On Friday afternoon we arrived in Stratford-Upon- Avon, and we did our first walking tour into town. I was very surprised when I saw everything was closed and it wasn’t even sundown. It’s a very quiet town and everything is very walkable from each other. London is so big, loud, and smelly while Stratford is the exact opposite. Being here makes me feel like I’m in Hannah Montana the movie, but without the farm and trucks.

On Saturday we explored Shakespeare’s house and I was quite shocked seeing how it’s in the town center. Also tripped me up because there was a subway right next door. (I wonder if subway was there back then if William would eat that up? Silly question to ponder about for a sec.) Today we also saw Anne Hathoway’s cottage, they made it seem like Shakespeare lived so far away when he literally didn’t. It’s just hard for me to believe that he wrote most of his plays here. I feel like I would get distracted by all the things happening in the house at once.

My impressions of England did change a tad since being here. I thought it was going to be like another New York, and I was so wrong. Yes, London is a big city, but I don’t feel scared going out on my own like I would in a big city. The tube makes everything so accessible and I can go literally anywhere in this city in thirty minutes tops. The people driving on the left still makes no sense to me, but atlas I’ll be home soon where things are normal. On this trip I had the pleasure seeing at least sixteen shows since arriving here four weeks ago. I believe one hundred percent this trip got me excited about theatre again. Seeing these plays, musicals, and concerts has been so incredible and has sparked ideas in my head about the future. A couple shows I was able to see have been Hamilton, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ain’t too proud, Jim and Joule, How to succeed in Business, and many more. I also did get really lucky and was able to attend Harry Styles’ Love on Tour and Beyoncés’ Renaissance Tour, so freaking cool. Tickets here are so much cheaper than in the states.

This study abroad has honestly been the best time of my life. I would recommend it to literally everyone. If I could go every year I think I would, cause of how much fun I’ve had. I’ve met some incredible friends on this trip that I will definitely keep in contact with. It’s also cool seeing every movie that is set in London and saying “oo I’ve been there!!”. So grateful that I got to come experience theatre in London. See y’all back on campus in the Fall, bye!

Stratford-upon-Avon is a wonderful little town that I would love to spend days exploring. To be honest, my experience was a bit hindered because I felt super sick for our first full day here, but I felt better today and was able to take in the town more thoroughly. Stratford has a slower lifestyle than London and I really enjoy the pace. It reminds me a lot of Fayetteville, as there’s still so much to do but everythings not bustling. Exploring Shakespeare’s old stomping grounds has been a great experience, and I can see how he would be inspired by the beauty here. Anne Hathaways Cottage was one of my favorite places we’ve been to in Stratford, the gardens were overflowing with life. Getting there through tiny paths covered in plants was really fun, it felt like we were going on a little adventure. I also really enjoyed the Royal Shakespeare Company, even though I didn’t catch a lot of the plot of As You Like It, the performance was engrossing and I had a great time.

Overall, my time on this study abroad was amazing and I would definitely do it again in a heartbeat. London is my favorite big city I’ve been to and I love how people in Europe live their lives. Everyone seems to enjoy the little things more here and it makes me really happy. After seeing so many shows, one of the most important things I’ve learned from an actor’s point of view is the importance of being yourself. We have seen so many diverse people onstage, and the reason all of these actors have been so profound is that they are truly bringing a piece of themselves to every role they play. The theatre in London has been so unique and meaningful to me, even though I saw so many shows I wish I could keep watching more. To everyone on the trip, I’m so glad I’ve gotten to know you all, and hope we can stay in touch back in the States!

The day has finally come. It is our last full day on our trip before we leave for the airport tomorrow and make our way back home. We have spent the last few days in the beautiful town of Stratford Upon Avon, William Shakespeare’s birthplace.

We took a coach from London to Stratford. On our way, we made a stop in the town of Oxford to see the historical sites of the University that is located there. The Univeristy holds forty-four colleges. When we first arrived in Oxford, I stopped at a bookstore with some other students. The bookstore sold books for $5 or less. I just couldn’t pass up a good deal like that so I bought three books. I don’t know how I will fit them in my luggage.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a tour given to us by a bumbly and cheery tour guide. He provided us with so much adequate information about the area. The University of Oxford is roughly 922 years old, making it the second oldest University in the world. It was so wonderful to see the ancient architecture of all the college buildings. Fun fact: many scenes from Harry Potter we’re filmed at Oxford. In fact, Harry Potter’s very own Emma Watson attended Oxford. Many actors and actresses have attended the school such as Tolkein and C.S. Lewis. One can actually find the location in Oxford that inspired Lewis to write The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

While many notable famous people have attended Oxford, females were forbidden from attending the institute for a very long time. It wasn’t until 1878 that women were allowed to come and study at the University of Oxford! They were finally allowed to be awarded degrees in 1920 and it was only in 1974 that all colleges let women enter and stay. Oxford University now has roughly even numbers of male and female undergraduates. Another interesting facts about the historical restrictions of Oxford is that up to 200 years ago, the only subject you could study at the University of Oxford was religion until the curriculum finally expanded to all subjects.

One of my favorite places that I saw at Oxford was The Bridge of Sighs. Replicating the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, northern Italy, one of Cambridge University’s famous bridges is the Bridge of Sighs. Being rivals, Oxford University wanted their own Bridge of Sighs and therefore built their own in 1913. The reason that I loved this place so much is that I saw so many newly weds taking photos and driving off in nice cars beneath the bridge. Their friends and families stood under with flower confetti to sprinkle over them as they celebrated new love.

Oxford was a nice change of scenery compares to London. I think I could definitely live in Oxford because it is much more calmer and is filled with more young people. Another reason that I enjoyed Oxford so much more is because it has so much more charm. Much of the charm in London is slightly tainted due to the fact of overpopulation and the significant amount of graffiti and litter everywhere. I didn’t feel like I had to bump into people or be as aware of my safety as I did in London. I enjoyed seeing all the shops in London that nestled around the Univeristy. My favorite place in all of Oxford is the Blackwell bookstore. As an avid book lover and of course an English major, this place was like a dream come true for me. It is the largest bookstore in the entire world. The store was built in 1879 and has a large basement filled with textbooks and other various works of literature. There are 3 miles of shelving and 150,000 books. Yet next door is the Bodleian Library which stores all of the University’s books. This was made possible by the Weston family who donated 23 million British pounds to build and renovate the Bodleian library. This store has 7 million books. Yet the University of Oxford has many more books than this, and these are stored in various places outside of the city.

Oxford was a lovely place to visit, especially as a writer. It was so amazing to see how all of my greatest inspirations for writing such as C.S. Lewis and Tolkein attended the school. I would definitely visit Oxford again for it is a very serene place to explore with it’s changing history and irresistible charm.

After visiting Oxford, we made our way to Stratford where we are staying until Monday. We are staying in a nice Bed and Breakfast. I love it so much more than the hotel we stayed at in London because everything here feels so much more intimate. While Stratford is also very old, it has a more modern feel than Oxford in my opinion. Stratford is also a much different environment compared to London. It is much more call and quiet. It is so small, making it very walkable for visitors. We spent out first evening in Stratford by touring the town. Surprisingly, the town shuts down at an early time of 6:30 so not much was open. We did enjoy some great burgers at a restaurant however. I tried a mac and cheese burger which was pretty good. I also learned that they have something here called a Cat Cafe. No, they do not serve you cats to eat and let you take one home in a doggy bag for left overs. You get to play with cats as you eat and take one “to-go” if you like one enough. What a strange, but fun concept.

The next day we visited the birthplace of Shakespeare. We toured the bedrooms and living quarters of the home. There was a small twin bed in one room and we learned that Shakespeare and his two other brothers slept in that one small bed. I’ll never complain again about my sleeping arrangements. Another interesting fact I learned is that women could not afford to give birth on the bed so they would give birth on a birthing chair in front of a “nice warm fireplace” as the tour guide put it. Doesn’t sound nice to me. After touring the cottage, we went to the church where Shakespeare was baptized and is buried.The building felt very sacred and had ornate, detailed architecture all along its walls.

Later in the evening, we viewed a showing of As You Like It at the Royal Shakespeare Company. The acting was very good, but I found it quite difficult to follow the plot, having bit read the play previously. I loved how the intensity of costumes and stage set gradually evolved throughout the running time of the play however. This was probably my least favorite play in the trip which kind of disappointed me because it was our last show to see. There were many great take aways from the play though. What made this play so unique and special was that it was sort of a reunion of the same actors who put on the play in the 1970s. They are much older now and it has been years since they’ve seen each other. Audience members could feel the sentimental emotions of the actors as they went about the stage. While I enjoyed the acting and the set of the forest at the end, I longed for more from the play, technicality-wise.

Today was a great start to our last full day in Stratford. We started off by visiting Anne Hathaway’s cottage. Not to be confused with the icon of The Princess Diaries. Anne Hathaway was married to William Shakespeare. She was actually much older than William which would have caused a lot of controversy. She was 26 and he was 18. However, she was pregnant which was not uncommon so long as women married in the church after being impregnated. Anne Hathaway’s Cottage is a thatched house nestled in an idyllic cottage garden. Anne was born there sometime around 1556 and it is assumed she stayed there until her marriage to Shakespeare in 1582. I was surprised to learn during my tour, however, that the Hathaway family lived in the house until 1911. My favorite part was walking around all of the beautiful gardens that surrounded the house. It was a nice way to begin the last day of our trip.

Stratford has been a lovely place to visit. It has been so interesting to think that I am walking the same streets where Shakespeare walked. I loved exploring the rich history of the town and you can tell that the locals have a lot of pride in it being the birthplace of such a profound writer. There are so many gift shops that revolve around the work of Shakespeare. There was even a man dressed in a frightening Shakespeare’s Ghost costume outside of the Shakespeare House. I really enjoyed this town and I think everyone who comes to England should pay a visit to it. I don’t think I will come again if I ever return to Englsnd because you only need a couple of days to see most of the town. Overall, this visit was a highlight of the trip.

As I reflect on my time during this trip, it amazes me to see how much I have learned. I have enjoyed making new friendships with people while studying theatre and London along the way with them. My favorite memory from the trip is seeing Les Mis with Brittney. They will tell you that I cried so much during and after the show. My least favorite memory was losing my wallet. Thankfully, I was able to get my debit card replaced with a new one and get a new oyster card so I could have access to the transit in London. My impressions of Englsnd and visiting overseas have changed a lot from my initial thoughts prior to the trip. Traveling is not as difficult as it seems. Figuring out the tube was so much easier than I expected it to be. I was surprised by how accessible everything was in London. I wasn’t surprised by all the great food because I already knew that London is the foodie capitol of the world. I was surprised however, by the lack of charm in many areas of London. Don’t be fooled. It is not quite like the movies. London feels a lot more modern than how films portray it. While there are many great locally-owned shops and restaurants, there are many chains as well. I also was surprised by the amount of graffiti, litter, and smoke everywhere. This was a slight disappointment for it ruined the charm of so many areas. For example, the blue door featured in the movie, Notting Hill had graffiti on it. I also visited a location featured in the movie, About Time that was covered in graffiti. Despite all of this, London was still a beautiful city. My favorite place there is Nona Selena, the restaurant across from our hotel that we are at every other night. They have the best lemon cello spritz ever. When I am old in a nursing home with dementia, the only thing I will remember is that amazing restaurant. I am so glad I got to have this experience. It was a great way to see someeplace else besides America for the first time.

While this trip has been amazing and one that I will never forget, I am ready to go home. This trip has felt like forever. I expected it to fly by because they say that time flies when you’re having fun. I have been having such a great time but 28 days is a long time to be away from what is familiar to you. I miss ice and most of all-AC. I am so excited to see my.family and friends to tell them about all my adventures and, (insert sarcasm) hear how miserable their lives have been without me. I am so grateful for this opportunity and it is a memory I will never forget. While I sometimes wish I could travel more and see all of the wonders that England has to offer, I am also reminded that all good things must come to an end.

Stratford Upon Avon is vastly different from London in a multitude of ways. It is a much smaller, countryside town that has a variety of food options and overall feels clean. I feel comfortable when I walk the streets, and I feel happy to be outside of the big city. If there is one thing I learned, it is that I am not a city boy. Although Europe has not been my friend, Stratford Upon Avon is the first time I have trusted this country. It doesn’t want to hurt me like London did, but it isn’t annoyingly kind either. It is the perfect blend of realistic and fantastical. To be able to explore the hometown of Shakespeare has been a very information filled adventure. I have seen so many parts of the great bard’s life that add so much depth to his upbringing and even to the plays he has written. His birthplace was disgustingly claustrophobic, and the town of Avon wasn’t the most inspiring place to be writing. Seeing the world that surrounded Shakespeare gives a lot of necessary detail to the sometimes vague worlds he can create. It was also very interesting to me to see how normal of a family he grew up with. His father, John, was a simple glove maker within the town, and Shakespeare grew up sharing the house with his 8 siblings. Shakespeare’s first step towards stardom was when his father passed and left the house in William’s name, so he turned it into an Inn and became relatively wealthy. Along with that, he both bought and rented out a theatre, so he had both the time and money to write. The worst part of this weekend was the bus trip we took to get here, but I can only imagine how bad it was for Shakespeare to get in and out of this town. RIP.

Today is our last full day in Stratford Upon – Avon, so far we have gone to Shakespeare’s birthplace, we went to where he used to go school but unfortunately we were not able to go in without purchasing a ticket, and then we went to see Shakespeare’s grave in Trinity church. Last night we went to go see As you like it, and I have to say I wasn’t a fan. However, I did really like all of the tech aspects of the show like the lighting and the set and especially when the band came down from the ceiling and when the back wall lifted up, but I had a hard time understanding what was happening in the show, and I couldn’t hear them very well.

The city of London and Stratford Upon – Avon feel so different from one another, London is very busy, very loud, and there are people everywhere to where you feel like you have no space. I feel so much more relaxed in Stratford Upon – Avon to where I can just walk and look at things and I don’t feel like I’m holding anyone up. I like how quiet it gets in Stratford Upon – Avon it’s a nice change from the rush of London. Something else I really like about Stratford Upon – Avon is that the town is small and very walkable. London was walkable but everything was so spread out it took a while to get to where we needed to go. I think that Stratford Upon – Avon is a very good place for someone to get some writing done, whether that is a play, musical, book, poem, or sonnet. It is very quiet here and I’m sure in Shakespeare’s time there were far less people than there are right now and there were no cars yet, which create most of the noise here. I think that town is very pretty it is sort of old mixed with new, I can tell that some of the things here are still older, but some of the things have been replaced. 

It’s been really cool to be able to see Shakespeare’s birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, I loved getting to see how different the houses were from then until now  It was also cool to be in exactly the same place where these people that we’ve learned so much about used to live. I don’t think that I would like the beds though, they seem really lumpy like they would hurt my back. I really liked learning about how they lived back in the day, something I found very interesting was that sometimes they could fit up to 4 kids in one bed that looked just a little bit bigger than a twin bed I was very impressed. Overall, I have really enjoyed the time we have spent in Stratford Upon – Avon I think that it is a great ending to trip because it is relaxing and quiet, unlike London. I have really enjoyed this whole trip it was a great experience, I have seen so much theatre which has made me even more excited to do it.

Our month as a merry little band of theatre groupies is coming to an end. We have spent our last couple days a few hours from London in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the town put on the map by William Shakespeare’s illustrious writing career. On our way to this town, we stopped at Oxford. We mostly navigated the area of the city defined by the colleges which make up the University of Oxford; they are forty-four Oxford colleges! We had a very knowledgeable and reasonably funny tour guide to give us all the tidbits about the city. I had the pleasure to go into a bookstore which has a large basement area which house thousands of textbooks and other books. I also stumbled on a chocolate shop which sold 100% dark chocolate.

Stratford-Upon-Avon is a lovely town that is very walkable. We went on the nicest walk this morning down to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. The Cottage was the last of the four major Shakespeare stops. Yesterday, we hit the birthplace, looked in on the garden where New Place once stood, and the church where Shakespeare is buried. Both the birthplace and the cottage looked bigger on the outside than they felt on the inside. They are built long and narrow. Both houses were added onto after their initial building in some way. The Shakespeare residence is right in town. John Shakespeare used a room as his workshop and sold gloves right out the window. Today, there are a lot of businesses surrounding the literary pilgrimage spot. Likely, when the house was built, there were a row of buildings down the street. I was surprised to learn that John Shakespeare was at one time the mayor of Stratford-Upon-Avon. It is not often the narrative told that the Shakespeares would have been a well-respected family in their community. The Hathaway Cottage is on its own just past a modern neighborhood. The land the property is on was once a sheep farm as the Hathaway family made their money through wool. The last person to live in the house was a descendant of the family and left in 1911.

Stratfor-Upon-Avon is definitely smaller than London. However, the main street, (at least for where I have mainly been exploring) where the birthplace sits, almost feels like it could be tucked into a London alley. There is a river here like in London and quite plenty of bars. More buildings have survived from the Tudor age in Stratford. There are multiple buildings throughout the town that predate 1666 when the great fire burned much of London to the ground. With buildings from Shakespeare’s life front and center, the whole town itself seems to bleed history, seemingly frozen between years gone by and modern tastes.

I suspect one of the biggest differences between now and the 16^th century in a town like Stratford is transportation. The window to my room has been open, and it feels as if a car drives by every minute. Even at 11:30 pm last night, cars were cruising along the road. I would not be surprised if much of the town layout has persisted.

I have absolutely loved having the privilege of spending the month in England. I have spent so many years romanticizing this country, but as soon as I got here it became a real place which is amazing because I then truly got to explore it and live in it. People go on about their lives rather similarly to how we live in the states; they just drive on the wrong side of the road and have better options for public transport. I love England and very much hope I get the chance to come back and explore even more of this country.

I have also been so privileged to see fourteen plays during my time here. I can say that I genuinely like theatre after this experience. My eyes have been opened to the technical aspects of shows. Theatre is an art where the creators and the audience live in the moment together.

Theatre in London has been a 10 out of 10 experience for me. Thank you to the Honors College and my parents for helping make this experience possible. And thank you to Shawn and Susan for being some of the coolest professors out there; y’all made us feel seen and really made this an experience for us.

At the Victoria and Albert Museum I came across this beautiful piano in the Victorian era rooms that to me resembles something Gene Wilder may have played to unlock the doors into his chocolate factory. To relate this piano to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, specifically the 1971 film musical, the colors on the piano remind me of his candy garden that is filled with an abundance of colors. The scenes depicted on the back of the piano feel like images that could resemble the Oompa Loompa’s homeland. Each scene tells the story of their migration to the factory and perhaps maybe even a shrine to the cocoa bean. The harsh lines of color feel like a very amiable co-existence of the seventies flair of this Willy Wonka and the industrialized side of his factory.  

I can imagine Gene Wilder even playing this during his song Pure Imagination if I were to reassemble the original musical. The moment he sits down with his tulip teacup this piano would fit perfectly next to him as the song comes to a truly somber end. Gene Wilder used to scare me as a child and this piano almost does the same. So much clutter and color are a lot to take in and that is what this musical is. Radical chaos cloaked in a fun children’s game when in reality it is depicting the story of the shell and home of a lonely and sick man trying to gain the attention of a crumbling society. This piano even has a plaque right in the center of the base that shows a crest of a man and that could perfectly fit into the design of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  

This piano teaches me that Willy Wonka truly had so much running through his mind his entire life. And all that chaos while beautiful and interesting can be overwhelming and too much to take on as a single person. The detailing on the outline of the keys is so precarious and done so thoughtfully and that is very similar to how Willy Wonka set up his tour and game for these children and adults. Everything was purposeful, everything was planned to a tee, and all of his beautiful chaos made so much sense if you were truly paying attention to what he was saying and doing. I believe that is why he scared me as a child. I could tell he had intention with everything he said and the moments he had to go off script for Charlie and his grandpa in the bubble room was truly terrifying because his chaos and intention now became unpredictable.  

This piano, although beautiful, is almost too beautiful to touch, not unlike Willy Wonka’s factory. Having to destroy his forest of candy floss and creams was difficult to watch. Beauty is oftentimes thought to only be perceived, but if there is a God, I believe the beauty in which our world is filled with is meant to be enjoyed and experienced. And experienced with others. A golden ticket was meant for a single person and a plus one. Willy Wonka knew the walk through the factory would be too much to go through alone, too much beauty to keep one’s head on straight, so this piano and this world and his factory is meant to be indulged in with others. Sharing the wealth and beauty of our world is the most benevolent human thing to do and I believe we all must strive for that. Kindness within all this chaos.  

But really, I just want to see Gene Wilder play Pure Imagination on this piano. It would be heavenly. 🙂 

Today we went to The Victoria and Albert Museum, to be honest I liked looking around at all the different things that the museum had to offer, but I had a really hard time finding things that I could relate to any of the shows that we have seen. Eventually I found a few!

The first thing that I found was a case of instruments that reminded me of when I saw the musical The Curious case of Benjamin Button. It had a violin, a Cello, and what looked to be an older Clarinet. This reminded me of this show because all of these instruments and more where in the show, and multiple people play multiple instruments. I think that’s why I liked the show so much because the roles where fluid and everyone was so talented with playing the instruments, and singing and dancing. 

The next thing that I found was a fireplace that reminded me of the play The Mousetrap. Tonight Madison and I finally got to see the ending to The Mousetrap! I won’t spoil it for anyone wanting to still see it or watch the movie. All I have to say is that I think it’s a great show and it was very well put on, I can see why the show has been running for 71 years.

The last thing that I found was a clock, it reminded me of The Curious case of Benjamin Button. There was not a physical clock anywhere on stage in the show, but they really emphasizes the concept of time. They would always say the exact amount of time that had passed between two events and the musical took place over a lifetime, about 69 – 70 years.