*Disclaimer- This blog post, as well as all following blog posts, will be best understood and most enjoyed if read in a British accent, because although we have only been here for a mere four days, we are already speaking (and thinking) almost completely in British accents. *
*Disclaimer to Julie’s Disclaimer – as most southerners know, every geographic region, even the smallest, can contain subtle and obvious distinctions in accent, dialect, and enunciation. E.G. In our own home state of South Carolina, southern accents can vary tremendously. Our brothers and sisters in the upstate typically speak with a more nasally accent, while our esteemed relatives in Charleston speak with an almost aristocratic tone of voice. All of this is to say that British accents vary tremendously. Therefore, when reading our blog, feel free to speak or think in any accent of your choice. Perhaps you may be a polished youth from Oxford or a rough fellow from Scotland. Regardless, please enjoy!*
Greetings from Stratford-upon-Avon! It is quite astounding to think that we have only been in this beautiful, historic city for a mere four days because I feel like we have already learned and experienced so much about the charming culture, history, and people of England! After a long plane ride (with a screaming child who sounded like a whistling tea-pot boiling over every five or ten minutes)(I would also like to note that I met a wonderful stewardess on the plane. Although I failed to get sweet tea in the airport, this fantastic lady made me sweet tea on the plane!), and then a sleepy bus ride from Manchester to Stratford, we finally arrived at our quaint bed & breakfast houses near downtown Stratford. We were immediately greeted by the wonderful Dr. Aiesi, waving a British flag as we arrived, and his lovely wife Gayle. Together they are one of the most fascinating, charming, caring, passionate, and knowledgeable couples I have EVER met, and there will certainly be many stories to come involving our adopted grandparents. J Both Dr. Aiesi and Gayle are indeed wonderful people! For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Aiesi is my advisor, and he is a world class Political Science Professor and Pre-Law Advisor. On top of all of that, he is an expert on all things British! They both will be great resources on the trip!
We spent the rest of Thursday moving our luggage into our respective houses, walking downtown to buy phones and exchange money, and taking a quick walking tour of the city to see the famous river Avon and the Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried. Holy Trinity Church is an incredible building. It is almost 800 years old in its current form. Its architecture is moving, and it is quite the tourist attraction! Stratford is just as charming and lovely as I had hoped it would be, but it did not become fully real to me until Friday morning when I went on my first run. There is something so special about waking up with a city, and my 7 am jog through the quiet streets of Stratford, feeling the crisp coldness of the morning air, being greeted with British “Good Morning!”s from local shop owners, and finding hidden foot paths alongside the river, truly brought the city to life for me. Needless to say, I am looking forward to many more runs on this trip. J I had a similar realization walking back from Macbeth on Friday night. As we walked out of the play, it was raining, and we began to head back to our bed and breakfast. As we were walking down a small street in Stratford in the rain, I had a very surreal moment, and it sort of hit me. Everything seemed to come together, and I realized how truly marvelous this moment was!
On Friday, we started our Shakespeare studies at Shakespeare’s birthplace. Our first talk was given by Dr. Paul Edmonson in preparation for our viewing of Macbeth later that evening. In the afternoon we heard a talk on Cardenio, the play attributed to author John Fletcher but also possibly written by Shakespeare. I have always loved learning about Shakespeare, but this experience is so surreal because we are learning from some of the world’s leading Shakespeare experts and enthusiasts, IN Stratford-upon-Avon, in the building right beside Shakespeare’s home! AMAZING, quite amazing indeed! Oh, and then comes the best part- on Friday night we saw a performance of Macbeth by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and it was truly the most profoundly moving theatrical performance I have ever seen. Our seats were SO close to the stage that we could see the sweat on the actors faces’ and watch the blood cover the stage during the violent killing scenes; Miller and Mrs. Aeisi even got some spots of Macbeth’s blood splattered on their clothes during the show! SO JEALOUS! This performance of Macbeth was overtly religious. It cast Macbeth as a demonically inspired mad man pitted against the God like Duncan. I particularly enjoyed these thematic elements, and it was a wonderful start to our theatre experience!
On Saturday, we took a short train to the countryside and spent a lovely day touring the historic Tudor farm of Mary Arden, Shakespeare’s mother. Besides the extremely unpredictable weather (just fyi, “20% chance of rain” here means 10 minutes of 65 degrees/sunshine followed by 5 minutes of cold rain showers followed by 13 minutes of chilly cloudiness followed by 3 or 4 minutes of hail, so moral of story=ALWAYS bring an umbrella!) it was a very pleasant day of experiencing daily life at a typical Tudor farm, including barns of sheep and chickens, a blacksmith, an archery station, a Falconry exhibition, and more! Falcons and hunting owls are incredibly remarkable creatures! I think that is a hobby Julie and I should pick up immediately. My favorite part of this experience was meeting some new British friends. First, I took the initiative to introduce myself to two young British men whom I saw at the sheep station, and they were quite attractive. William (age 4) and Alex (age 2) were on “holiday” (vacation) with their grandparents, so I spent a few minutes (um, maybe more like half an hour) feeding the sheep and getting to know them better. (Dr. Aeisi was busy chatting about politics or something with their grandparents J). An excerpt from our discussion:
Julie: William, isn’t this a nice sheep?
William: No! I think he is a very naughty sheep!
Julie: Why is he a naughty sheep?
William: Well, I am afraid that if I turn around, he will bite me on my bottom!
Later in the day, Dr. Aeisi and Thomas and I also met an incredibly talented and witty young man named Nick who worked at the farm and has an amazing story, but I will let Thomas share that one. What can I possibly say about Nick? Well, to be honest, he seems to be the quintessential Renaissance man. He is a student of drama at Oxford, and he is also a remarkable adventurer! He plans to run from Greece to London next year. He really was a fascinating person!
I would also like to add a brief aside about an encounter we had last night. After plays in Stratford, it is customary to go to a local eatery named "The Dirty Duck". A lot of us Furman folks went there after Cardenio and were hoping to catch sight of a few of the actors from the performance. In typical American fashion, we were standing in the middle of the doorway with half of the room not so subtly staring at us. As we were about to exit 'The Dirty Duck", I paused to talk to another patron. He seemed to be British and was wearing seersucker! As y'all know, I am quite the fan of the seersucker ensemble. In fact, I would venture to say that it is a uniquely southern way of dress. Obviously, I had to pause for a moment to compliment the gentleman on his attire. As I did, his wife rather causally stated, "You must talk slowly, he speaks American." Although I tried to write the comment off, I was mildly angered! Although my drawl is indeed slower than that of my British cousins, there is no need to condescend!
Today we took an hour-long bus ride through the countryside (simply BEAUTIFUL rolling hills of sheep and country cottages, truly out of movie scene. Thomas was pondering his future real estate purchases and I was pondering where I would be taking my future classes on field trips). Just imagine for a moment taking your family to your very own English cottage around Christmas! It would be such an experience for your children, and it would be so enjoyable for you! We arrived at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill and the current home of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, and it was truly the largest, most ornately beautiful place I have ever seen! It was too incredible to describe in words, but think Biltmore House times one thousand! Plus 2000 acres of beautiful parkland, lakes, gardens, fountains, statues, and more! Quite lovely indeed! Julie was quite right when she said that we could not adequately describe the Palace with words. I truly was so impressed. The Palace did exactly what it was meant to do – to awe the individual with the largess and majesty of aristocracy. The Jeffersonian in me was repulsed by the palace, but the Burke in me approached it with reverence. It truly has been one of the highlights of my trip thus far.
Finally, we ended the day in Oxford, where we toured the city and some of the grand colleges and cathedrals, including Christ Church where part of Harry Potter was filmed! Ahhh such a lovely day! Do I want to live in England at some point in my life? Quite possibly YES. I even like British cereal, which is basically the determining factor for me! (blog posts on cereal quality to come later) It really is difficult to sum up the trip so far. Our time in Britain has been brief, but it has been filled with wonder. The history here is unbelievable, and the presence of friends only makes it that much more enjoyable. As a final aside, I would like to point out that I had lunch today at the Eagle and Child. For those of you who don’t know, this is where C.S. Lewis and company would gather together at Oxford.
This post has already rambled on for too long, so now we will leave you with these fun facts we have discovered over these past few days:
- The phrase “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite!” comes from Shakespeare’s time when the beds were held together by ropes that had to be re-tightened often, and the beds had canopies to keep the bed bugs away!
- We have to look right, not left, when crossing the street because they drive on the wrong side of the road over here! (well for now, we just always both ways about five times so we don’t get run over!)
- The clouds are really, really low in the sky because we are closer to the North Pole!
- I (Julie) tried gooseberry yogurt this morning. Quite delightful. Yes, quite delightful indeed.
- Thomas has mastered the art of speaking Spanish in a Scottish accent. Video to follow.
- Charles Dodgson (under the name Lewis Carroll) was a mathematics tutor at Oxford, and there he met the dean’s daughter Alice, who became his inspiration for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland! There are even some stained glass windows in the Christ Church Dining Hall with paintings of Alice characters!
Yours Truly,
Thomas and Julie
