Skip to main content

Stratford-upon-Avon

We're in Shakespeare country! But first, a quick recap:
 On our way out of Wales a few days ago, we stopped at an old Welsh coal mine that has since been turned into a museum. We got to go down into the coal mine and take a tour, which was simultaneously awesome and terrifying. You couldn't bring phones down into the mines, but here are a few photos from the surface. The above photo is what the ground level of the mine looked like.
This was a charter on how the horses used underground in the mines were meant to be treated. Many horses would spend their entire lives underground.
 We put on our mining gear and were ready to head down!
 And now, Shakespeare country! This is the home where Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon.
 Shakespeare's family was well off and had the largest house on their street. Shakespeare's father was a glove-maker. Above, one of our professor's sons models a glove that might have been made by Shakespeare's father for an upper class gentlemen. Below is another picture of the Shakespeare house, just from the back.
 
Just some friends exploring a site of rich literary heritage!
 Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, owned a large Tudor farm just outside of Stratford. We visited the farm, which they keep in authentic Tudor working condition. There was a birds of prey demonstration while we were there. Here, the trainer is working with a barn owl.
 It would swoop right over our heads and get really close to us. It was the closest I'd ever been to an owl, and one of the first times I'd ever seen one in the daytime.
The owl's name is Arwen. It was so beautiful!

The trainer also brought out this eagle owl to show us. Look at those giant orange eyes! Pretty crazy!!
We've also gone to see two Shakespeare plays performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company: Taming of the Shrew, and As You Like It. I couldn't take pictures of either of those, but they were both fantastic. It's been so neat to see the sites where Shakespeare grew up, walked, and lived.
Love you all!

Comments

  1. Jen TMay 25, 2019 at 9:16 PM

    Wow! What awesome experiences you have had these last few days! That owl looks like Hedwig! I admire you for going down into the mine. I don't think I could have! Love you!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Put'em in the wash, they'll be grand"

You know it, you love it: It's... Dublin!!!!   (For those who don't know, the title of this post is from the movie "Leap Year," which takes place in Ireland and Dublin.)  First, a glimpse of the beautiful green countryside outside of Dublin and a headstone with some classic Celtic decorations. Oh, did I mention that we ended up on the side of the motorway AGAIN? Our coach blew a tire on the way to Dublin, so we chilled on the side of the highway for an hour and a half. So, for the second time in 2 weeks, we played playground games on the side of the highway -- this time, it was just in Ireland rather than in the UK. We're making it a new goal to try and get stranded on a highway in every country we visit. :)  We went to an Irish pub for dinner called the Hairy Lemon. The food was DELICIOUS, despite the unappetizing pub name. It must be a requirement that all pubs have weird names.  Today we visited Trinity College and saw the library, as well as th...
1 comment
Read more

Bronte Country and Yorkshire

Lots of cool pictures from the last couple of days but not a lot of time to post, so here's a super quick update:  The Bronte house in Haworth where Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte all grew up.  The library where the girls probably wrote some of their famous novels.  The Bronte moors covered in heather  This is called Bronte falls, and is a place that the Bronte sisters came often on their walks through the moors.  This was an art instillation along our hike that was called "Literary Landscape."  Today, we are in Yorkshire Dales National Park. This rocky outcropping is where they shot some of the scenes from Harry Potter 7, part 1.  A very different landscape than those we've been in thus far. this might just look like interesting bark at first, but those are actually a bunch of coins stuck into the wood over the years, and the tree has grown up around them.  Lots of love!
1 comment
Read more

Chatworth House

Today we toured Chatworth House. It is owned by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, who still live in part of the house. It has been passed down in their family since 1549. It is also the house that they used as the set of Pemberley in the Keira Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice.     A few photos from inside the house.  And another of the outside. :)  The gardens, once again, were probably my favorite part. Here is a maze in part of the gardens, as well as a few other pictures.  The estate is so large that they have these stone markers around the gardens that tell you how far away you are from the front door of the house. I thought this was pretty funny.  There were also several fun sculptures and art pieces in the gardens as well, like this umbrella piece.  Get ready for the biggest scandal of the century: The Lion King wasn't actually set in Africa, it was set in the Peaks District in England!...
1 comment
Read more