Day 36: Ice Cream Clouds

After a good night's sleep, we walked downstairs for breakfast. There was a table with a number 2 on it, (just for us), and each place-setting had a teacup on a saucer, and a cute china plate, and orange juice in a fancy wine glass. We got hot chocolate, and toast with jam, and sausage, and a fried egg, and tomatoes, and mushrooms, and bacon...REAL bacon. You know, the thick and delicious kind, that actually looks like it might have actually come from a pig instead of a processor. MM.Best breakfast in the last six weeks!! And I felt so fancy, pouring my hot chocolate from a teapot.

After everyone had finished eating and gathered outside the bed and breakfasts, we walked as a group over to Shakespeare's birthplace. Yeah. Cool right?

You konw, all of these Shakespearean tourist sites have this wonderful habit of saying, "maybe", "perhaps", "probably", and "we're pretty sure" an awful lot... And it became a sort of joke within the group...

We'd go to a park and say, "hey, did you know that this was Shakespeare's favorite park? (Maybe)."...

We'd eat a Magnum ice cream bar and say, "hey, did you know that Shakespeare actually invented Magnum ice cream bars? (Probably)."...

We'd use the toilets in McDonalds and say, "hey, did you know that Shakespeare actually used these toilets? And he put this wall paper up too. (Perhaps, possibly, we're pretty sure)." ...

Yes, well, we're a little immature. But, it's ok.

The Roses here smell so good, by the way. We couldn't get over them... every time there was a rose bush, we'd all run and smell the flowers vigorously. Because they smell SO DANG good! It's like, a candy shop on a stem.

We went to New Place, which is the site where Shakespeare lived later in his life with his wife and two (three?) kids. It's actually an archeological site, and we got to watch them dig (for buried treasure, and other cool things).

Then we went across the road to some gardens. Every garden I've seen here has one flower in common- bright orange poppies. Everywhere. They make me think of the Wizard of Oz. And this garden was no different.

We walked around admiring the strange statues, and snapping pictures of poppies, and having a grand old time.

And then it was time to go to Hall's Croft. Shakespeare's daughter's husband's house. (Yes, really. You see, they made as many tourist sites as possible in Stratfor-Upon-Avon, no matter how distant the relation or relevance to good old Bill.)

We had to do the tour in two shifts, because our group was so big. And so, we ended up sitting and talking on some benches for a good twenty minutes while the other half was inside. We read through the information pamphlets like it was sunday school, each taking a paragraph on the sheet. And we played with Christian's camera, and made Shakespeare jokes, and had a very lovely time.

The tour was fun... lots of rather frightening medical tools that made you grimace, and interesting facts about how ridiculous the medical notions were back in Shakespeare's time. And there was one activity where you got to write down your own recipe for a medical tonic! Jill and I made a recipe for Happiness... and it included, among other things, a red balloon, Johny Depp, Sheep's Wool, Smiles, Sprinkles, Love, Fluffy Clouds, Pizza, Raspberries, and Rainbows.

Right before we left, Christian, Jason, Jill and I did a Canga line through the top floor, and called it good.

Then we walked over to the Holy Trinity Church, to see Shakespeare's grave. Now THAT was cool.

*** say something else here!

After all that sight seeing, we had some free time. We walked through a park and found a small shop where we could buy Magnum Bars--the best ice cream bars on the planet--and then headed further up the narrow dirt path. We came to the banks of the Avon River where several little row boats were tied in a line, and sat debating over who would be in which boat. It was decided that Jason, Camille, and I would make up one crew. We paid our money, and hopped aboard our little boat Viola.

At first we had a little trouble getting anywhere... Jason was the man,(so naturally he was in charge of the oars), and lets just say he didn't exactly grasp the art of rowing all at once... in fact he ran into a large bush, and fell backwards into the bow. We were laughing so hard my stomach hurt, and he just kept saying, "gah!! don't laugh! I can do it!"...

Eventually he figured it out. And we whipped out a parasol and slid along the river. (Only running into one or two more bushes, and a boat, along the way). And we somehow created names for each other... I was Lady Willamina Cotswallow (or something like that), a rather posh lady who loved to go up and down the Avon on her boat Viola, with her Boatswain Charles (Jason) and her good friend Helga Beatrice (Camille), who, consequently, always went by her second name rather than her first.

Yes, we had a time of it. Let me tell you.And I'm afraid the names have stuck. Jason shall always be my Boatswain.

After that it was time for lunch. We found a little baguette shoppe called "Jester's", just down a little side street, and I bought a tomato, mozzarella and basil sandwhich. The woman at the counter laughed at how I said basil, and said "Basil. You say it so strangely! It's BAH-SIL!"...

We shopped around a bit, and watched the street performers painted gold and silver, bowing for a coin. We went to a little souvenier shop and bought a few nick nacks, and laughed over the Union Jack decorated Thongs. We looked into bakeries and sweet shops, book stores and boutiques.

We were supposed to have a tour of the RSC theatre at 3:00. Unfortunately, they decided to have an extra rehearsal. So, instead, we had a pretend tour. We sat in some chairs, and they told us stories and answered questions and let us try on a costume or two. I would have paid rapt attention, only some angel of a girl started playing with my hair, and I'll admit it... I was a goner. Lost any kind of focus, and pretty much fell asleep.

After that Jason, Christian, Annie, Jill and I decided it might be nice to just lounge around in a park until the show. We were all awfully tired, and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. You know the kind... when the sky is perfectly blue and the clouds hover like giant scoops of ice cream. We paid the 50p it cost to cross the Avon on the ferry, (which was just like the one in a Knight's Tale), and then we found a nice stretch of grass, with some trees, and settled in. We talked for a good hour... moving every now and then with the shade as the sun arched across the sky. And we even had a waving competition with a tiny little girl who was running around near us. It was perfect.

Then Jason happened to look back towards the Avon and announced, "uh, guys? The Ferry man is leaving"... Yeah. OOps? Apparently the Ferry doesn't run 24/7. We all responded with a, "huh. would you look at that", laughed, and decided we should probably start trying to find a bridge, (so that we would actually made it to the other side to see the show).

Antony and Cleopatra was... well, you know it was certainly... well, yeah. Ahem.

I mean that script is pretty boring as it is. And then you throw in Sean Connery as
Antony making love to a Cleopatra who was probably the inspiration for Esthma on the Emperor's New Groove, (complete with nobby joints and emaciated complexion...) and... well, you've certainly got something INTERESTING on your hands.

Lets just say that I fell asleep. I don't think I've ever actually done that in a theatre before. EVER.

Uhhgg. I can't even think about it.

Fortunately there was a McDonalds around the corner, and we got a McFlurry to cheer our little hearts. The McDonalds here are super classy. It's ridiculous.

And after our McDonalds pick me up, we began walking home. As the five of us were rather engrossed in conversation about the play we'd just seen, a rather frightening woman smoking a cigarrette came around the corner, walking toward us. Then we realized that it was Cleopatra. Scared the pants off me.

The boys bid us goodnight, and made sure we got into our bed and breakfasts safely.

And I sighed as I climbed into bed after a nearly perfect day. Despite the unfortunate theatrical experience and the run in with Esthma.