Stratford-Upon-Avon (Part 2 of my Friday Trip)

Hello again!

After Warwick Castle, we drove over to Stratford-Upon-Avon. The first thing I saw when I got off the bus was this nice lamppost.

It's very nice and even has two.... cheery men, I think? I dunno, it looked nice. That building there is the Swan Theater which is one of two big theaters there. The other one, the *Royal Shakespeare Company* was where we watched the Taming of the Shrew, which was later in the evening.










When we got off the bus, we headed over to the church where Shakespeare is buried. It was a nice church with a pleasant graveyard outside it on the border of the river. The inside was very nice, and I got complimented on my coat/sweater combination by some people working at the church. They asked me if I had made the coat, and I felt very complimented. :)

Inside the church is the actual grave of THE William Shakespeare and his wife, Anne. It was really cool.

The words up above basically say "Don't dig up these stones or move my bones, because if you do, I curse you."

It was really cool.


From there, I went wandering around the town, looking for something to entertain me. I passed by the house that Shakespeare MIGHT have been born in. I didn't go in because you had to pay, and I felt that I didn't want to pay for a possible birthplace of someone.

Right across the street there was a Christmas store. it made me think of Canada and fudge, so I went off looking for some fudge. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your stance on sweets), there were a ton of shops all throughout the town that sold pastries, chocolates, or just sweeties.

At that point, I was just wandering around the town looking for other people to entertain myself with. I didn't want to cheat and call someone, so I wandered around keeping an eye out for people I knew. It was fun, kind of like a game.

I eventually found most of the other Lawrence Students in a book store. I had gone in to look at books to pass the time until it was time to see the play, and after a while, I looked up, and there were six (or so) others from my group! It was really cool. I felt like I was psychic or something.




So, after some dinner, we went to see "Taming of the Shrew" by the Royal Shakespeare Company!!!!! I was very torn about my reaction to it.... I REALLY dislike the play itself, but the actors were so good, and the staging was so magnificent, and the set was so amazing, I loved it at the same time.... GOD! I felt so bad enjoying the play, but it was SO GOOD. >.<




I don't even know man.







Well, I am exhausted, and I need to catch up on my posting, so I'm off to get some good sleep so that I can have great adventures so that I can write about them.


TTFN, Ta ta for now!
Sophie (& Greg)

Warwick Castle

Hello everyone,

As I previously mentioned, there will be a castle in this one!

Last Friday, all of us from Lawrence - as well as our two main teachers, Mr. Fosdal and Christine - went on a bus trip out into the English countryside. It was a very nice day, but we had to leave early in the morning (8 am. Gross), so I slept on part of the bus ride. I simply love watching the countryside roll by as we drove to our destinations. The sky was clear and the sun was shining, so everything looked wonderful.

Up there is Warwick Castle, and to the right is one of the streets leading to the castle. The sun just rising made everything look so lovely.

I took a bunch of pictures of the castle itself, and it was all very beautiful.


Mr. Fosdal there had warned us about how the castle had become afflicted with the disease of tourism, but I still entertained. :)

The
River
Avon
was
right
there.

Sooooo
pretty....

This part of the castle was called the Mound, and it was possibly my favorite. The walk up wound back and forth through those bushes, and all the while you get a nice view of the courtyard. On the other side, there's another path that winds down, and with that one you get a view of the countryside that stretches all the way to Stratford and other towns-whose-names-I've-forgotten.



The tree down there looked so good in contrast to the sky. It was just asking for its picture to be taken. Look!

This picture has an island on it. After I took these pictures, I walked down to it and wandered around on there. There was no one around, so it was so peaceful. There were swans in the river, and I just sat watching them from a fallen log among some trees. It was so nice!

There was a Birds Of Prey show in the courtyard, I watched it from the ramparts of this tower. I had a really good bird's-eye view. ;)



This photo, I just had to take. Everyone looks so ridiculous! And not only in this poster, there were a bunch of life-like statues in the home section that were so funny. 

I explored a lot by myself, and at one point I burst out laughing in the dungeons, and a family in front of me hurried forward because I was alone. I think I scared the little girl. This is one of what I found so funny:

And he wasn't the only one that provided entertainment. See?

This is Henry the VIII, with ALL of his wives.... That's not possible, because he was never married to ALL OF THEM AT THE SAME TIME.... Nor did any of them ever live there. It was one of those touristy things.

These two are just... Well, look at them!! Those glasses just crack me up.

"I'm going to be a king one day!!" "No sweetie, I think you mean laundress."                                     .                  .                                                                        (P.S. That woman and child in the back are the family that I scared.)

Everything was very entertaining. Here are just some more random pictures.

The 'house' went into the servant's
section which went above the dining
room, and it looked cool. I felt like a spy.

The River from a back room.

Also, Greg got a(nother) girlfriend! She was so nice, and when I was trying to put him onto this plant-on-the-wall, she offered to hold him for a picture. I say offered, but I mean I asked her and then didn't really give her a chance to say no. But she was cool. This picture was right by the Princess Tower, and I was trying to get in when this girl came by and was like "Can I help you? The Princess Tower is closed for the moment. And, besides, it's for little children, so I don't think you would enjoy it." ...... I wouldn't enjoy it?!? I don't think she knew who she was talking to.
   
   

This has gotten very long, so PART 2 will be about Stratford!

Cheese!

Sophie & Greg

Theatre Is At The Heart Of It All

Hello everyone!

This week I have had a sudden influx of homework, so it has been difficult to write about anything interesting. So today I decided I would write about the plays I have seen.

The Royal Shakespeare Company,
where we saw Taming of the Shrew.

The first two plays I've seen are 'Pippin' and 'The 39 Steps,' which I have already written about. After those two, I have seen 'Matilda, the Musical,' 'First Light,' 'Mr. Darwin's Tree,' 'Taming of the Shrew,' and 'Noises Off.' And tomorrow I will be seeing 'Pitchfork Disney.' :D We'll see how that goes.

'First Light' and 'Mr. Darwin's Tree' were actually two plays in one night. The first was a story about a Chaplain at a boarding school who had lost someone. I think she was his wife and a teacher at the school. But there was this whole story about one of the young girls (who was supposed to be 14 and looked 25ish), who was also sad. There was a slight feeling of Lolita, but nothing ever happened. Then the headmaster got word of supposed shenanigans, and it just.... got confusing. I'm not explaining it right, but I just can't necessarily put it into words. My brain is just slightly melted from all my homework.

The poster or Taming of the Shrew. I'll
write more about it in the next post.

'Mr. Darwin's Tree' was actually an hour-long monologue about Darwin's life. It was interesting, but it left no lasting impression.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get a picture of the pub the two shows were in, but it was a nice little place with a simple enough stage area. It had a slight black-box feeling.

Now, 'Matilda, the Musical' was magnificent!! I loved it so much that I got the CD, which was totally worth it. I really do enjoy listening to the music. The story of the musical was based on the book by Rohl Dahl (or however you spell that). In the production, the kids were very good actors and performed really well, as did everyone else. I was laughing so hard at the Trunchibul! She/he was so funny (It was a woman played by a man). The music was really good, and the set was so cool, I can't even explain it!!! Gosh, I just can't put clear words down. But it was Brilliant. With a capital B.


I just cam from seeing the play 'Noises Off,' and I have a sore stomach from laughing so hard. It's basically about a play that goes horribly wrong. There's even a section that is done "back-stage." It was funny to see how ridiculous things can get, but also a little sad because things DO get that ridiculous sometimes. I especially cringed when the curtain ripped. BUT! It was a very good show, and I would see it again.

That's the place where I saw 'Noises Off.' It's called The Old Vic, and it was a really nice place. :)








Well, since there aren't a lot of pictures in this post, I'll put some pictures about where we take classes.



There are two pictures of the inside of my classroom, and then there's a picture of the building from the outside. It's a nice place, but the temperature can get kinda funky, like freezing in one room and then sweltering in the hallway.

Well, sleep is calling.

Tra la la!

Sophie & Greg

Teaser for the next post! We're at a castle....

Week of Exploration

Hello everyone!

So, after returning from Bath, we had classes again. I love my classes so much!

These are two of my teachers: Chrinstine Harris - British Crime Fiction, Michael Fosdal - British Life and Culture, and Izzy, holding Greg. I was blinded by the light... This was during a lunch we all had together. It was great fun.

I've got British Crime Fiction which is a study of crime fiction and it's development, mainly here in the UK. We've read Poe (I know, he's not British, but he made one of the first "detective" stories), and a few Sherlock Holmes so far. I have also been keeping up with the TV series Sherlock, and I love it!!!! I got to watch the most recent episode here in London! I was really excited about it. I still am.

Next, I've got British Life and Culture. In this class... we basically talk about anything and everything concerning Britain. And Mr. Fosdal's really cool.

Then, finally, I've got Fringe Theatre in London. It's really laid-back, and AWESOME! We go to see a show every week (plus the ones I've gone to see on my own). I'm really enjoying it. This last class, we met at a tube station, and then went walking around the cool historical theatre places, like the original Globe Theater.

 This is a part of the original London Bridge. I got to touch it. It was really smooth. I think it's starting to petrify. Is that a real word? Well, it sounds really, so it now is!







Then we also passed through the Borough Market, and the food there is DELICIOUS! I found a stall of Argentinian food, and the guy was super sweet. I got a chicken Empanada (it was so good). Then I found this map of the market, and I just had to take a picture!

Here is my Fringe Theatre teacher, Brian, showing us where the original Globe Theater was. And down there is a picture of what an artist though the area looked like.

 The bricks there to the right are original bricks of the Globe... It was sooooo cool!!! I got tingles up and down my spine.



And then the building down there is the current Globe Theater. It's not playing any shows until April, and we won't be here then. But we're going to try to go on a tour to see the inside. :D

Well, this is THE bridge in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince... I think. It's in one of the movies. But this time there were no Death Eaters ruining the bridge. It was a very dreary day, but that's ok! I had to cross it to get to the tube station to go back.

OH!!! Well, most of you have probably already heard, but I GOT A PART IN A PLAY!!! It's at the Imperial College and We're doing the play "Can't Pay? Won't Pay!" I've already read some of the scrips, and it's very funny! I'm playing the part of Antonia. :)

This last week, I spent a lot of time wandering around London for the fun of it. I got lost twice. It was awesome.

The plays I saw that week were 'Matilda the Musical' and 'First Light / Mr. Darwin's Tree.' The second was actually two plays that we saw the same night. They were for Fringe Theatre.

OH NO!!!! I just had about a whole page of stuff written about the three plays, when the page froze before I could save it. D: And I lost it all..... Well, I'll just have to try to write it all again.

..... In my next post. :)

Love,
Sophie & Greg

P.S. If you want to see more pictures, I've put all of them up on Facebook. ;)