The mothership beckoned and we answered. We spent yesterday in Stratford touring The Birthplace and New Place and Resting Place (Holy Trinity Church), followed by a wonderful performance of As You Like It (Sid, Clare, and Isabella). Bardolatry thrives in the English Midlands and we were totally at one with the universe.
Coincidentally, friends Russ and Catherine were in Stratford on business so we hooked up with them and had a merry time of it at The Dirty Duck (where the actor who played Orlando was standing next to us). Catherine did yeoman's service to us by verifying the children's Australian passport photos so they can get their passports before entering Aus in October (a requirement we did not know about).
Probably the most interesting attraction at Stratford for us was the new DIG. After uh, way too long, experts have begun to dig up the site of New Place (the fancy house that WS bought once he had made his fortune but which was torn down later). Archeologists are treating the site with toothbrushes and sieves, finding the odd signet ring, pin, piece of pottery, etc... by which to deduce where certain rooms stood and to find out more about our elusive WS. I'm sure a copy of the lost play Cardenio will turn up eventually. But for now, the folks from Birmingham University working there let us take a turn at the sieve where we turned up some charcoal and flint (suggesting that the dirt we were sifting sat in a firepit or garbage heap). The children then took part in the children's dig and did some good archeology themselves, categorizing shards of pottery into Roman, Tudor, and Victorian eras.
We stayed at The White Swan, a 500-year-old inn with the classic black and white Tudor architecture (wattle and daub and beams). It was tres authentique.
What I have learned: since being in the UK, I've realized more than ever how much I do not know. The kids keep asking me great questions, but more often than I'd like, I just have to say, "I don't know; let's look it up." I've also learned that Shakespeare is really not that old comparatively (cf. Stonehenge, Tewkesbury Abbey, The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, etc....)--for England, his works are actually quite modern. That we could stay in an inn in Stratford that Shakespeare would himself have recognized, to me, is an important lesson.
Clare and Isabella enjoyed the play and handled themselves extraordinarily well. Three hours is still a bit much for Emmett to sit through, so he and PK had some guy time together instead. Everyone indulged me on Shakespeare Day, and I am grateful for it.
Thus ends the first week of The Big Trip.
Love, Sid
No comments:
Post a Comment