To Be or Not To Be
Whew! It's been a busy few days, so I'll try and keep the recap as short as possible ("Hah!" I hear you all say!). In the first most important piece of news, Dave, Jaimee, Laura and I are all going to the Bon Jovi concert at Wembley next year. Huzzah! I can't wait, it's seriously going to rock. Of course I HAVE to wait until June... but these things happen.
Also, on Saturday while I was out, our landlords came over and told us we all have to be out of the place by January 13 because they're demolishing the building. It would have been appreciated if they told us this BEFORE Lauren and I moved in, but whatever. We've decided to take it as a good thing - we can find somewhere nicer, perhaps with a little garden, and get a cat!
And the reason I wasn't there on Saturday to hear this news was because I went to the Home of the Bard: Stratford-Upon-avon! Early Saturday morning I boarded a bus at Victoria and started the 3.5 hour drive. We passed through some beautiful country, up into Warwickshire, through the town of Warwick itself and Leamington Spa. It's very typically English countryside, rolling green hills and mist. I'm intrigued about Warwick after passing through it, I really want to go back and check out the castle there.
Once in Stratford, I headed to the town centre and bought an all-day tour bus ticket. Basically, thanks to my International Student Card (don't ask how I got this!), I paid 6 pounds and could hop on and off this bus all day, and it took you out of the town to the sights that are a bit further away. I stayed on the bus as we passed through the town centre, and then got off at Anne Hathaway's cottage (Shakespeare's wife's house).
It's really cute and preserved really well. The gardens are absolutely lovely and obviously a lot of care has been put into the preservation of the house.
From there I hopped back on a tour bus and headed past Mary Arden's house and back into town. From here I wandered the little cobblestone streets and made my way to the Holy Trinity church, where I gazed upon the grave of the Bard himself.
It was quite eerie, made more so by the fact that the weather was completely miserable. By this time it had started pouring down with rain and, despite my umbrella, everything from my waist down was soaked. It didn't help when I inadvertantly stepped in a puddle, either, and ended up with shoes full of water and probably a few guppies swimming around my ankles.
Deciding to find somewhere dry and warm to rest, I headed around the corner to Nash House (owned by Shakespeare's son-in-law) and found it now houses a tea room. So I had the obligatory scones with clotted cream and jam with tea and wrote my postcards and dried off a bit.
From there I headed towards Shakespeare's birthplace, along the way stopping to take a look at the Royal Shakespeare Company's theatre building. Yes, all they ever play is Shakespeare's works and if I'd had more time I would have seen a performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
To Shakespeare's birthplace! Realistically, they have no idea if he was actually born here, but it is known that his parents lived here. Like Anne Hathaway's cottage, it's decorated to the style of the period and the interior was very cute, and the gardens immaculate. If there's one thing I noticed about all the properties pertaining to Shakespeare in Stratford, it is the amount of effort they have put into the preservation of the buildings and the appearance of the gardens.
The rest of the town is a mixture of more modern buildings with the old, some dating from as early as the 1400s. It's just incredible to walk around knowing how old these places are. The AlmsHouses, for instance, were built in the early 1400s and people still live in them today.
So after a long day of sight-seeing I headed back to London. On Sunday morning two of my housemates - Kyle and Audrey - and I decided to go to the Camden Markets. The weather was fabulous and we had a really good time. Camden markets are known for their wackiness. While Notting Hill has a lot of clothes and antiques and jewellery, Camden has lots of tattoos, piercings, goth clothes and GREAT food. So we spent the afternoon walking around before catching a bus through central London (where I took on the role of tour guide for my South African friends!) and heading home.
Hopefully tonight we'll be going to the London Eye. There is a promotion on at the moment where, if you have an Oyster Card, you can get on the Eye at 2-for-1 prices. Oyster cards are travel cards used on the underground, overland trains and busses. The weather's holding out so far... I hope it stays nice tonight!
In the meantime, I know Mum particularly was interested to see what my new room was like - don't look to quickly though, we'll be moving again in three months! But here's a couple of shots:
They're not particularly good pics, I know, but you get the general idea.
Also, as promised, pics from Kensington Palace and Hyde Park from a couple of weeks ago:
Me outside the palace gates
Casey on our paddle boat!
The Orangery - now an extremely expensive cafe - at Kensington
A MASSIVE statue built in memory of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's hubby
Royal Albert Hall
Squirrels! So cute! We hand fed them... I want a squirrel!
Okay, that's about it.
See, I said it would be short!:D
Also, on Saturday while I was out, our landlords came over and told us we all have to be out of the place by January 13 because they're demolishing the building. It would have been appreciated if they told us this BEFORE Lauren and I moved in, but whatever. We've decided to take it as a good thing - we can find somewhere nicer, perhaps with a little garden, and get a cat!
And the reason I wasn't there on Saturday to hear this news was because I went to the Home of the Bard: Stratford-Upon-avon! Early Saturday morning I boarded a bus at Victoria and started the 3.5 hour drive. We passed through some beautiful country, up into Warwickshire, through the town of Warwick itself and Leamington Spa. It's very typically English countryside, rolling green hills and mist. I'm intrigued about Warwick after passing through it, I really want to go back and check out the castle there.
Once in Stratford, I headed to the town centre and bought an all-day tour bus ticket. Basically, thanks to my International Student Card (don't ask how I got this!), I paid 6 pounds and could hop on and off this bus all day, and it took you out of the town to the sights that are a bit further away. I stayed on the bus as we passed through the town centre, and then got off at Anne Hathaway's cottage (Shakespeare's wife's house).
It's really cute and preserved really well. The gardens are absolutely lovely and obviously a lot of care has been put into the preservation of the house.
From there I hopped back on a tour bus and headed past Mary Arden's house and back into town. From here I wandered the little cobblestone streets and made my way to the Holy Trinity church, where I gazed upon the grave of the Bard himself.
It was quite eerie, made more so by the fact that the weather was completely miserable. By this time it had started pouring down with rain and, despite my umbrella, everything from my waist down was soaked. It didn't help when I inadvertantly stepped in a puddle, either, and ended up with shoes full of water and probably a few guppies swimming around my ankles.
Deciding to find somewhere dry and warm to rest, I headed around the corner to Nash House (owned by Shakespeare's son-in-law) and found it now houses a tea room. So I had the obligatory scones with clotted cream and jam with tea and wrote my postcards and dried off a bit.
From there I headed towards Shakespeare's birthplace, along the way stopping to take a look at the Royal Shakespeare Company's theatre building. Yes, all they ever play is Shakespeare's works and if I'd had more time I would have seen a performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
To Shakespeare's birthplace! Realistically, they have no idea if he was actually born here, but it is known that his parents lived here. Like Anne Hathaway's cottage, it's decorated to the style of the period and the interior was very cute, and the gardens immaculate. If there's one thing I noticed about all the properties pertaining to Shakespeare in Stratford, it is the amount of effort they have put into the preservation of the buildings and the appearance of the gardens.
The rest of the town is a mixture of more modern buildings with the old, some dating from as early as the 1400s. It's just incredible to walk around knowing how old these places are. The AlmsHouses, for instance, were built in the early 1400s and people still live in them today.
So after a long day of sight-seeing I headed back to London. On Sunday morning two of my housemates - Kyle and Audrey - and I decided to go to the Camden Markets. The weather was fabulous and we had a really good time. Camden markets are known for their wackiness. While Notting Hill has a lot of clothes and antiques and jewellery, Camden has lots of tattoos, piercings, goth clothes and GREAT food. So we spent the afternoon walking around before catching a bus through central London (where I took on the role of tour guide for my South African friends!) and heading home.
Hopefully tonight we'll be going to the London Eye. There is a promotion on at the moment where, if you have an Oyster Card, you can get on the Eye at 2-for-1 prices. Oyster cards are travel cards used on the underground, overland trains and busses. The weather's holding out so far... I hope it stays nice tonight!
In the meantime, I know Mum particularly was interested to see what my new room was like - don't look to quickly though, we'll be moving again in three months! But here's a couple of shots:
They're not particularly good pics, I know, but you get the general idea.
Also, as promised, pics from Kensington Palace and Hyde Park from a couple of weeks ago:
Me outside the palace gates
Casey on our paddle boat!
The Orangery - now an extremely expensive cafe - at Kensington
A MASSIVE statue built in memory of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's hubby
Royal Albert Hall
Squirrels! So cute! We hand fed them... I want a squirrel!
Okay, that's about it.
See, I said it would be short!:D
posted by Melanie at
10:38 pm
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3 Comments:
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Hey Mel! YES YES YES, get to warwick castle - it's awesome - like the medieval festival every day. plus it has an australian link - very fun!p.s. mum was asking for your number to ring from work yesterday. thankfully i warned her that it would be about midnight in london. hopeless! OXOX
Ah, I remember you talking about Warwick Castle! I shall definitely get there then ... at some point .. some time ... :D
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