Under Stars and Over Seas: Oxford

"I'm just a little bit drunk," Chris slurred, trying to reassure us, "but I'm harmless."

And so was our first night in Stratford-Upon-Avon. I should probably back up a bit though.

Last Friday my roommate and I boarded a train for Shakespeare's hometown, Stratford-Upon-Avon. It took us a few hours to get there, but after a few stops we made it to the station. We walked through the streets a bit there, and let me tell you, Stratford is amazing. It's got more of a bustling feel to it than Oxford does, with smaller streets and what seems like a lot more people. The shops along the streets are cute, varying from Shakespeare named places (Iago's Jewelers) to little touristy shops with scarves in the windows, just walking down the street was fun.

And that fun only grew when we got to The Creaky Cauldron. My roommate had looked up things to do in Stratford and found what we had affectionately nicknamed the 'Harry Potter knockoff place'. In reality it was much more than that.

The Creaky Cauldron is an older looking building that houses a sort of scavenger hunt/puzzle maze through the upper story of the house that follows a short book series written about the Wizard Dr. Thatch and his time traveling companion William Shakespeare. It was a giant mix of everything magical'; Alice in Wonderland, Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes, Neverland, Narnia, Fairy Tales like Cinderella and Aladdin, and even a little bit of history thrown in. We had to follow Will's cypher and solve clues through rooms like the Hall of Magical Artifacts and Slylock Holmes' office. We had to find hidden items in the Hall of the History of Time and the Jewel room, all ending up with a potion puzzle in the Imagi-Scarium. It was something we had a great time doing, laughing at all the connections between things and just generally enjoying being immersed in various things we were huge fans of. When we finished the charismatic employee running the show was surprised that we had gotten everything correct, and we treated ourselves to Butterbeer in the little attached cafe.

We had to run off after that to catch the bus out to our hostel, where we checked in before promptly turning and going back into town for the play we were seeing that night. We'd gotten really cheap tickets to see Shakespeare's 'Loves Labors Lost' put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company. And it was an incredible show--the cast turned it into somewhat of a musical and were extremely talented in all the acting (both hilarious and somber) and singing they did. The sets were awesome, lavish castle rooms drawing away into green lawns and spiraling rooftops rising from the floor to emit real smoke.

Afterwards we realized while standing in the frigid air that the final bus out to our hostel was still an hour and a half away, and having no desire to wait outside for it we found an Italian place and had overpriced gelato. That managed to take up a good deal of time, so we wandered a bit before heading back to the bus station. It was there that we met Christopher, who was stumbling down the street to catch the same bus as us. A little apprehensive at first (stranger danger) we kept to ourselves, but after he started talking to us I realized he was drunk but harmless.

He lived in the village past the hostel and asked if we wanted to know anything about England. We talked with him until the bus got there and he sat with us, asking our trip and commenting on how confident Americans were compared to Brits.

"Americans seem like very loud people," he said.

"Oh, we are," I answered, noting ironically how my voice carried in the otherwise silent bus. "I guess it's because there's so many people who are talking that we need to be loud to be heard."

"But if everybody's loud, how can you hear anyone?" Chris asked. Before I could think of a response he asked what California was like.

"It's sunshine and orange groves, dust and dry air, and even when its cloudy its never really that cold," I told him. He grinned at me and gave me his Kinder egg, a British chocolate egg with a small toy inside, wishing us the best of luck with the rest of our time here. I thanked him and we got off at our stop, waving back at the drunk man who gave me chocolate and asked about the sunshine.

Our night in the hostel was...interesting. The hostel workers were so friendly and it was all very clean and comfortable. However, we shared a room with a woman who snored loudly and a rude teenager whose alarm woke us up continuously from 5 am to 6 am until she thundered out of the room to the tune of her alarm and the rest of us grumbled our way back to trying to sleep.

After a small mishap with a key and check out, we managed to get an early bus back into the main part of Stratford, where we then went around to the various buildings that were important to Shakespeare's life. We started at his grave in the Holy Trinity church, where the bells pealed merrily for hours and the walls are lined with stained glass windows. Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathoway are buried there, along with their granddaughter Elizabeth's husband and their daughter Judith.

From there we went on to Hall's Croft, the home of Shakespeare's daughter Suzanne. She and her husband had one daughter, Elizabeth, who married twice but never had any children of her own. Shakespeare had two other children, twins Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet died at age eleven, and while Judith married and had three children, all died at a young age. Because of this, there are no direct descendants of Shakespeare.

After we left Hall's Croft we went to Anne Hathoway's home and garden, where Shakespeare's wife, who was seven years his senior, grew up. The gardens were beautiful, or at least they would have been were it warmer outside, and after trailing through the Hathoway house (where 18 year old William courted 26 year old Anne before they married--she was three months pregnant when they did) and a looping forest path we headed out to Mary Arden's farm, the childhood home of Shakespeare's mother.The farm was huge, holding several sheep, hawks and owls, and even a horse.

From there we went to Harvard House, an older house in the midst of shops and restaurants in busy Stratford city center. It was cool to see, but I left unclear of the connection between Shakespeare and the house. And after Googling it I was still unsure. But, regardless, it was full of history and interesting to see.

Last, but not least, we went to the birthplace of Shakespeare. The home of Shakespeare's parents was a very nice one compared to the times, as they were one of the more wealthy families of the town. They could afford to have a nice guest bedroom (the bed in which was the most expensive piece of furniture in the home and used to show off the family's affluence to guests) and for the first few years of Shakespeare's marriage to Anne the two lived in the house as well.

Before the birthplace was bought (for 11 thousand pounds) and preserved as a historic monument, it was used as a hotel for a bit. And when they started accumulating and regulating visitors to the house people would scratch their names in the window panes. After a while the Shakespeare Institute asked people to sign the visitor log instead, but put the windows on display.

We were finished with all the Shakespeare spots after that, so we just wandered around Stratford for a few hours. Unfortunately, much like everything in Oxford, all the shops in Stratford close by 5. So with a train that didn't leave until 7:30, we had dinner at another Italian place and puttered around the warmer interior before bracing ourselves for the cold air waiting at the train station.

The train back was uneventful and we got back to Stratford exhausted but pleased.

The next morning was cold and rainy, but we went out to try and get some things done before we left Oxford this Friday. We climbed up Carfax tower, one of the highest points in Oxford for sprawling city pictures. It was cold but beautiful, and after some wandering and shopping we headed back to the flat. Today was similar. We have plans to visit various museums the next few days, as well as trying to finish all of our plans for the next two months. We leave Oxford for Paris on Friday, and then head to Italy after that.

With all that in mind I'll be heading to bed. I've got quite a few busy days ahead of me, so for now, good night Oxford and good morning California.

Sam

Train to Stratford-Upon-Avon

The Wizard Thatch's Creaky Cauldron

The cafe in The Creaky Cauldron

Butterbeer

The Royal Shakespeare Company

The church where Shakespeare is buried

Holy Trinity

Shakespeare's grave

Holy Trinity

Shakespeare's Baptism and Burial forms

Holy Trinity

Hall's Croft: Suzanne Shakespeare's home

Hall's Croft

Anne Hathoway's Home and Garden

The house Shakespeare's wife grew up in

Anne Hathoway's House

Anne Hathoway's garden

The lavender maze at Anne Hathoway's

The trail through the woods behind Anne Hathoway's

Mary Arden's Farm: where Shakespeare's mother grew up

Mary Arden's Farm

Shakespeare's Birthplace

Shakespeare's First Folio

Shakespeare's Birthplace

Shakespeare Family Tree

Shakespeare's birthplace

Shakespeare's Birthplace

This was a clever reference to Othello, but I wouldn't trust them

A Fool Statue

The Stratford-Upon-Avon market

The Hall of Magical Artifacts (included the Evil Queen's mirror and the Triwizard Cup from Harry Potter)

Slylock Holmes' office in The Creaky Cauldron

The Creaky Cauldron

The stairs in Carfax Tower (there were 99 of them by the way)

This past week has been an interesting one. I finished one of my tutorials and will be done with the other two by Thursday, leaving me with no homework for the first time in a while. Instead I've been looking at other parts of Oxford. It's much bigger than I had originally realized, and exploring more of it has been exciting to say the least.

I set out in a direction I hadn't been before last Wednesday, with the determination that I would find the Oxford Quidditch Team. They practice every week at the university park, which was about a thirty minute walk from the flat. The sun made an appearance and it was a beautiful day, so I donned my sunglasses and grabbed my written directions, setting out for the park.

The walk over was peaceful, taking a bridge over the railroad tracks for once, and winding through residential areas and shops. There was one building that was a very vibrant pink color, and another whose front was entirely covered in flowers.

The park was beautiful too (after I'd found it of course. I only got a little lost and I ended up alright in the end so no matter) and I walked past trees and blooming flowers in the sunshine. I ended up walking around most of the park before I found the quidditch practice area. There I sat on a bench and tried not to seem too creepy while I watched them play. It was incredibly entertaining and I enjoyed it immensely. It did get cold as the day went on though, and I did have a paper to finish, so I left after a bit and enjoyed my walk back to the flat.

After that I devoted quite a bit of time to writing my final two papers, one of which was about my hometown, a struggle to write about being so far away. But luckily I know some pretty great people who were willing to email in some information for me and I could finish it up.

Saturday was the Oxford food fair at Oxford Castle, so my roommate and I headed out on a once again gloriously sunny day and bought some mildly expensive hamburgers and crumble (kind of like a cobbler but more messy). After that she had to head to the library, but I wandered around the larger covered market for a bit.

One of the shopkeepers commented on my accent and we got to talking about the differences between Oxford and the United States. He'd been to Boston but not as far out as California, and he seemed amused by the fact that Americans tend to drive everywhere. I replied that I had been amused that the people of England seem to walk everywhere. In the end I bought a few key chains from him and thanked him for being so friendly to me. I've heard multiple people tell me that the British aren't fond of talking to Americans, but I've found that that's not true. As long as you're willing to start the conversation they're willing to talk.

After I finished at the covered market (whose cover was built in 1774 as conveyed to me by the nice shop keeper) I wandered out into more of the city, circling back around to the University Park I'd gone to back on Wednesday. Finding a more roundabout way back to the flat I stayed out as late into the afternoon as I dared, soaking up the sunshine before heading back up and finishing the last of my papers.

Earlier this evening, two of my roommates and I went out to see a play at another one of the colleges. 'The Importance of Being Ernest' (written by Oscar Wilde) is a show I recommend to anyone who has the chance to view it, or even just watch the movie. It's got a very witty sense of humor and the actors did a very good job. We missed the rain during the show, luckily, so the forty minute walk back to the flat was dry.

The next few days will include finishing up my tutorials and scanning and emailing quite a bit of paperwork back home, because as far away as I am I'm still committed to things there. But it's all worth it if I can be here. Next weekend we have a trip planned to visit Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare's hometown, where we'll see a play and visit several historical locations the town boasts of. It's shaping up to be a very exciting trip, and I just hope that the nice weather will return.

With that hope in mind I'll bid good night to cloudy Oxford and good morning to sunny California,

Sam