Quick Update...

Hello,

Sorry for my recent lack of postings.  I can guarantee it is not from lack of travel or picture taking but, rather, a procrastination of schoolwork, which effects how (in)frequently I post on here.  Once I get caught back up on my course work (hopefully by the next week or so) I can start to catch up with my postings!  I still plan on posting a general blog about my trip to Norway - and hopefully sooner than later!  Also be sure to look for postings about Jane Austen's house in Chawton, the Dicken's Museum in London, and my most recent trip to Windsor Castle! 

I promise to post again once I start being the good Uni student I am (yeah right) and am done playing catch-up on schoolwork.  Til then, take care & thanks for your patience :)

Literary Europe VIII - Henrik Ibsen

(Note - A general post of my Norway visit is to come.  I still have a ton of photos to go through, and it was just easier to focus on this post first.)

While in Norway, I went to the Ibsen Museum in Oslo.  It is the last apartment he lived in until his death in 1906.  This apartment is possibly his grandest, as he was able to live as he wanted by the end of his life (due to his successful career as a playwright).  The museum is located very close to the National Theater and the Grand Hotel, where Ibsen would walk every afternoon to take his lunch at his private, reserved table at the Grand Cafe.  (Along this walk paparazzi would take photos, people would wait outside to see him, and some people even set their clocks by him since he left his house at the same time every day.) 

On the tour of his apartment, I got to see the room he wrote in, his two desks (one he first had at this apartment, and the other, his "Munich desk" which he eventually had shipped over from Germany).  In his writing room also hung a portrait of his "nemesis", another playwright (I believe it was of Swedish playwright, August Strindberg) which he kept 'watching over him' to 'make' him write.  It was a portrait that Strindberg wanted for himself, and he would have been (possibly was) infuriated to know that Ibsen had it, and was using it for motivation to write.  While there I also got to see the bed Ibsen died in, where he uttered his lasts words, which were "On the contrary" - which many people feel reflect his written works and his personality.

Although I was not allowed to take photos inside the apartment, I do have a few of the outside of the building it is in, the exhibition at the museum, and other nearby buildings of importance to Ibsen.

Ibsen Museum.  The main floor of his apartment should be the third floor in this photo.

Closer view of the main entrance and gift shop.

Statue of Ibsen outside the museum.

Plaque on the outside of the building.

(Pop art) image of Ibsen, alongside a bust of the founder of the museum.

Ibsen's coat, hat, and walking stick!

A fan with Ibsen's signature (a women was collecting signatures of famous people....or something like that, can't quite remember the story).

In the bathroom - they had Ibsen tiles!

National Theater which Ibsen would pass on his daily walk.

It even has his and two other playwright's names on it :)

Standing by the Ibsen statue outside of the National Theater.

The Grand Hotel.

The Grand Cafe where Ibsen would take his lunch every afternoon.  His table is still there, though I didn't go inside to see it.

Literary Europe VII - Stratford-upon-Avon

Yay for more literature stuff!!!  And this one is a big one - Stratford-upon-Avon is where Shakespeare was born and spent the remainder of his days!  A friend and I recently took a trip there to see Shakespeare's birthplace, where he was buried, and Nash's House (where Shakespeare last lived before he passed away).  While there my friend and I also saw a performance of The Taming of the Shrew by the Royal Shakespeare Company!  It was amazing, possibly the best performance of a play I have ever seen.  The entire cast was amazing, and the energy and smoothness of the show was great.  I'd definitely recommend their shows to anyone who likes good theatre (especially Shakespeare!).

Anyway, as usual, here are my photos:

Statue of Lady MB.

Dedication on a clock/monument to Shakespeare.

Shakespeare's Birthplace!!!  Yes - the actual house where he was born :)

The first folio!

David Tennant...how could I leave him out?

Authors who have also come to Shakespeare's birthplace :)

Cool carved statue of Shakespeare.

Backside and yard of his birthplace.

The river - gorgeous.

The church where William is buried.

Shakespeare's grave!

Dedication to Shakespeare inside the church where he is buried.

Pub where W. S. used to go (across the street from Nash's house).

Inside the yard of Nash's house - currently under excavation.

Statue for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Outside the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre after seeing The Taming of the Shrew!

Suffolk Castles Day Trip

My Uni recently planned a trip opportunity for international students to visit two different castles in Suffolk.  It was a short trip, but very relaxing (which is what I needed at the time) and was easy to get to since my University provided a bus.  All in all, a nice, short day out :)

First was Framlingham castle!  It was originally built around 1100 by Roger Bigod, but the remaining walls were built by his grandson, Roger Bigod II around 1177.  

Inside the walls.

Main entrance way.

Castle Inn with the castle in the background.

I thought it was interesting how the spiral column things all varied slightly.

Second was Orford Castle.  It was built by King Henry II between 1165-1173 in order to protect the stretch of nearby coast from invasion, as well as to keep an eye on one of Henry's most troublesome barons - Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, at Framlingham castle!  Unlike Framlingham, however,  one inside tower of this castle remains, but the outer walls are gone.

Walk up to the castle.

Narrow stone hallways.

View from inside :)

Suit of armor...makes me feel like such a tourist!

Spiral staircase - thin narrow steps that are hard to climb in the dark - got to love old architecture!

At the top...

...and the view is gorgeous!