Feb.21st: Stratford-Upon-Avon

For some reason, whether I just didn’t notice it much or perhaps it didn’t really bother me, Tennis Courts is getting awfully loud every night. This semester I can tell I haven’t slept very well because Brit’s and Americans are way loud outside my window. Although I love where my room is, it is somewhat of a nuisance at night. On Friday night, everyone was either having a party or coming back from the pubs/clubs being extremely loud! From all the noise, I didn’t get to sleep till 2:30am. Now, I wouldn’t be complaining this much if I didn’t have to wake up at 5 am the next morning.

I woke up at 5am on Saturday the 21st of February to go to Stratford with a couple SIE friends. I was all ready and was waiting in centre court waiting for the rest of our group to come so we could take off for the train station. After waiting about ten minutes, still missing Geoff, Marcie, and Michelle, we decided to split up and track them down. Even though I knew it was really early and I wouldn’t like if someone rang my doorbell at 6am in the morning, I was cranky and upset for not getting sleep that I didn’t care and rang Geoff’s doorbell anyway. He answered within seconds still wearing his pajamas and his eyes were half open. He said set his alarm wrong and that he’ll meet us in Stratford. As I made my way down the steps of block 20, I noticed that Kristin and Ashley Miller were also empty handed and reported that Marcie and Michelle we more likely going to meet us there as well. We got to the train station just in time to catch the 24 past train. It only cost 3.95…FANTASTIC! It was a little over 40minute train ride till we arrived in Stratford. The whole reason why we came to Stratford so early was to get the cheap student tickets to “The Tempest” playing at the Courtyard Theatre. So we hurried to the theatre to get in the queue. Since Stratford is a little town, it took a few minutes. We were the first one’s there and at first we were a little nervous about this being the right place, but soon other’s showed. After we were there only about 20 minutes, around the corner as fast as lightning, was Geoff! We waited in line till 9:30am when the box office opened, purchases our 5 pound tickets and took off to see the Holy Trinity Church where William Shakespeare is buried. It was a cute little church and it was even more precious when you walked in. An older woman was sitting at a rickety little wooden desk with a pad of paper, brochures, and a bowl of money. She looked up at us with pleasant eyes and told us the price to see Shakespeare’s grave. It was 50 pence. After a few pictures, we left to go and get a little snack. We went to “Anne Hathaway’s Tea House’ to get scones and tea. After our warm, yummy scones we went to Shakespeare’s Birthplace, the statue garden of all his famous characters, and then back to the Courtyard theatre to catch the show. It was a fantastic performance and really interesting because it was ‘The African Tempest.’ It was only a two hour show, so we got out a little after 3:30. Marcie, Michelle, Kristin, and Ashley left to catch the train home while Geoff and I went to Starbucks to wait for Theatre Tour of the Courtyard that was at 5. The Theatre tour was neat, although I was told things I already knew about theatres. After the little tour, which was free, we got on the train and headed home. We arrived a little after 7:15. I ate some dinner, got ready for bed, and was asleep by ten.
Stratford was a fun little town and I’m going to be going back in May, right before I come home, to see “Julius Caesar”. It’s 8:45pm on a Sunday evening and I still have a business test to study for, snap.

Cheers!

Kirsten