We recently returned to the Globe Theatre in order to watch a production of The Comedy of Errors, and I believe that it is time for me to give my honest opinion on Shakespeare’s old stomping grounds. I hate it. On one hand it is really cool that we have such an accurate recreation of such an old theatre, but accuracy means nothing if the theatre is the most uncomfortable hunk of wood on the planet. We did not go through the industrial revolution just so we could subject people to backless seats and no air conditioning. Half the seats have terrible sight lines to the stage, and the only way to avoid that issue is to fight to the death in the groundling area which has no protection from the sun and requires everyone to be standing for 2+ hours. This theatre felt like it was created by a five year-old and funded by their father who doesn’t know how to say no. I wouldn’t watch the best show in the world for free in that theatre because it is impossible to justify the pain that you have to go through to enjoy anything while you are there. Although I complain about it, I will quickly mention the things I like. I do like how unique of a space it is, and the versatility of the space allows for some really fun decisions that both actors and directors can make. Aside from that, it is simply an uncomfortable outdoor theatre.

Now to talk about the show we watched. I liked the show, but I will give my complaints first. It was really long and had no intermission. These two factors along with the script’s repetitive format meant that I was just tired and bored a lot of the time. That being said, I still really liked the show. The acting was great and the actors themselves had a very strong understanding of the text. The direction of the piece and the use of the text was also very brilliant. The actors had the freedom to stretch and play with all their words, and it resulted in a very interesting and engaging play. I just wish the scenes, and subsequently the play, were much shorter. Aside from my distaste for the source material, I really did enjoy the show. It gave me hope that not all Shakespeare is boring and bad.

Alrighty, the second Globe go around wasn’t quite like the first. When we saw A Midsummers Night’s Dream I was captivated by the show, obsessed with the space, and overall had an amazing experience. But, Comedy of Errors didn’t do it for me like Midsummer did. 

Going into the show today I was super pumped because of how amazing seeing Midsummer was. I was planning on standing again but found out we had better seats and decided to try them out. The view was a lot better than previously, so I stayed sitting. At first, it was pleasant and I was enjoying the show, it felt like a theatre kid’s version of an afternoon sports game. But suddenly, the sun started creeping towards my row and I was completely engulfed. At first, it was fine, I love being outdoors and catching some rays, but it started getting really uncomfortable and it made the rest of the show drag on as I kept shifting in my seat to try not to burn. I got a little bit of heat exhaustion by the end of the play. I really regret not getting up to stand in the shade.

But after my experience, I compared myself to the people who watched Shakespeare’s shows in those same seats hundreds of years ago and realized I have it pretty easy. Even though I was uncomfortable, I had clean water, a hat to shade my face, and a hotel bed to go sit in after. Those who came to watch Shakespeare in the 16th/17th century probably lived in a constant state of heat exhaustion, but toughed it out for the same reasons I did; a love for theatre. 

Overall, the play wasn’t my favorite. It was easier to understand on stage over reading it, but I still was a little confused about who was who and what the point of what was happening was. I just think The Comedy of Errors isn’t my style of comedy, which I know is completely subjective. I think if I was standing I would have been able to pay better attention and maybe have enjoyed the show more because A. It would have been more immersive and B. I wouldn’t have been distracted by the heat. But, I still really enjoyed watching the acting. It was a pretty traditional take on the show, but I liked how they involved the audience with moments like the boats and pointing people out. The actors were also very in the moment and their reactions to everything felt sincere. It felt a lot like I was at the Globe in the 16th century watching Shakespeare’s players put on a performance. I’m grateful for the experience and hope everything I’ve seen at The Globe will influence my work in the future.

Today, our group of students set out on a day trip to the Hampton Court Palace just outside of London. The palace is located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, 12 miles (19 kilometers) southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. We took the train to London. It was a very nice and short train ride. I rested my eyes and listened to music on the way there. Once we arrived, we made our way to the palace. I was so eager to come here because my favorite tv show, Bridgerton, was filmed here. The Privy Garden serves as the exterior of Queen Charlotte’s palace, and is featured in a number of Bridgerton scenes, including as the backdrop to Viscount Anthony Bridgerton’s lavish wedding to the season’s Diamond, hosted by Queen Charlotte herself.

I was surprised at first by how small the palace was. I think this was because the entrance we went through was near a part of the palace I was unfamiliar with from pictures. However, once I later saw a map of the entire palace, I realized that the palace is quite large. It can appear small at first glance because everything is so spread out rather than cramped together like castles we see in most film or photographs. I immediately took notice of all the beautiful flowers. The grounds and the gardens of the palace were my favorite part of the entire visit. There were fields of flowers with a lovely walking path in the middle.

Once we made our way into the actual palace, we went to the gift shop to retrieve headphones and an educational listening tape so that we could learn more about the individual areas and rooms as we toured. I found it very difficult to hear the audio of the tape and it was quite annoying to wear so I simply just walked around. I enjoyed this much better for it allowed me to see what I wanted to see at my own pace and it was just more relaxing being able to browse. The first thing we saw were Henry VIII’s kitchens. Henry VIII’s Kitchens at Hampton Court Palace were the largest of Tudor England. 200 cooks, sergeants, grooms and pages worked to produce over 800 meals a day for the hungry household of Henry VIII. These kitchens would have been a personal hell and inferno for servants for over 1. 3 million logs were burned in the furnaces every year.

After touring the kitchens, we made our way into the Chapel of the palace. This chapel felt very sacred. The architecture of the ceiling was stunning. with a beautiful gold trim around blue designs. The room was mostly a deep wood with black and white tiled floors. As I walked around the Chapel, I imagined people of royalty sitting the pews for services. I was also very excited to be in the room because many iconic scenes of Bridgerton have been filmed in the Chapel.

Once having seen the ornate chapel, I made my way towards the Fountain Court. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, Fountain Court was constructed during the reign of William III and Mary II as part of the Baroque remodeling of the palace which began in 1689. With its pristine lawn and elegant central fountain, today the courtyard forms the heart of the Wren palace, and offers view up to the King’s and Queen’s State Apartments. Fountain Court appears in a number of Bridgerton scenes featuring the character of Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel), including one moment in which Queen Charlotte takes tea under an elaborate awning, surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting.

My favorite part of the palace was of course the Privy Garden. This garden has a fabulous view of the front of the palace. It was when I walked into the garden that I fully could recognize the palace from Bridgerton. I took many photographs in front of the palace with the beautiful garden fountain in the background. Amelia and I even made a Tik Tok featuring a sound from a scene in Bridgerton.

After taking many pictures in the front of the Palace, Emily and I walked around the inside of the palace to see the living quarters of the King and the Queen. It was interesting to see where they slept and did other daily activities. I also enjoyed looking at the many paintings of royalty that lived in the palace or was known during the time of the palace. There were many rooms filled with beautiful tapestries with detailed scenes sewn into them. One room was filled with deer antlers hung everywhere on the wall and that just made me realize that even after hundreds of years, men have never changed.

Emily and I began to feel tired so we then went to a coffee shop and restaurant located in the palace. I ordered a scone and a latte. The latte was so sweet and creamy. We sat with Madison, Alyssa, and Ally as they ate their lunch. Once we were all finished with our food and drinks, Madison and I decided to try out the hedge maze that the gardens had. To our surprise, it was quite difficult to escape. We laughed as we continued to turn aimlessly and confused. We met dead end after dead end until we got tired of hearing screaming school children. That really motivated us to get the heck out of there.

Alyssa met up with me and Madison and we made our way to the beautiful rose and flower garden of the palace. We ended the day on a great note by having a photoshoot with the flowers. We all felt so beautiful taking photos. Having this be our last activity at Hampton Court Palace really showed us just how beautiful the palace is. The groundskeepers work so hard to keep all the gardens maintained. Visiting Hampton Court Palace was probably one of my favorite things that I have done on this study abroad trip, and I’m so happy that we got to take so many wonderful photos of the architecture, the historical objects, and the beautiful gardens. It was such a fun time filled with poses and roses.

Exploring Hampton Court Palace was quite a trip. We started our morning with a short and sleepy train ride to a beautiful small town with a river running through it. Once we got to the palace, I was overwhelmed by the colorful view of rainbow flowers in front of the building. The building was a grand red-bricked structure surrounded by many different intricate gardens. We followed the comforting wood fire smell and started our tour in the kitchens. After touring multiple rooms and closets, including a chocolate room and a red velvet toilet, I was in disbelief that this place was real. A king having a space devoted to 24/7 luxury chocolate sounds just like a recurring dream I had as a child with a dangerous sweet tooth. There was a personal chapel adorned by blue ceilings with white stars and holy water by the door. A specific hall was said to be haunted by the fearful screaming of the fifth wife Catherine Howard. I saw many ceilings full of Verrio paintings depicting mythological stories that the King happened to relate to. I saw hundreds of paintings that had been kept amazingly well and were mostly of female courtiers. Though I understand prop meat pies were added, the palace was so strangely fresh looking. It felt more like a replica castle rather than one which was actually built in the year 1699. The paintings were too shiny, and the floors did not nearly creak enough. The gardens were beautifully kept and extremely impressive in how odd the design was. The rose garden blew me away and I couldn’t help but think of all the period movies and shows it reminded me of. The Hampton Court Palace compared to the other landmarks we have seen felt like a newly flipped fixer-upper. I would live in it if they let me, well, only if the chocolate room is available.  

June 6: While this was supposed to be our tour of Westminster Abbey, also known as the place with the iconic clock tower, this excursion was postponed. In lieu of this iconic London iconography, I took a trip to a different famous London landmark: Tower Bridge. The two sky bridges that connect the recognizable towers of this bridge have both been updated to include stretches of glass floors. It is incredible to be able to look down at the cars crossing the Thames River roughly 33 meters below (110 feet in American).

As a group, we collected to go see “2:22 A Ghost Story” in Piccadilly Circus. This may just be my favorite thing I’ve seen in London. The play left me feeling exhilarated! Plus, I got the cast’s autographs, including Sophia Bush (One Tree Hill and Chicago PD). This play felt like a bridging of traditional and modern theatre. There was a full set intricately creating an open floor plan living room/kitchen. In between scenes, a dramatic scream would play, the lights would cut, and you could see stage hands cleaning the set for the next scene.

June 7 (a.k.a. one month from my nineteenth birthday) brought another day trip. We ventured out of London to Hampton Court Palace. The Palace was first used by Henry VIII after taking it from a duke he had a falling out with. Henry VIII redid the Great Hall in honor of his second wife Anne Boleyn. There are beautiful gardens throughout the grounds including a courtyard fountain which had been landscaped for the recent coronation of Charles III. My favorite room was off of this courtyard: the chocolate kitchen. I don’t remember if it was James I or II but one of the King James had a special kitchen for chocolate which was a special drink for the aristocracy of their day. And may I just say, I definitely approve of a special chocolate kitchen.

The palace has two distinctive architecture styles. The older part of the palace, the kitchens, Henry VIII’s apartments, and the chapel, was constructed during the Tudor period. During William and Mary’s reign, they had plans to demolish Hampton Court Palace to build a new palace. However, there was not enough money so they had to settle for only redoing parts of the palace. Inside, there is another distinct style: Georgian. William and Mary were succeeded by Mary’s younger sister Anne, but sadly none of Anne’s children survived to adulthood. To find the next monarchy, high powered men went digging in the family tree desperate to find some worthy Protestants. The Hanovers (i.e. George I and II and III (this last one is the one in Hamilton)) were invited over from Germany to take the thrown. George I and his son George II with his wife Queen Caroline would reside in Hampton Court. George II was the last monarch to reside in Hampton Court. It is kind of crazy to think that this grand palace was last used by the monarch before the Revolutionary War.

Hampton Court Palace was first opened to the public by Queen Victoria in the 1800s. Over the last (almost) two hundred years, the English government has been working to restore the palace and the artifacts stored inside. There is a tactile workshop on the site that works of refurbishing items like the beds; they work to keep diligent notes on their restoration efforts so that others will be able to restore them in another fifty years preserving history for years to come.

A cool thing that I got to see is the Self-Portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi. It hangs in the art gallery near the Georgian apartments. I learned about Artemisia and studied this painting in my art history class.

I loved getting to walk through on the audio tour. One of the most shocking facts I learned is that Katherine Howard (the Katherine who lost her head) was not even twenty-one when she died. Katherine was the fifth and youngest wife of Henry VIII. While I knew the rough story of the six wives of Henry VIII (shout out to the catchy pattern and of course SIX), I had no idea that Katherine Howard was so young when she became queen.

I think it would have been quite intimidating to be at court in front of any of these monarchs. Despite England being a constitutional monarchy, the kings were still able to exercise the tempers to a great extent. It would be cool to roam the palace when it was inhabited in history but while the monarchs were away. Although, maybe during the 18^th century for sanitation reasons.

I still find it very strange walking the grounds of people who have lived before me. When I was in Bath, it took me a while to realize that the cobblestones I was tripping over were also probably equally frustrating for someone someday. In a way, it’s a bittersweet human connection of knowing that something can withstand the tests of time, but at the same time sad to me that there are probably so many stories that won’t ever be told because they can’t last as long as brick or stone statues.

Regardless, when walking through the palace, I was amazed by how beautiful the entire collection of buildings was. Between the gardens, the maze, and the multiple sections of the palace grounds, the landscape looked like a small city. There were a grand collection of architectural styles that showed throughout the palace grounds. Most buildings had a standard style and as the palace added different sections, the style changed.

The Tudor section of the palace were very unique to me. The color itself stood out the most to me. Most historical buildings in the US are white and have a similar style as they were built in the late 1700s and early 1800s. But, the variety of architectural styles is seen throughout Hampton Court Palace due to the earliest editions starting in the 1400s all the way up to the mid-1700s. The Tudor section of the palace was almost rust or brick red and had multiple peaks that were tower-like. When I think of a castle, I think mostly of this time period. There’s plenty of windows and even the fence-like top of a castle. There’s a particular highlight of white in the details of the exterior as well. On the interior, there is much attention to detail which falls in line with the Tudor period. The ceilings of the Tudor palace are intricately designed with wood frames and accents. The furniture is wooden while the walls are stone. There is a contrast in colors that I find very visually appealing as well.

When William and Mary moved into the palace, their edition was baroque-themed due to the Restoration period, and much of their influence is seen mainly in the gardens that remain today. The Great Fountain and the Privy Garden were created during their stay to accompany their new palace addition. The attention to detail didn’t stop with the Tudor period, but the detail moves to wood. The crown moulding and decadent tapestry/art/furniture reflect very different vibes as the other parts of the palace. My favorite edition though have to be the gardens.

I think I walked the gardens longer than I walked the palace. I loved walking through the great kitchen, the old dining hall, and the chapel (which I am told happens to be the filming location of season two of Bridgerton), my favorite thing by far is the greenery and views of the gardens. There were so many varieties of flowers and other plants that just brought a smile to my face. The second we walked onto the palace grounds, there was a collection of different colored flowers that I was very eager to run through. Although, when we were leaving, when walking through the flowers, the number of bees grew exponentially.

Nevertheless, I got lost in the very small maze which is a very confusing feeling. I walked in so sure I would get through the maze easier than the children tour groups…. I was sadly mistaken. The roses that climbed the walls were larger than my palm. There was a tree that had flowers growing straight towards the sky on the top-side of each branch, which is something straight out of a Dr. Suess book. I wish I could have explored longer than I did. I realized after leaving the grounds to get lunch that I should have stayed a little longer. But, I did have a very yummy “cheese toastie” and experienced the sweetest old couple with the spunkiest old dog in an antique shop nearby so I had fun regardless.