Stratford-Upon Avon - Shakespeare Country (Part II)

After Oxford, there was a short halt for lunch, where I tucked in some yummy Shepherd's Pie in a local English pub. An hour later, we were on our way to Stratford-Upon Avon, where literary genius William Shakespeare was born. However, our first halt was at a house that belonged to Anne Hathaway, the playwright and poet's wife.

According to legend has it, Anne was 26 and Shakespeare 19, when they were married. In keeping with the times, William used to visit Anne at her house. In those days, men dated women in their homes. This arrangement satisfied overly protective parents, who feared the prospect of sending out their daughters with young men. In the house, the couple was ensured privacy from the scrutiny of protective parents, and it was also considered safe. However, to ensure that nothing much happened on these dates (apart from conversation), the men were given wood to carve spoons out of. It's from this custom that the term "spooning" was born. The garden at the cottage was blooming!

After a few pictures, we were on our way again.In Stratford, our first stop here, was Shakespeare's family home, where he was born. Fairly comfortable, inside we got a peek into the life of a middle class family living in the town. The tapestries, the furniture, his father's work room (where he made gloves), the childrens room, the kitchen, and finally the birthing room made up the house. In the house, we got to see artifacts from the time, such as a chair in his room, toys that the children time played with, old keys, broken crockery, a crude key, and the most interesting part; a window pane.

The window pane was particularly interesting because many famous legends had inscribed their names on it. While Thomas Carlyle's signature was clear and legible, we couldn't quite decipher Sir Walter Scott's scribble. The house had also been visited by a host of other literary geniuses such as Keats and Dickens.

Guess who else I found in the house?

A bust of Rabindranath Tagore who translated some Shakespearean sonnets.

You will find a street performer dressed as Shakespeare outside the house. There are other more dramatic performers, who spew words of love to unsuspecting tourists.

Adjoining the house is a store, where we managed to buy ourselves a mug with Shakespearean insults and a tee shirt. As we still had an hour to kill, we decided to find the church where the legend was buried.

Getting around wasn't very difficult, as Stradford Upon Avon consists of just one main road that houses numerous shops and restaurants. As you walk further you approach the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, that is currently showing King Lear. If we had more time, I'd have loved to catch a show.

We avoided the crowds by the Isis where many were boating, and hoped we had more time for the shows at Shakespearience. We walked past the theatres, restaurants filled with wine sipping tourists, and old buildings from before Shakespeare's time. At the end we heard the church bells chime.

According to tradition, in this church, the famous were buried inside, at the alter. However, only for a hundred years. After this set period, their bones were transfered to Westminster, so other well-known people could be buried here. Expecting to be removed, and not wanting to leave the confines of Stratford Upon Avon, Shakespeare wrote a curse for his grave. In it he curses anyone who dares to touch his bones. He wasn't moved! Since his death, he now continues to inhabit Stratford beside his wife, daughter, and son-in-law.