Stratford

Salutations lords and lady’s from the land of Shakespeare.

Translation, wassup.   I'm in Stratford Upon Avon.

Yesterday we decided to start the morning by walking to the house of Anne Hathaway (pronounced hate-a way),wife of Shakespeare. Hilariously, the majority of the time we spent there was taking a walk through the woods around the house.

So we pretty much took a walk, so we could go an a walk.

The house was boring but a good example of an English Tudor House with a thatched roof. There was a  tour guide who told us:

1. Anne Hathaway inhereted the 2^nd best bed when her husband William Shakespeare died.
2. Anne was 26 and William was 18 when they got married – their daughter was s out walking he meets born 6 months later. She was not born early.
3. People would sleep with cheese above their beds since there was no refrigeration and they lived on a farm.

Enjoy the pictures below that have pictures of the walk and the house. 

After the Hathaway House we went to the Royal Shakespeare Companies production of Hamlet.  In case you don’t know the story – here it is:

Hamlet in a Nutshell

Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark and off at University when his father dies.  He comes home and is horrified because his mother has already remarried his uncle (his father’s brother).

One night while Hamlet is walking he meets the ghost of his father who tells him he must avenge his death because he was murdered by his brother. 

Hamlet doesn’t know if this is true so he gathers a troop of actors and has them put on a play re-enacting his father’s death as told to him by the ghost.  He carefully watches his uncle (the new kings) reaction to the play.  Sure enough, half way through the play within a play, The Uncle finds he cannot breathe and runs away. This proves to Hamlet that the ghost is telling the truth and the uncle must die. 

Before Hamlet has a chance to murder the uncle, the uncle sends him to England, with 2 of his university friends.  Unbeknownst to Hamlet, the friends have betrayed Hamlet and are carrying a letter from the king (his uncle) to execute Hamlet upon his arrival in England. 

Hamlet however catches wind of the plot to kill him and makes his way back to Denmark where his love interest Ophelia has killed herself by drowning. 

Bottom line: Pelonis dies (Ophelia’s dad and the kings advisor - Hamlet stabs him thinking he was the king), Queen Gertrude dies (by drinking a poisoned drink that was meant for Hamlet), Larities dies (brother of Ophelia, by the poisoned sword that Hamlet wheeled), King dies (drinking from poisoned drink and stabbed by poisoned sword), Hamlet dies (also by being stabbed by poisoned sword).

The only one left was Horatio (Hamlet’s only true friend) so he could tell the story. Also because nobody wanted to kill him. 

This was a fun play to see – even if it was a little gruesome. 

See you next time on my blog. 

 But before you go,check out these pictures of the Hathaway house.

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