This post MIGHT be about Shakespeare

   

White Tower (Tower of London)

  Such a busy week!! On Monday, Andrew and I headed to the Tower of London. Just getting there was an adventure because since it was Easter Monday a lot of train lines were closed. What normally could be a two train/ one station change route ended up involving at least three station changes. We arrived around 11 and didn't leave until 3 it was so cool. We began with a tour by the Yeoman Warders (or Beefeaters as they are commonly called). They actually still live in the Tower with their families, we were told. I later also found out that they have a pub there for them to access. Pretty cool. After this hour long tour, where we learned interesting facts about the Tower and went into the chapel that contained the bodies of people like St. Thomas More and Anne Boleyn. We then got in line to see the Crown Jewels. The wait was probably around 30 minutes but moved pretty consistently. I'm glad we went when we did because the line grew as the day continued! After seeing these beautiful crowns and other royal pieces, we went through the White Tower. This is the tower sort of at the center of the Tower of London.  This held a lot of armory from so many of the monarchs. It was pretty cool. We then went through the Wakefield tower, which held three torture devices. One thing that I have apparently always been wrong about when it comes to the Tower of London is the fact that relatively few people were tortured there. I had always been under the impression that torture was common here. Not the case. After the Wakefield tower we went on the Wall Walk, which took us through the palace portion of the complex. I had forgotten that monarchs and others had lived there in the past...after all it had begun as a fortress! We also saw graffiti from past prisoners and examples of weapons that were used to defend the Tower. It was absolutely an incredible day. 

19-20 year olds can still play dress up, right?

    On Tuesday we boarded a bus early in the morning and headed off to Stratford-upon-Avon. We began with a tour of the birthplace of Shakespeare. Many of the artifacts in these places are possibly Shakespeare's, but nothing can be proven. Therefore every sign says that "this <insert object> might have belonged to Shakespeare himself!". Although I understand and appreciate this from a historical stand point, it also was really funny and became a running joke of the day. And I obviously still find it amusing because I named this post after it. Oh well! We then wandered around Stratford, which is absolutely beautiful and so peaceful. Hope, Leah, Courtney, and myself split a giant scone and sat in a cafe for a while before heading to Shakespeare's grave. We then rejoined the large group to go through homes owned by family members of Shakespeare. At the first house our group (we were split into 2 groups to go through the homes) played a wonderful game of tag in the garden. Yes we are 19-21 year olds. It was so warm that we were all able to take off coats. Such a change from the snowball fight we had on the last day trip. It was the greatest. After touring the next house we sat in a room and dressed up in the costumes they had and colored pictures of people in period dress. We then ate at an Italian restaurant and headed to a Royal Shakespeare Company's performance of Hamlet. This was pretty exciting and very good despite the horrible seats we had! We got back to our home in London around 1:30AM. It was a great day. 

Tower of London

  

      Wednesday I went to the National Gallery with the Art of Walking class. We went through early art then discussed it, followed by lunch at the crypt of St. Martin's in the Fields. I then did grocery shopping and laundry and felt like a productive adult. Last night Martha Grace, Olivia, Hope, and I watched Pitch Perfect. Today was the first day of class in a week. Due to lines being down it was delayed an hour, something we all found out upon arrival in Russel Square. A bunch of us went for tea/coffee in a cafe in the square then joined the rest of the class watching Arrested Development while waiting for Tony to get there. I wish I had gotten to the classroom earlier to watch more! After class Martha Grace and I wandered through the blizzard (well..not quite. But quite a lot of snow. And 2 days ago we took of our coats because it was so warm!) to get groceries for dinner tonight. For our turn in the cooking group we made our most impressive meal to date: Greek wraps (pita bread and chicken with various add ins) and fruit wraps! It has been a great few days full of the many adventures that London study abroad holds!