Stratford-upon-Avon

Took the trip to Stratford a couple weeks ago. Apparently, it is a big thing to do for English Lit programs such as the one I'm in. We spent three days in bed and breakfasts and were bored basically the whole time.
I'm sure someone would use the words "cute" or "charming" to describe Stratford, but I couldn't tell. It reminded me a lot of the other boring English towns I have encountered, except Shakespeare was born and died in this one. Spent most of the trip being insanely bored with others from the program, discussing how bored we were, and doing Shakespeare-related stuff. This stuff included:


Macbeth at the Royal Shakespeare Company's main theatre. What can I say? It was Macbeth alright. There were some cool technical effects, but this performance was pretty lackluster. No one really felt too great about it. The witches were little kids, which was kind of cool, but Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were very uninspired.

Looking at other Shakespeare stuff: Anne Hathaway's cottage. Shakespeare's birthplace. Shakespeare's grave. Whatever. Shakespeare was in London when he was making things happen.

The City Madam at the RSC's Swan Theatre. I have never heard of this play, and I don't think it's ever been produced. If it has, not for hundreds of years. It's a comedy. Look it up. The performance was great. Really funny, well played. Everyone in the audience seemed to be enjoying themselves and it was a superb play.

Honestly, I didn't even take any pictures in Stratford. After a few months of being abroad, I'm generally not interested in where so-and-so was born or where so-and-so is buried. The whole town had this weird, Shakespearian cult sort of thing going on.

Went to Kenilworth Castle. I DID take pictures of this castle, because it was very neat. A lot of the remains were from the 13th and 14th centuries. There are a bunch of stories revolving around it too concerning Queen Elizabeth or something, but I figure you can look it up if it interests you.

Wales

Went to Wales a few weekends ago with my roommate for a daytrip. Didn't really plan. Jumped on train to Swansea, which is about two hours away from Bath on the southern coast of Wales. Apparently, southern Wales isn't doing too well, and it showed in the country's second largest city. Swansea was pretty depressing, all in all, but it was just a short busride away from some famous and picturesque coastal areas. So, we walked around three-cliff bay and through various parts of Wales countryside. Not too much to say about it really. Bought some beers, sat in a field, and waited for a bus back to the train station. In some way or another, it "felt" different from England. The people seemed a little more laid back and were harder to understand. All the signs around Wales were in both English and Welsh. Welsh is a ridiculous language. All in all, a success.

remains of some castle

Royal Wedding

Well, as all probably know, the Royal Wedding was last Friday. After watching the event on the tele, I'm really glad I didn't even consider going to London for it. Instead, I had a great day in Bath.

After watching the wedding, a few of my friends and I headed to Royal Victoria Park, which is one of the big parks in Bath. Basically, people sat around on the grass and partied to live music. Most of the people in the program were actually in Ireland for a study trip, but those of us in remaining in Bath had a lot of fun. There wasn't much too it really. Everyone around town seemed to be in a good mood (and intoxicated). There are no open container laws here so people have no problem sitting down for a drink outside. It didn't seem like the locals really cared too much, per say, about the wedding one way or another, but it was a nice, warm bank holiday.

noah(flatmate), andrew(roommate), me, jess, katie, julie