juliet. The first talk was about how Shakespeare grew up in Stratford, his marriage and children, and how he made a career out of being an actor, poet and playwright. I already knew most of it, but it was still very interesting!
The next talk was about Romeo and Juliet. Along with the historian telling us about the play, there were three actors who acted out some scenes of the play for us. Even though they were speaking in old English and it was a bit hard to understand them, I thought that they were really good! They really captured the audience's attention.

After the talks, we had a little walk around Stratford-Upon-Avon and had some lunch and a look around all of the shops. One that stood out the most was the Christmas shop. It was quite small but it was packed to the brim with Christmas ornaments and tree decorations. I felt like I was stepping into Santa's Workshop when I walked through the doors, it was really magical!

The beautiful Christmas Shop

I could have stayed in the Christmas shop all day but there was still a lot to see in Stratford.




Alas, poor Yorick!

Knight in Shining Armour

Next, we checked out the house Shakespeare grew up in: Shakespeare's Birthplace! The house was quite small for such a big family. Along with the Shakespeares, the servants also lived there. I don't think I could have lived there with such a big family!
Just like all Tudor houses, the floors were very uneaven. It felt like the entire house was tipping over when I stood upstairs!


Crooked floors everywhere!!

The beds were quite comfortable!

William Shakespeare's father, John, worked as a glovemaker. He often used a big room in the house as a glove workshop. All of the gloves had very long fingers. Back in the 16th and 17th century,  people would stuff wool into the fingertips of the long gloves to make their fingers seem more elegant and graceful. I just thought it looked a bit weird, but I guess a lot has changed since then!

After visiting Shakespeare's Birthplace, we had a wander around Stratford-Upon-Avon. The streets were filled with people from all over the world. Stratford is obviously a very popular attraction! We stopped by the magnificent river for a while to listen to a street performer. It was really peaceful and relaxing.

The lovely River

 I would have liked it to be a bit cooler, though; I'm not much of a fan of hot weather. I would have loved to have gone on one of the riverboats or barges that were lining the banks of the river, but mom gets really travel sick. Hopefully next time we visit, dad will be with us so he can go on the boat with me.
Once me and mom went back to the hotel, we had drinks and snacks at the hotel's riverside bar.  It was very modern with large, comfortable seats on the patio and decking. It was such a beautiful evening, it was just like being on holiday abroad.

Relaxing!

 On the third and final day of the holiday, we visited Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden's, farm. Even though it is still completely Tudor, the farm is still fully functioning.

We managed to arrive just in time to see the beginning of the Falconry Display. A man dressed up in pale green tudor clothes came out with a massive eagle owl. No one really knew what was going to happen, so I was a bit frightened when the  man walked up to the bench I was sitting on. He stood beside me for a minute until the owl flew to him. I thought the owl would land on his arm, but it decided to land on the edge of the table right infront of me! I got such a fright I nearly fell off the bench. I managed to get some good pictures, though! The falconer got the owl to fly around to a couple of other tables while he told us how the Tudors used birds for hunting. It was a shame that Cat, Tilly and Lavinia arrived too late to see the bird land on our table.

The bird flying towards me!!

I was really scared here!!

After the incredibly interactive bird display, we had a look around the most impressive building at Mary Arden's farm, the farm house. In there, two tudor servants were preparing dinner. After a little preperation, the dinner was ready and 5 tudor actors sat down to teach the audience how tudors ate and all of their table manners.

The dinner looked quite tasty and very colourful with lots of ale!

One of the most important rules of the dinner table was not putting your elbows on the table. The table was just a plank of wood balanced on stilts, so if everyone leaned on the table with their elbows, it would fall over. A lot of people now still don't like elbows on the table, even though there's no danger of the table falling over. Another rule was that you could not begin eating until the Lord of the house had begun his meal. Also, if the Lord left the table, everyone else was forced to stop eating. Back in those days, you had to finish your meals very quickly just incase the Lord left early!

Mary Arden's house that she actually lived in wasn't as impressive as the Farm House. Infact, when the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust first bought the estate, they thought that Mary Arden lived in the Farm House, not the actual house close by. Imagine if they had pulled the real house down thinking it was just a spare building, not the actual house where Mary Arden lived!
There were some great animals on the farm including pigs, cows, ducks and geese.

One of the animals at Mary Arden's Farm

My favourite resident of the Farm

A little later, the guy who did the close up falconry display was back again with a beautiful barn owl called Millie. He didn't get the bird to fly up to tables this time, just up to a raised platform attatched to a building and back down to  his arm. However, the owl was obviously feeling a bit rebelious since it decided to stay up on the platform for half of the show! It was very entertaining watching the man trying to get the owl down. he kept yelling, "Millie, Millie, come here!", but she just ignored him and at one point she looked like she was actually falling asleep!


Millie, the naughty Barn Owl

Millie decided to take a nap in the middle of the Show!



Millie flying! It was worth the wait.

After a very educational and exhausting three days, it was finally time to return home. I had a really great time in Stratford, I'd love to go back again.


Bonus: I've been coughing and sneezing none stop lately. Thanks for the cold, Tilly!