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!

Literary Europe VI - D. H. Lawrence

Wow, am I behind!  Got busy for a few weeks with traveling and my coursework, and now I have so much to update!  Hopefully I can get it done before "midterms" set in....we'll see.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I went to Nottinghamshire to visit D. H. Lawrence's Birthplace Museum, as well as to see some of his early childhood homes.  While there I learned a lot about Lawrence, such as his influences in his writing, and what his childhood was like.  I didn't know what to expect when going to his home town, but everyone at the two museums (the birthplace and the heritage centre) were very helpful and knowledgeable about Lawrence and the time period.  Another nice surprise was the blue line that circled throughout town to all the places D. H. Lawrence lived or wrote about - it ended up being really relaxing and fun to take a leisurely walk and experience some important parts of Lawrence's childhood and the various places that made it into his books.

In my usual fashion, here are some pictures:

Sign leading to Lawrence's birthplace museum.

The sign of the phoenix (Lawrence's personal symbol) can be found almost everywhere.

Heritage Centre with a D. H. Lawrence exhibit.

Cool window shade.

His mum's dresser....if that's the right word...

Lace his mum would sell from the front room of their first house.

Photo of me with a photo cutout of Lawrence's family :)

One of Lawrence's work desks!

His travel trunk!  Even has his initials!

Yup...the phoenix is on their trashcans too...I only hope someday my personal symbol can be on a trashcan ;P

One of his childhood homes (the one with the blue plaque).

Another of his childhood homes.

The pub Lawrence wrote about.

Nottinghamshire overall was cute, but kind of small.  I ended up spending a few hours drinking coffee at a pub because it was the only place open.  I originally planned way too much time for going to the museum and for catching my train.  It probably would have been smarter to go to Nottinghamshire for the afternoon, and then to Nottingham for the evening (or another day altogether).  Overall, I saw what I wanted to see - D. H. Lawrence's birthplace, as well as various places of interest related to him and his novels.