Where's the hostel?!

To answer that question, let me give you some context. The hostel in question was a youth hostel supposedly located in Stratford-upon-Avon, our destination for February 2-3. However, after arriving in the quaint little town with no access to our city maps app, we were taken aback when the lady at the information center told us that the youth hostel was outside the town, about a two mile walk!

It was a pleasant enough walk, with good weather, a wide sidewalk, and lots of upscale English cottages to admire along the route. Still, with our weekend backpacks and sore feet, the walk was about two miles too long. We thought that we had surely missed it when we passed a sign telling us that we weren't even in Stratford-upon-Avon anymore, but in an even smaller village called Tiddington.


After stopping at a supermarket to ask for directions and being told to keep going straight as far as the eye could see, we eventually made it to the hostel. It took a few hours rest and a pint of Magners' apple cider each before we felt up to the return journey into Stratford-upon-Avon. Fortunately, there was a bus which was supposed to run every half an hour, even though it was running a bit off-schedule, so we were spared the hike back into town in the dark.

For those of you who aren't aware, I guess it's time to mention the reason we decided to visit this town with a quirky name. It's the birthplace of one of my favorite poets/playwrights, the famous William Shakespeare! Since it was already evening on Friday, we decided to save the tours for the next day, and to go see a play at the Royal Shakespeare Company Theater. Nicole's grandparents had generously booked us tickets to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night so we had seats with a great view.

The show was outstanding!! I had seen several versions of the play before, though Nicole hadn't, but both of us had a fantastic time. Some of the characters had a semi-Indian background, which was reflected in the costuming, the music, and the random hookah-smoking scene :) But it was a new take on the old play that worked well, and all the acting was stellar and quite amusing. My favorite portrayals were Sir Toby Belch, Feste, and Malvolio (especially during his yellow-stocking debut). If those characters mean nothing to you, I highly recommend seeing or reading the play. Or if Shakespeare's not your thing, at least watch She's the Man, a silly, modern movie with Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum, loosely based off of this play. It's not a substitute, because it's completely different, but it's hilarious in its own right.

Digression aside, on Saturday morning, we experienced Shakespeare's entire life, from birth to death. It's amazing how little time it took! We started at the end, at Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried. Despite how much I love wandering through old churchyards and looking at the ancient graves with plenty of character, I was a little dubious about trying to find Shakespeare's grave among the moss-covered, unreadable headstones, especially because it was drizzling steadily. However, his grave was inside the church, so we were able to get warm and dry while seeing the spot where he was laid to rest. The verse on his grave is worth repeating, so in case you can't read it in the accompanying photo, I'll copy the inscription below:

"Good friend for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones."

I sure wouldn't dare to touch that grave, especially after such a warning! We then traveled back in time to his birth, and took a tour of the house in which he was born and grew up in. It was simple and not much to look at, but in a way, I think that makes Shakespeare's achievements even more noteworthy, coming from such humble beginnings. His father, John Shakespeare, was a glove maker, so we got to see his little workshop. The family actually turned the house into an inn for a while, when none of them were living there anymore. It was entertaining to see the room Shakespeare was born in and to imagine baby William coming into the world, his parents having no idea what their son was going to go on to do.

So despite a hostel two miles away in Tiddington, we made it to the serene town of Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace and resting place of William Shakespeare, and had a wonderful time viewing the ordinary place that produced such an extraordinary man.

The Blonde