My powers of self-control are as good as ever and I managed to ramble on for a thousand words about just one day in Stratford-Upon-Avon. So I cut it off and here’s your Part 2. I know…you’ve been on tenterhooks.
We had indeed made it to the correct Premier Inn in the end and fuelled up on their breakfast buffet before heading out to Shakespeare’s birthplace. We’d been past it the day before but the queues had been massive so I put it on the “tomorrow” list, which was increasingly filling up.
We booked online so got in almost as soon as it opened at 10. The entrance is in the modern building just next door and there’s an exhibition to walk through before you get to the birthplace itself.
It was quite crowded but Eva insisted on reading every sign in full so most of the crowds went on ahead of us. She was dressed for the occasion but it didn’t stop her putting on yet more Tudor-era clothing:
And dressing the dogs up too:
Her outfit delighted the other visitors – especially the North Americans who may well think that this is how British children dress all the time. And her ghost impression is really evolving from a Victorian ghost child to a Tudor one:
We learnt a few interesting facts as we walked through the exhibition, like how Shakespeare’s marriage to Anne Hathaway seemed to be somewhat of a shotgun:
It’s not just my maths, right?
We then queued for the birthplace itself, in some very pleasant gardens:
In each room there are guides who told us about different parts of the house and how they were used. One of the guides in the glove making workshop used the phrase “kid skin” and noted Eva looking a little worried before explaining that it wasn’t made of human child, but a baby goat.
Knowing Eva as I do, I think my animal-loving girl was perturbed at the idea of killing a baby goat to make gloves. She probably wouldn’t have minded so much if it had been a human. In fact, she’s probably got a few names she could suggest.
The Shakespeares were quite well-to-do, as you can probably see, and liked to ostentatiously display their wealth through rich wall hangings and fine foods. The most impressive furnishings were on the ground floor so that passers-by could gaze in and feel envious. I’d be a little uncomfortable with that….I’m not saying it doesn’t happen in Highams Park but I don’t think I’d like it. It’s more of a North Chingford thing really.
We explored every room, including the tiny loft at the top and, of course, the gift shop.
Once we’d left, there were a couple of other shops Eva wanted to check out, like the House of Spells just opposite:
And the old-fashioned sweet shop, where she bought some cherry drops:
I wanted to check out the Pret, which looked small from the outside but was giant inside. It could have fitted the Marylebone Pret inside it ten times over.
Once I had my coffee in hand, we went back to the hotel to pack up and check out. We left our suitcases at the hotel and went back to the Dell for more Shakespeare, this time with slightly less wind and rain. Did I mention that the Dell performances are all free? It’s a great way to get some theatre in without having to worry about getting anywhere at an exact time (especially as the performances we went to coincided exactly with out check-in and check-out times at the hotel)
Sunday’s show was “Two Gentlemen of Verona” and, try as I might, I can’t find the name of the theatre company anywhere- the RSC site refreshes as soon as dates are past and I can’t find any trace on Facebook or Twitter. Seeing as they were young people, I probably should check Snapchat or something. Anyway, if anyone knows do tell me and I’ll replace this whole rambling paragraph.
Where the previous’s day show had been fairly true to the text, this one took a few more liberties. There were interjections that were definitely not in the script but they didn’t take it too far. The characters were dressed as secondary school kids and a blackboard formed an integral part of the staging, including hosting a picture of Crab – the famous dog, who doesn’t do much but somehow still steals the show. It was a clever move making them very teenage because the actions of the characters are pretty inexplicable and this way, at least you could write them off as hormonal teenage idiocy. Especially Proteus, who switches his affections from Julia to Silvia almost instantaneously.
I know the ending to this play is a bit controversial, so I’m not surprised they changed it. After Proteus threatens to assault Silvia, it somehow all works out that he’s forgiven by both Valentine and Julia and everyone gets married. That scene was quite visceral in this version, as was the fight between the boys afterwards so I wasn’t sure how they were going to come back from that. As it happened, they didn’t. The play ended with some new words and Proteus broken and friendless on the floor. I’m not sure how I feel about changing Shakespeare’s plots but I can definitely see why they did it.
After a dark ending, it was time for a random jaunt and we’d been eyeing up the chain ferry since the day before. It costs a pound for adults and 50p for kids, and it takes you across the Avon in a matter of minutes. It wasn’t where we needed to get to but it was a pleasant diversion and, as Eva said, “rather fun”.
That meant a stroll back along the opposite side of the river, taking in the sights and the flocks of “murder birders” as Eva insisted on calling the swans. I was still full from breakfast but Eva was hungry again so we stopped at the street food market for some deep fried halloumi and chips, just as Shakespeare himself would have eaten.
It was around this time that we had our third meetup of the weekend – a bit of a spontaneous one, to go with the planned one and the complete surprise one. Rob is a guy I lived with at university and it’s relatively rare for anyone who’s lived with me to still be on speaking terms with me so he’s clearly one I should keep in touch in. Also, he was up for accompanying us to the last bit of our weekend – the Shakespaw cat cafe.
Now, if you’ve been following this blog for a while you’ll know how much I like dogs. And there were lots of good boys and girls around Stratford-Upon-Avon so that was great for both me and E. Cats, I could take or leave. But Eva was attracted to their floofiness and for her, it was an essential part of the trip.
We’d tried and failed to book ahead because I didn’t realise that different tables had different time slots available. So top tip – if you can’t find a timeslot, try selecting a different table. Then we timed out cause it wasn’t quite 3 hours before our booking and in the end, we just visited as a walk-in and it was all fine. We sat downstairs in the basement and the cats tended to be upstairs on the ground floor but that was fine. Rob and I sat at our table and chatted while Eva scooted up and down the stairs in search of the elusive floof.
(I realise this photo makes it look like Eva is selecting a cat from the menu to eat. Let me assure you, that is not how a cat cafe works)
There was one particular floofy fella by the name of Hamlet who kept coming over to us. He had one of those squashy, GrumpyCat kinda faces but apparently thought that Rob was his new best friend. I was mainly trying to make sure I didn’t accidentally sit on one. And yes, they did all have Shakespearean names including a Tybalt who presumably was the King of Cats.
The food was awesome by the way – I had the waffles with syrup and berries and the other two had waffles with lemon and lavender sugar. Eva was pretty drinking the lavender sugar neat. They also served tea in Shakespeare-themed square teapots:
It was a lovely end to the weekend and Rob drove us all the way to Leamington Spa to save us a train. We had a look at historic Warwick on the way and “Leam” itself is lovely – all cream-coloured Victorian splendour:
Even the station is pretty!:
We were very tired by the time we were dragging suitcases back up the steps at Walthamstow Central but it was totally worth it. And this weekend, we’re taking in yet more Shakespeare…but a bit closer to home….
