Second Star to the Right: Cottages and Castles

Wednesday means adventure day here at the BYU London center. We all woke up early again and hopped on another bus to take us to our latest destination. We drove out about two hours to go and see Warwick castle. We've been to a few castles already, but this was different than the others in that it was very busy. The grounds were covered with various activities to do and it had felt a lot like a carnival. They had tents with games and booths to go and visit. It was all very fun, but it was raining like crazy when we first got there, so we attempted to retreat underneath the buildings. Fortunately the rains stopped so that we could enjoy all the festivities. We watch them use a giant catapult/sling, watched a bird show featuring eagles, visited a "peacock garden", walked through various rooms in the castle featuring exhibits with peculiar statues and climbed to the top turrets. We were given two hours to explore, but it still didn't feel like enough time. There is always so much to be seen! Sometimes I feel that even if we were given an entire day we still wouldn't have time to see some of these things.

Another bus ride took us over to see Anne Hathaway's house (the wife of Shakespeare). It was a little cottage that was surrounded by beautiful gardens. The gardens featured all the flowers and plants that have ever been mentioned in any of Shakespeare's work. The cottage was tiny and we walked through it very quickly, and it was great learning about the history behind it and the romance between Anne and William Shakespeare. The family still calls it the Hathaway house even though Anne's name would have become Anne Shakespeare. People are funny like that.

The group then made our way over to Stratford so we could see the birthplace of Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon. It was a little house that had an entire museum built around it. We walked through several exhibits before we were pooped outside the house. It was another little cottage that we got to walk through. (Once again, we were not allowed to take any photos. What is with these people)? It was amazing to see such a historic place! They had a window that authors have signed through the years as they came to "receive inspiration" from the Bard. Authors like Emerson and Mark Twain came by that house! There was so much history in that tiny little place! My brain can't handle all the knowledge to be had! We then made our way over to Trinity Church to see the tomb of Shakespeare and his wife. I learned that Shakespeare had left a warning that anyone who attempted to move his bones would be cursed, something I had not know before. Many historians have wanted to dig up his remains to try and find out more about him (height and stuff like that) but no one has dared go against his wishes. I thought that was very fascinating. They also had a bible open to Psalm 46 where there are apparently hidden clues in it saying that Shakespeare helped with that particular translation of the bible. (I'll have to explain that one later).

We all broke up to find dinner in Stratford. I went to a local pub where I ate steak and onion rings, which was quite excellent. We were supposed to go and see 12th Night while in Stratford but apparently someone at the Study Abroad Office back at BYU made an awful mistake and we didn't have our tickets, so we ended up coming back to the center earlier than we thought. The leaders decided to try and make it a bit better by buying a copy of the movie, She's the Man, one of my favorite movies which is loosely based on 12th Night. We have all been dying to watch it because we had been studying 12th Night lately and the movie is hilarious! I think that was the first bus ride that I didn't sleep through.

I am now eating peanut butter on a spoon. Nom nom nom.