Catching the Travel Bug: or, How I Saw Shakespeare in Stratford but Didn't Take a Bath in Bath

I have now reached that desperate point in the trip where I wake up every day with mixed feelings about my remaining time here. On one hand, I’d love to get back to the land of decent peanut butter and sleep. On the other hand, the end of a beautiful Oxford adventure is looming over my head (only two weeks now!), and some nasally voice in the back of my mind tells me “Only two weeks left to live out your dreams. How will you spend it?” So, while the internal struggle rages on, let’s check out the steps I’ve made to finish this trip with no regrets:

After a weekend busy with our trip to Windsor and finishing my first Shakespeare paper, I found myself on Tuesday morning with two novels to read, research to be done, and 2,000 words due on the relationship between the reader and the narrator in Jane Eyre and Villette in just two days. Oh, did I mention that any work on Wednesday was out of the question because of our trip to Stratford? So let’s make that one day. #Oxford

All of the girls in my flat were feeling the pressure this week, and because I have no interesting details to share regarding the flurry of studying and reading and writing that ensued on Tuesday, I present you with these photos:

The lovely ladies of the flat, studying for our tutorials (Shakespeare, Ovid, Brontes, and Mallory) which...

...can be a bit exhausting...

After realizing how many books we each had been hoarding in our rooms. We decided to pull them out, pile them up, and showcase the amount of material that our tutorials have covered in one month’s time. The result was astounding to say the least.

On Wednesday morning, I pried myself away from the Bronte sisters for a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon with the MSU crew. In addition to being a beautiful and historic city, it is the birthplace and hometown of William Shakespeare. (A little note on the name of the city: Avon is the name of the river that runs through Stratford. So the seemingly complex title, “Stratford-upon-Avon,” is simply stating the name of the city and the river it is situated upon).

As in every true adventure story, getting to the destination was half the fun. With baguette in hand, I boarded a train with the rest of the MSU crew which took us the one hour distance from Oxford to Stratford. Not only was it my first time taking a train, but it was also my first real opportunity to survey the landscape of the English countryside. Rolling hills, winding rivers, scattered hedgerows, sheep and wildflowers sprinkled here and there…in short, my idea of perfection and everything I had grown up dreaming about from the pages of the Bronte novels.

Trust me, the reflection ridden train photos don't even begin to cover it.

Getting off the train at Stratford's station!

Once safely in Stratford, the WISC students were whisked around the city on a brief tour that showed us all of the highlights. First stop: Shakespeare’s house.

The house Shakespeare was born in!

It was much bigger than I expected, but the guide informed us that half of the building would have been dedicated to his father's glove shop where he kept all the materials for his trade as well as a few cows. (The family once got in trouble for keeping a dung heap outside their front door!)

A close of up the wattle and daub construction that was used during Shakespeare's time. Apparently, the plaster covering would not have been there, and Shakespeare's whole house would have appeared like this wattle and daub frame during his residency.

Things got a little emotional when we reached Shakespeare’s monument in the middle of the city. Here I was in a place made famous by the literary contributions of a single person, peering up at his likeness after weeks of studying his plays and seeing them performed by professionals and amateurs in London and Oxford and everywhere in between. Surrounding him were the statues of Falstaff, Lady Macbeth, Hamlet, and Prince Hal, characters of Shakespeare’s plays who had come alive again and again on stage and whose struggles continue to help us decipher our own.

Shakespeare's monument in Stratford

Me and Prince Hal who crowns himself king

The English majors/minors surrounding Hamlet (Me touching the famous skull that Hamlet holds when he delivers one of his most famous soliloquies)

Sharing sympathy with Lady Macbeth who washes blood off of her hands

This was also the moment that we decided to take our group photo together with the MSU banner, a tradition for all Oxford students. It was special, thinking about how far we had come together.

The MSU crew surrounding Falstaff with his creator looking on from his perch

The MSU crew beside the river Avon

We left the park shortly after for a stroll down the river Avon a.k.a. precisely the gorgeous scene where eligible ladies always run into the dark, handsome men they will later wed in Victorian novels. I secretly longed for a parasol of my own! Can I go one day here without pretending I’m any number of my favorite heroines? NO.

Narrow boat drifting down the river Avon

A mother and baby swan enjoying the beautiful day

This view of the river is... positively the stuff of dreams

Row boats names after Shakespeare's heroines

Our stroll ended at the front of Holy Trinity, the church that houses Shakespeare’s grave and that at one time saw his baptism and wedding. I felt that I had finally reached the end of a very long rope, one which started with my looking for Shakespeare in his plays and on stage and ended with me standing only feet away from the man himself. However, I was struck with the overwhelmingly ordinary nature of his grave. I was forced to remember that he was only a man with a particular genius in writing plays whose works had immortalized him and made him larger-than-life in my eyes. But I chose to experience this realization in a positive way, acknowledging the incredible message of hope it carried for all English majors and authors who struggle with society’s attitude that literature isn’t popular, profitable, or practical anymore. Basically, it restored my confidence in my choice of studies. If one man can do it, others can too. You go, English majors!

Peaceful graveyard outside of Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity Church in Stratford

Ornate stained glass windows just above the grave of Shakespeare

There it is...Shakespeare's grave!

Naturally, he decided to go out in true writer style:

"Good friend for Jesus sake forebear,

To dig the dust enclosed here.

Blessed be the man that spares these stones,

And cursed be he who moves my bones."

Holy Trinity Church

The remainder of the time in Stratford was spent exploring the town, historic buildings, and (of course) second-hand book shops.

Historic Old Thatch Tavern

I thought this looked like a place my brother might enjoy! (Love you, Chase!)

The adorable White Swan hotel

Busy streets of Stratford

Original buildings made into modern shopping centers

OH REALLY? Shakespeare.. a local author??

Inviting alleyways in Stratford, full of secret pubs and gardens off the main roads

At seven we all made our way to the theatre in Stratford to watch a performance of Henry IV Part I. It was my first time seeing Falstaff in action, and to witness some carefully choreographed battle scenes. The play had a minimalist feel in regards to props and backdrops, but the acting was excellent and is absolutely not to blame for my dosing off in the second half of the play. I was working on four hours of sleep, readers, and it was very late in the evening.

Theatre in Stratford

Some enormous prop seen in the theatre

Costumes from older performances 

Watch out for the bears!!

Theatre in Stratford

The stage just before the performance of Henry IV Part I

But the fun of Wednesday evening doesn't stop there! After the performance, we boarded a train back to Oxford, and I curled myself up for a quick nap during the hour long ride back. Why, you ask? Because it was Wednesday night, and I had a paper due the next day which so far consisted of my name, the date, and the title. Basically, I knew that arriving in Oxford meant it was time for reality to snap back in. So, at one o’clock in the morning, immediately after walking through the doors of our flat, I sat down and proceeded to write a paper for the next ten hours…without sleep. I took a break to go to class, then banished myself back to my bedroom for a few more hours of writing and editing before my deadline. You can guess what I did after emailing in my final draft at six pm Thursday evening: jumped for joy and slept, slept, slept.

Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester <3 ... Writing about their love isn't all that bad :P

However, something good did come out of Thursday! In my sleep-deprived delirium when I most needed reassurance that all of my efforts were amounting to something, I received an email from the National Conference for Undergraduate Research at which I presented in the spring. They informed me that my paper “‘Young she was and yet not so’: The Revival of the Victorian Fairy-Story Heroine in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings” had been selected for publication in the 2014 NCUR Proceedings. I might have cried if not for the state of total disbelief that hovered over me. Me, a published author? My work available for the use of other scholars? For once, I don’t even know what to say.

*Special thanks to Dr. Anderson and Dr. Snyder for encouraging me to take my writing to the next level and to the Shackouls Honors College and MSU English Department for funding my participation in NCUR*

Friday morning brought my second tutorial with Dr. Johnston. Like last time, it was a tremendous hour packed with questions, comments, critical thinking, collaboration…all of the things I live for as a scholar. Also, I’m beginning to think there is no end to her knowledge on this subject. When my time was up, she dispatched me with a new paper topic and a new book list.

Sally, Jamie and I spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Although I didn’t take pictures inside the museum (There would have been thousands of pictures!!), I will say that I saw marble statues from ancient Greece, delicate collections of English china, fierce Japanese armor and swords, brilliant Pre-Raphaelite paintings, massive tapestries spanning entire walls of rooms, giant Egyptian stones with hieroglyphics…and that was only the two floors that I had time for. Needless to say, I will certainly be making another trip to the Ashmolean before my time here is up.

Entrance to the Ashmoelan Museum of Oxford

We finished the evening off by attending a performance of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors put on by Merton students on the college’s gorgeous lawn. A perfect end to a rough week (even if it did include me accidentally walking into the guys’ bathroom)!

Merton College Lawn

This morning, the MSU crew got up bright and early to board a bus for Bath, a city noted for its Roman baths and for its appearance in Jane Austen’s novels. (*Note: Despite what the museums will tell you, Austen was NOT a fan of Bath though she lived there for quite some time*) Bath is pretty much all you could ever ask for in a city. It’s surrounded by beautiful countryside and full of incredible architecture and great green parks. It has museums and famous historic sites and music on the streets and residents who regularly dress in Regency period attire before leaving their houses. 

City of Bath

Bath seems to be a giant hill

Our tour guide, Brian

City Park in Bath

A look at Bath's beauty from the river

Horse-drawn carriages still in use!

Church outside of the Roman baths

We started our day with a brief tour of the Roman baths:

Entrance to the Roman baths

Gorgeous ceiling in the entrance building

Largest bath

The church beside the Roman baths

Roman statues surrounding the baths (a product of the period of reconstruction in the nineteenth century)

How the baths are generally believed to have looked at the height of their use. The baths were both a place of relaxation and worship!

Tiled floors of the baths depicting horse-snail-sea creature

A look underground

Part of the elaborate drainage system in the baths

Bath water!

Standing as close as is permitted to the bath water. Our guides urged us not to touch the water as it is untreated and can contain any number of bacteria and diseases. In Roman times, these waters were thought to cure anything!

Gazing across the largest bath

Hanging out with this guy although Matt and I were skeptical...We don't think this guy was really a Roman soldier...

The frigidarium, the ice bath. Now used as a wishing well for visitors. My one pence is in there somewhere!

Then Brian, our tour guide and a man well practiced in the art of dry British humor, set us free to wander the city in search of our own treasures. Lien and I chose to stop by the Royal Crescent, one long, arced, continuous building used partly as a museum, hotel, apartment complex, etc. Word on the street is, ONE of the apartments in the Royal Crescent sold for £13,000,000 last year.

After admiring the outside and the lawn where several women were having a picnic dressed as Jane Austen’s characters, we made our way through one of the houses in the Royal Crescent that has been reconstructed for the public to resemble a typical Georgian household complete with lavish dinner tables, bedrooms, carpets and paintings and also included a look at the servants’ quarters. Unfortunately, photography was not permitted :( I felt like I had finally weaseled my way onto the set of Downton Abbey. (*Note: I am aware DA is not set in Georgian England, but it was close enough!!*)

With our time running short, we made our way back to the buses and headed back to Oxford for an evening of studies and sleep…finally.

That’s a recap for week four here in Oxford. Only two more weeks and tons of work, trips, and fun to go! Stay tuned to hear about my upcoming adventures at Magdalen College and Lyme Hall!