Simply Me: Shakespeare Yields Greatness

Oh my goodness today was absolute perfection. I woke up singing and my spirits didn't dampen one bit all day. In fact, they soared higher and higher and it was truly delightful.

Today we visited Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of the great William Shakespeare. It was such a wonderful day that I'm having a difficult time finding the words to describe it. I won't launch into another explanation as to why I love the author of the day, but I do love Shakespeare, and I developed a new-founded reverence for him today.

The coach was supposed to arrive at a quarter after seven this morning, but, due to a miscommunication somewhere along the line, it showed up at nine (I think. It may have been a little bit later). Those of us going to Paris after the program ends took advantage of this in-between time and purchased Chunnel tickets (this is getting real!). Then, because we're served lunch, not breakfast, on travel days, Kenna and I walked to Tesco to get some yogurt. We found this life-changing strawberry pomegranate lasse (an Indian yogurt drink), but that wasn't the best thing that resulted from that trip; as it turns out, Kenna and I are going to be remaining in Europe for the same amount of time after the program ends and neither of us have travel buddies (after the few days I'll be in Paris). So we're travel buddies now and I am so ridiculously happy about it! As soon as we figured that out we both felt a huge burden of stress roll off our shoulders. God is so good.

After returning from the store we sat around and waited at the Centre for a bit longer. Then, we walked across the street to wait in front of the gates to the Russian Embassy, where the coach would, hopefully, arrive in a few minutes. We probably waited a good half hour or so, but it wasn't all that bad. I mean, the gardener at the embassy didn't seem too comfortable with us in front of his wall, and it was bit chilly, but it was fun being with our group.

When the coach arrived we had a two-hour ride ahead of us so I sat down and completely engrossed myself in my book. I haven't done that for far too long, and that has been one of the best things about this trip. Many other girls slept and, after I finished my book, I joined the dozing team. I woke up a few minutes before we arrived at our first destination: the Mary Arden farm.

I loved that farm so much. There was a beautiful flower garden, a horse, owls, and dress-ups. The five of us found the dress-ups and spent a good deal of time getting outfits put together for a picture. Another girl in the program took our pictures and one of the employees at the farm was so delighted with them that she asked us to put them on their Facebook page. Sadly, I don't have any of these pictures on my camera because my battery was dying (though I managed to stretch out its life for most of the day). Those pictures are on Kenna's phone.

We watched a falconry show (the bird being displayed was a beautiful eagle owl) and then we had to board the coach again so we could go to the birthplace of Shakespeare.

Shakespeare's birthplace was cool, but it was over-crowded with an Asian tour group and I found myself jostled out of place quite often. I did snap some pictures, though, and I'm very glad I went. After the birthplace we had to exit through, of all things, a bookshop. I almost made it through empty-handed, but then a small book caught my attention and I'm bringing home Quotable Shakespeare. I did manage to leave with a lighter load than Lizzie, though, who purchased Shakespeare's complete works.

We had some time to visit other Shakespearean sites in the area and so Lizzie, Sarah, and I walked off in search of them. We ended up touring Nash house (the home of Shakespeare's oldest daughter and her husband, who was a physician). The lady who met us at the front desk led us into an adjacent room and gave a delightful presentation about the house, surrounding homes, and the life of Shakespeare, his daughter and her husband, and wealthy families in general during that time. Did you know that the color black was a sign of wealth back then?

After touring the house we found our way to the backyard and I fell in love with it. It was large and beautiful and smelled of flowers, grass, rain, and the perfect dirt. It was the sweetest and most wonderful smell and I hope to find it again.

Alas, due to a shortage of time, we weren't able to linger in the gardens for long. We made our way to the Holy Trinity church to visit Shakespeare's grave. It cost 50 pence and was well worth the trifle. As I stood in front of the graves of Shakespeare and his entire family I was filled with quiet awe. It seems silly for me to feel so altered after visiting a grave site in a church, but altered I did feel. Someone wrote those plays and his works immortalize him, but somehow the author was distant. I could recognize the greatness, but I hadn't seen what the creator himself saw. I honestly don't know how to put it into words other than to say that Shakespeare became concrete to me today, and I'm so grateful I was able to walk where he walked and to see some of what he saw.

We then walked along the river to get back to the coach and ran across a theater. Lizzie was like a kid in a candy shop, but she managed to keep herself in remarkable control. She did take lots of pictures of the costumes on display, and she hugged a wall, though. So there were small fissures in her controlled countenance.

Our last destination in Stratford was Anne Hathaway's cottage. That was a beautiful place and I wish we had had more time to wander around in the extensive, and breathtaking, gardens. There was a path leading into the woods and I walked along it for a time until it was time to get back to the group. I could have stayed walking in that wood for hours.

And then, just like that, we were on the coach and headed back to the Centre.

I had a smile on my face for almost the entire two-hour coach ride home. Lizzie and I sat together and talked, and eventually our conversation consisted of more shared silences than sentences, and it was a beautiful and comfortable thing. Lizzie fell asleep in my lap and I gazed out the window at the fields and trees. It was cozy and lovely and I didn't even mind how uncomfortable the coach is getting, really. As I sat and looked around me I was filled with so much love for these girls I've been learning and growing with. I'm so glad I ended up in this particular program and that I was roomed with these particular girls. Most of all, I'm glad I found this friendship.

You only wish your banana-mike keraoke concerts were as cool as ours.

Lizzie as a little Elizabethan farm boy.

At the farm. I think I will miss all the green when I go back home.

Kenna and Caitlin. Somehow, Kenna and Caitlin always end up in dress-up pictures together, and, somehow, Kenna is always the man.

Chloe. She's pretty darn adorable.

In the flower garden. I'm making a virtual one to take home.

Kris I saw this and I thought of you.

During the show, the woman had her owl fly over to and land on several tables. Mine was one of those tables.

The birthplace of William Shakespeare

Glass window from the time period (I believe). There are so many names scratched into this window. It's pretty cool, actually.

Caitlin is the next Shakespeare. The cookies has chosen her.

This is my very favorite sign in existence and I'm kind of wishing I had purchased one.

Just walking down a street in Stratford. The great fire of London didn't affect these buildings (obviously, because Stratford is quite far away from London) and it's cool to see so many in tact and utilized today.

In the Nash home.

We're so excited to be here!

This fireplace was enormous. This home was built to showcase wealth and this fireplace is an example of that.

A bedroom in the Nash home

Do you see why I fell in love today?

Sarah and Lizzie

The graveyard leading up to the church

It really is a beautiful building.

There it is, behind the woman in white.

Words cannot describe what I felt here.

The river

It is a lovely river.

Food boats: because food trucks simply aren't classy enough.

I believe this was taken outside of the bookstore at the birthplace.

Anne Hathaway's cottage (Dr. Durham is in the bottom right of the picture).

I wish everyone could see the gardens as they were today for themselves.

Inside the cottage

The fire extinguisher was installed just after news of the Great Fire of London reached Stratford in 1666.

How Anne Hathaway would have been dressed for her wedding.

More of the gardens

Kenna and Caitlin

And this is where my camera battery died. The rest of the pictures are from my phone which has a decent camera for a phone, but I wish there had been a bit more juice in my camera battery.