CRYING RIGHT NOWWW PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME GO HOME!!! Stratford-upon-Avon is such a different place than London is. In London, especially depending on where you are, there is always at least a little bit of night life going on and a few restaurants open… at Stratford… not so much. The life in Stratford is a lot slower and seems to be more routine driven, pretty much everything but Mcdonalds and Tesco were closed and the streets were completely empty besides homeless people.
Exploring Shakespeare’s places where he lived, was birthed, courted, and died was an extremely cool and unique experience. It was really cool to see how much people cared even back then to preserve and take care of these places. The town itself was gorgeous, it was like a coastal, countryside english town and it was extremely relaxing which is something I honestly needed after pretty much getting no sleep the entirety of London. After getting to walk around all these Shakespeare places and gain more knowledge about him from guides, my teachers, and my peers, I have definitely gained more respect in him and his work and seen more about how and why he matters so much in the theatre community. Shakespeare definitely would’ve taken a different route to Stratford than we did and I know he wouldn’t have had a nice bus to take him around. There also would’ve been less roads and possibly houses when he walked to town or went to see Anne. In Anne’s Cottage I also loved learning how much lingo we got from Shakespeare’s time like , ‘how the tables have turned,” and “ board game.”
I have absolutely loved this trip and it has truly changed my life forever. I have gained friends for life and had the best teachers ever. I will absolutely treasure these memories forever and miss this experience for the rest of my life.
Theatre in London U of A 