Give me your hands, if we be friends.

Okay, time for insane amounts of rambling post number two. This one is just going to be Stratford, I'm not even going to think about distilling the first few days of London yet.

Stratford-upon-Avon was easily my favorite place we have been so far. I have always loved the Bard and to be in his town (or was it?) was the most incredible thing ever. It's an old Tudor town with real Tudor houses (you don't want to know what they were made of) and it's small and lovely and everything is named after Shakespeare. Some examples: Iago Jewellers (not sure what these people were thinking), The Food of Love Cafe (from the first line of Twelfth Night), Cordelia's (King Lear), and my personal favorite, Romeo and Juliet's adult store which I find ironic because Romeo and Juliet were definately not adults.

The first day we were there, we went on a walking tour of the town with Jonathan Milton, an actor who also had a Ph.D in the Bard. He was hilarious and loud and told great stories. We saw the house where Shakespeare was born, the garden where he sat writing plays, his tomb, the houses of his children, and a few people went to see Anne Hathaway's house as well.

The best thing to do in Stratford is to see plays put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and boy did we take advantage of it.

Monday night we went to see Antony and Cleopatra, which we were excited about, but a little wary: the play is wrechedly long. It ended up being lovely but unspectacular, a little boring, but I thought Enobarbus and Caesar were fantastic. The woman who played Cleopatra was cast against type and most of us didn't get it. (Any Harry Potter fans? It was the woman who plays Mrs. Figg in the movies.)

Tuesday night we went to see Romeo and Juliet and I was excited because it's one of my favorites. It's the first Shakespeare I ever studied and I love the movie (the one from the 70's, not the Leo DiCaprio one) but I knew a lot of people didn't like the play when we read it, so I was a little nervous. It turns out, I had no need to be. I sat on the edge of my seat for the entire three hours. The fighting scenes were intense, the masque was beautiful, and the actors were funny and lively and memorable. I fell hard for the entire play. We saw the understudy of Romeo (the lead had lost his voive in the middle of a play a few nights ago, he was sick) and he was wonderful. Mercutio was a little too much like a junior high boy for my taste, but he was wonderful just the same. I actually liked the play so much I decided to go see it againProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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he next night. I brought Mandy and Ali with me and we all enjoyed it just as much the second time. We got a surprise that the lead Romeo was better, so we got to see his play the part as well. His name was Sam Troughton and he plays Much in the British tv show Robin Hood? I fell for his Romeo big time, I may have to watch the show when I get home.

Then on Thursday night we all went to see King Lear, which seemed very subdued after two nights of Romeo and Juliet, but it was incredible all the same. Well cast, well acted, well costumed, and the set was wonderful too. It was interesting because, since RSC is an ensemble company, the cast was the same as that of Antony and Cleopatra. The one part we were all a little nervous about was Kathryn Hunter, who played Cleopatra, as Lear's fool. Again, we need no have worried because the actress proved, in this role, to be the best actor we saw on that stage this week. She was excellent as the fool, mesmerizing. Every time she was on stage, I couldn't take my eyes off her. It was, I believe, a testament to the importance of good casting.

Another exciting thing to do in Stratford is to go to the Dirty Duck after RSC performances. It's a little pub just down the street fromt he theater where all the actors come to hang out after shows. Not all of them come (no Mercutio or lead Romeo, alack) but it was really fun to see the ones that did. We actually got to talk to the understudy Romeo and he was really nice, and I almost talked to Caesar (whom, I confess, I fell for a little) but alas, I did not. We talked to Lear and saw Juliet and Antony. It was really fun.

I am excited to announce that this RSC ensemble will be traveling to New York next summer (2011) to do these plays: Antony and Cleopatra, ROMEO AND JULIET, King Lear, Julius Caesar, Winter's Tale, and As You Like It. I couldn't bear the thought that I was never going to see that Romeo and Juliet again, so the lovely Ali Morgan (who also fell for the play) and I are already planning our trip. It can't wait.

So now it's London: bus tours and sunburns in 80 degree weather, Beatles walks, West End, Shakespeare's Globe, and getting down to those finals (finally), Covent Garden, hours on the Tube, and I'm trying to reconcile falling harder for Shakespeare then I ever have before.

I love you all so much. Paris the day after tomorrow!

The Next Blog Post?

Alright friends, true confessions time.

I cannot blog. I know this will come as a surprise to most of you, but I'm pretty much the worst blogger ever. Well, except those people who never start one and therefore obviously don't care about their friends and families at all. So here is going to be a little bit stream-of-conciousness recount of the time since last I blogged:

Well, Dublin was wonderful and I thought all of the poeple there were super cool and mostly we wandered about the Temple Bar district, which was named not for the traditional pastime of the people who live there, but for the Temple family who owned the area and the "bars" they laid on the street to keep people from slipping. The area is now a Fremont meets Hillcrest meets Greenwich Villiage type area, take the reference city you most closely relate to. Lots of theaters and restaurants and, it being Ireland after all, pubs. There was lots of shopping (new shorts of Heidi) and a cool Yeats exhibit at the National Library. I made friends with a guy named Brooks at the Guinness factory, but never saw him again. We enjoyed a few meals of Irish stew with the Professor, a showing of Shakespeare's Scottish play (theater kids? Hey? Hey?) and Andrew Lloyd Weber's Evita, which was fun, but not may favorite of his plays. A few of us went to a pre-approved for cleanliness parlor and got some cool piercings and a few others got tattoos (don't worry, Pop, nothing permanant on me). It was pretty much all fun in Dublin, oh yeah and we had class in the hotel. Romeo and Juliet and Atonement were on the schedule. All fun. Not so fun was the return to the urban environment's more tragic aspects. I was blown away by the large homeless population, and they just sat on the sidewalks staring off into the distance, not saying anything, it broke my heart. I talked to a few, but they mostly didn't seem interested. Anyone know any figures? How big is the Dublin homeless population?

Leaving at 7 am was not fun. We crossed on the ferry to Wales where we wasted a glorious week at the Hafod Hotel. I arrived to find a letter from my brilliant (in the American and British senses) roommate, and continued to eat my way into oblivion. Three course dinners every night? Two course breakfasts? Yes please. I am told the other family members have commented to other travelers about the amount food was discussed in their blogs, but I assure you: it was all we did. And it was glorious. Some of the best food I have ever eaten in my life. I also went on a walk (hike?) with the Professor and some other intrepid students through the Welsh countyside, very lovely. And Welsh is not Gaelic. There were many sheep, I still have not caught or pet a lamb. The remainder of my time in Aberystwyth was taken up by reading, class (but who really cares about that anyway), and many many many games of Mafia. I fooled them all.

Last friday we took the bus to Cambridge where I am now. We enjoyed walking around, but being back to a hostel and its food is tough. Tonight they made pizza and it was good, and some of us went to a Korean restaurant called Little Seoul which I am assured by our resident Korean, Pauline Kim, was very authentic. We have rented bikes for the week (only£17!!) and are loving riding through the streets. Some people are going to see Iron Man 2 this evening, I do not care to see it and have decided to stay in for a chat with the lovely Molly Elizabeth Lorden at 12. Oh, and church was at King's College this Sunday, beautiful boys choir, and it was confirmation which was interesting. I am amazed by the humour (British spelling anyone?) of these priests. I approve. Also, I have been purchasing the British versions of the Harry Potter series in paperback at bookstores and am planning on mailing them home, expect packages Mom and Dad. I have two so far.

Well, I am looking forward to: punting, the Orchard, more bike riding, and Stratford next week. I love you all and miss you! Home in about a month.

(In other news, my Dad graduated from his doctoral program. Boy, am I proud!)