Travel Diary Britain ’06 – 4th entry – 20th July 2006
After getting up at around eight this morning I went for a little walk in the city centre of Birmingham Britain London Manchester London Birmingham Stratford Avon , the town of Shakespeare
Upon arrival there I left my car at a car park and started exploring the town on foot. Small shops and a lot of Tudor houses there, pretty much how I’d imagine the cliché of a small English town. I kinda liked it. Then I went off in search of the house in which Shakespeare had been born but despite its apparent importance as a tourist attraction there weren’t too many signs showing the way and so it took me almost an hour to find it but since I saw even more of the town while looking for it, that didn’t bother me in the slightest.
Finally I managed to find it, however, paid the admission fee and entered. The house where Shakespeare had been born is quite an hold structure and had fallen into disrepair in the 19th century but today it’s restored as closely as possible to the original state, including furniture from Shakespeare’s time which I liked quite much. What I didn’t like so much though was that photography was prohibited inside and that they had a whole army of attendants enforcing that. But as there were still some unattended rooms I managed to get a few shots, haha.
After having seen the centre of interest for any Shakespeare fan on a pilgrimage and buying some stuff in the souvenir shop I stepped out again and happened across Stratford Library, finally a chance for me to go on the internet and that I did, for a whole hour. Afterwards I went down to the River Avon where the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is situated and there I found out that for tonight a performance of Romeo and Juliet was scheduled and decided to go for it. I took out some pamphlets as well and moved back to the vicinity of Shakespeare’s birthplace where I purchased a stack of postcards and settled down at a café to write on them. I wrote a whole 13 postcards which took me almost an hour and then I posted them at the nearby post office. Still having two hours left before the play would begin, I decided to rent a rowing boat on theAvon . Now, I’d never rowed a classical rowing boat before but I soon got the hang of it and was enjoying myself tremendously. This section of the River Avon is absolutely beautiful and I really thought it was no miracle at all that Stratford
In fact I found the place so inspiring that while rowing, though of course no match for the verses of the great master, I wrote a short poem myself:
Oh, gentle summer breeze,
Rippling theAvon ’s waters today,
Carry off my thoughts and yearnings,
To my love so far away.
Returning to the river bank in that poetic mood I went back to the theatre where I queued to buy a ticket when all of a sudden a guy with a thick American accent approached me and offered me a ticket for free. It turned out that a friend of that guy, a psychologist fromNew York Bath Stonehenge tomorrow.
The city of Birmingham in the morning hours
Stratford-upon-Avon, a few hours later
Shakespeare's birthplace...
...with its old, reconstructed interior
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre that exclusively stages Shakespeare plays
Rowing and versifying on the River Avon
...surrounded by curious birds
Upon arrival there I left my car at a car park and started exploring the town on foot. Small shops and a lot of Tudor houses there, pretty much how I’d imagine the cliché of a small English town. I kinda liked it. Then I went off in search of the house in which Shakespeare had been born but despite its apparent importance as a tourist attraction there weren’t too many signs showing the way and so it took me almost an hour to find it but since I saw even more of the town while looking for it, that didn’t bother me in the slightest.
Finally I managed to find it, however, paid the admission fee and entered. The house where Shakespeare had been born is quite an hold structure and had fallen into disrepair in the 19th century but today it’s restored as closely as possible to the original state, including furniture from Shakespeare’s time which I liked quite much. What I didn’t like so much though was that photography was prohibited inside and that they had a whole army of attendants enforcing that. But as there were still some unattended rooms I managed to get a few shots, haha.
After having seen the centre of interest for any Shakespeare fan on a pilgrimage and buying some stuff in the souvenir shop I stepped out again and happened across Stratford Library, finally a chance for me to go on the internet and that I did, for a whole hour. Afterwards I went down to the River Avon where the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is situated and there I found out that for tonight a performance of Romeo and Juliet was scheduled and decided to go for it. I took out some pamphlets as well and moved back to the vicinity of Shakespeare’s birthplace where I purchased a stack of postcards and settled down at a café to write on them. I wrote a whole 13 postcards which took me almost an hour and then I posted them at the nearby post office. Still having two hours left before the play would begin, I decided to rent a rowing boat on the
In fact I found the place so inspiring that while rowing, though of course no match for the verses of the great master, I wrote a short poem myself:
Oh, gentle summer breeze,
Rippling the
Carry off my thoughts and yearnings,
To my love so far away.
Returning to the river bank in that poetic mood I went back to the theatre where I queued to buy a ticket when all of a sudden a guy with a thick American accent approached me and offered me a ticket for free. It turned out that a friend of that guy, a psychologist from
The city of Birmingham in the morning hours
Stratford-upon-Avon, a few hours later
Shakespeare's birthplace...
...with its old, reconstructed interior
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre that exclusively stages Shakespeare plays
Rowing and versifying on the River Avon
...surrounded by curious birdsposted by Global Bernie | 2:10 PM
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