The U.K.'s Hannibal

My apologies for not posting in a few days. Among the program's trips, our own sight-seeing adventures, class, emailing, web camming, and walking just about everywhere there isn't much time in day to sit down and type my brain's musings most nights. In any case, I'm splitting this post up into a few smaller ones to keep the information separate by category and because I remember some thread of knowledge from psychology saying people prefer to read smaller chunks of text rather than larger ones. To that end, here's a description of my most recent galavanting:

On Tuesday the 27th, my goal was to search out a specific type of English breakfast tea made by Taylors of Harrogate. My Mom requested I bring "as much as possible" back from England because it was "the best tea [she] had ever tasted." Dad had picked up a box somewhere in the States, and she hasn't been able to find it since. In any case, I hoped on their website and rooted around awhile but couldn't seem to find a store that carried Taylors of Harrogate tea. What to do, what to do? Why, email customer service of course! A lady replied back that the store with the biggest selection of their teas was at the Whole Foods in Kensington. Wait a second, I live in/near Kensington! After a short look at Google maps, I realized I was within walking distance of this amazing tea! So on Tuesday afternoon I walked over with another gal and finally found the Holy Grail of Tea. I bought some for myself along with a little Scottish Breakfast (still have to try that one) and ended up spending about $10 for 70 bags of tea. Expensive, but boy howdy is that stuff worth it! So rich, so robust, so full of flavor, simply wonderful. I'll have to bring back some for Mom AND me!

That night, my flatmates and I went to London's recreation of the Globe Theatre for a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In true Shakespearian form, we payed five pounds to be "groundlings" or one of the people who get to stand for three hours. I thoroughly enjoyed the play and made sure to grab a spot by the Theatre's walls to lean against. Oh, I also bought my first souvenirs here-- a miniature version of The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream and a small poster of Shakespeare's London.

Wednesday was our program trip to Warwick (pronounced War-ick) Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon. Oh my goodness. During the two hours drive to the Castle, our tour guide talked for....get ready for it...two hours. Straight. No stopping. The man just kept running at the mouth about anything and everything. I finally had to put earplugs in because the bus's speaker's volume was so loud. Goodness. Anyways, Warwick Castle was pretty neat, and the fog/rain contributed to the old English atmosphere. Turns out the Castle was renovated over the years and occupied during the late 1800s. Even now, royalty has visited on occasion. For lunch, I got a 'child's carvery' which was carved meat and roasted vegetables for about $8.50 while the adult version was $16. Ugh, exchange rates. (And that was a cheap meal!) Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend much time here, but I managed to get some neat pictures.

Warwick Castle

And yes, Stratford-upon-Avon. Once upon a time smack dab in the middle of the United States there lived a 14 year old girl going to Burlington High School. Sitting in her freshman English class, she read Romeo and Juliet and received her first real introduction to William Shakespeare's life. Fast forward six years (wow) and that same gal just visited the site her teacher required her to know for some quiz back in the day. We first visited Anne Hatheway's birthplace nearby and then went on to Stratford, which is an actual town.

So, good 'ol Stratford. We arrived and immediately went to house where Shakespeare was born. It was a quick walkthrough because there really wasn't that much to see. One interesting thing was that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams also visited the house. Not only was I walking through a structure once occupied by William Shakespeare, the same boards I squeaked across were also walked on by our own great heads of state.

After the house, we were free until 7PM when we were attending The Taming of the Shrew...but it was only early afternoon at the time. Hm. What to do? Most of the girls stopped by a pub to duck out of the pouring rain, and myself and a few others wandered around a little (and got sopping wet, but we did have umbrellas), eventually stopping in a Waterstone's bookstore which is kinda like Barnes & Noble. I had wanted to get a book on English history, so I found what looked to me like a pretty good one. I've been trying to read a bit every day now. What with school and all I've forgotten how much I enjoy reading. Anyways, after the rain let up a little, one of the gal's and I made our way over to the place where Shakespeare and his wife are buried. Yep, I saw the room where he was born and his final resting place. Very cool.

After a dinner of fish and chips, seven o'clock finally came around and we made our way to the theatre. The Taming of the Shrew was put on very well, but the play was turned into a dark comedy with rather dark humor. Listening to what others had to say before seeing it, I anticipated a much funnier version. Ah well, perhaps I can see it again someday. We finally made it back to London around one o'clock in the morning and promptly hit the sack....I had class the next day at 8:30 AM!

The birthplace of William Shakespeare

As I wandered down the streets of Stratford-upon-Avon with my group, I realized it was much like Hannibal, Missouri-- the birthplace and childhood home of a famous author where all the businesses are somehow related to that same author or his works' characters. Ah, but perhaps I like to poke a little fun at Hannibal for its 'extreme' Mark Twain-ness. ;)

Moving on to Thursday, we decided to take a break from all the running around, so after class I headed up to the Victoria and Albert Museum by myself to take a look around. At least three huge museums are right by Imperial College, and I always wanted to stop by (my flatmates' class is right after mine so I'd be alone in the flat anyway). I enjoyed wandering around on my own time and decided to stop by the cafe for a scone. Perhaps my favorite part of London culture is the proliferation of scones and tea. How nice to sit down to a cup of 'amber brew' and a sweet biscuit!

Today I did the same museum as I'm hitting bits and pieces of it over time. Tomorrow, we're heading up to Bath and Stonehenge for a day trip, so I'll have some info on that later. Oh, and a gal from my grandparents' church in Alabama is also in London for about a month more and will be at Bath/Stonehenge tomorrow as well. I hope I can run into her!

For pictures, here's the link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2069078&l=5ae25&id=36107967