To Stratford or not to Stratford. That is the question.

So today we got on the right train headed to Stratford-Upon-Avon for the attempt number 2 and actually made it; yay for us! I went with Adrienne, Brittany, and Liz joined us as well.

The town was so cute. It was one of my favorite places I have visited. We started at Shakespeare’s birthplace and got to see a museum and the house he grew up in. His house was really nice. I was impressed with the size of all the houses we went in. They must have been pretty wealthy cause for the time period they had lots of room. Their beds were really short! They explained to us that they used to sleep sitting up with pillow propping them up. They felt it helped them to breathe better and also had superstitions that if you were lay flat, the devil could come and take your soul, but if you were propped upright you’d be ok.

They also only took one shower a year. They thought it would wash away all their immunities which is wicked amusing because today we shower on a daily basis and find being clean to keep us healthy.

While today status symbols include cars, jewelry, etc., back in Shakespeare’s time, beds were a way to show your wealth. A typical salary was 100 pounds a year and a good bed could cost as much as 50 pounds! They would have their best bed downstairs in the living room so any visitor would see it and it could also be viewed from the window.

We only ended up having time to visit four of the five houses. We saw Nash’s house, Hall’s Croft, and Anne Hathaway’s cottage. We also went to Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare and other members of his family were buried. Anne’s house was about a mile walk away from the center of town. As we walked, we kept seeing thatched roof cottages and thinking that they were it. It was quite a long walk but it was such a cute little cottage and I’m glad we made the journey. All the houses had beautiful gardens. Here, they had this bird scarer in the garden that was a potato with feathers stuck in them. I find this quite amusing and I am curious if it actually works!

Mary Arden’s House was the furthest away, so time didn’t allow for us to go. When we were trekking back to the train station we weren’t exactly sure if we were going in the right direction. Liz asked, “Do we know where we are?” as we were passing some high school aged boys. One of them being smart answered, “Stratford!” HA! We were going the right way though and made it in time to ride the train with a whole slew of school kids!