uk: stratford, then london

I looked forward to Stratford-upon-Avon (for obvious reasons), but I was disappointed by the level of tourism that had taken over the town. Trinket shops were on every corner, and tourists invaded the streets! I had hoped that I would find some wonderful bookshops, but the only stores I happened upon, at least in my limited free time, were corporate.

Visiting Shakespeare's grave, however, was truly a transcendental experience. I was overwhelmed by the idea that the dust of Shakespeare lay closer than the letters of his sacrosanct name on the cover of an indispensable play. The nebulous idea of the playwright became flesh and bone! (Well… bone.)

That night I had the honor of attending King Lear at the Royal Shakespeare Company. The production incorporated set and costume design from the nineteenth century and even World War I, displacing the conventional vision of the play so that its themes of cold power-grabbing and dark chaos made fine impressions.

The next day we made our way to London - our final destination. I'm sad to say, though, that I became sicker than I can remember ever feeling (food poisoning!) and consequently lost out on the London experience! I could've been devastated, but I was so exhausted by then that I could not have enjoyed the city to the fullest anyway, and I'm very confident that I will return.

Nonetheless, I did manage to take these pictures at Windsor and then the Tower of London (just hours before I became officially bed-ridden).

Kara, with whom I sat in many-a-pub!

And finally, a picture from my hotel room.

(Victoria Plaza Room 350, your ceiling will forever be burned in my memory!)

This trip was with my university's history department, but I look forward to a future visit in which I'll make the plans! To show for this adventure, I have a healthy stack of books (so that by Stratford others were placing bets on whether a newly acquired book was tucked in my bag).

So here's to my first experience of the fair British Isles! (May there be many more to come!)