Catchup...Coventry/Stratford

So, I have TONS of catching up to do. Right when school gets a little crazy, so bear with me please. But I need to update this so I can remember all that I've done! Haha. I'm still having a blast over here. It never wears off: I'm living in England. How cool is that?

Anyway. A couple weeks ago (now) I went on a required daytrip to Coventry and Stratford. We all piled on the bus fairly early. I say early, and it was like 9. But a bunch of us had stayed up to watch the first debate that started at 2 am here. I think I made it til 3:30, then I crashed. So 9 was indeed early. But on the bus, I was able to catch up on some sleep. It's wonderful being able to sleep anywhere, anytime.

We arrive at Coventry to view the cathedral(s). The old one was destroyed by German bombs in 1940. The city decided to leave the ruins and build a new one right next to it. The new one was finished...in the 60s? 70s? Somewhere around there. Anyways. Lots of cool things to see. Downside? We only had an hour. I'm used to spending four hours in and around cathedrals. But here are some photos:

Beautiful stained glass window in the new cathedral.

The glass etchings were ethereal (I know, the point). But the pictures of these don't do them justice.

The cross in the new cathedral. Isn't the ceiling cool?

My friend Kaitlin gazing at the stained glass. Use her to get some perspective. This building is SO immense.

Posted on the wall of the ruins. I wish this was America's foreign policy.

The alter of the old cathedral. The cross is made of two timbers that were found just like that after the bombing.

Above the alter in the cathedral. It was very surreal to be walking in an "open air" church with no roof.

If you look closely, you can see the reflection of the old cathedral in the narthex of the new.

St Michael (I think) defeating the devil.

The cathedrals were beautiful and moving, though sad. It hurts me to think that a house of God can be destroyed by human violence. I wish we would all just get along.

A sack lunch and another bus nap later, and we arrive in Stratford, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. And trust you, they don't let you forget it. We tried to find his birthplace first, but after following the map, we got lost. So we wandered around a few neighborhoods and then boom! It appeared out of nowhere.
Not very impressive, no? Yeah, I didn't think so either. We toured, and it was not that nice inside either. However, the gardens were beautiful!
See??? Beautiful roses.

Your lovely blogger in front of the Shakespeare birthplace (note: yes, hair is curly. It's so easy to do here!)

We toured another house - so unremarkable, I don't even remember what it is. We did go in the gift shop there, and I go a pin! My parents got me pins when we lived here when I was little, so I'm getting them my second time around the UK. It's my one like, touristy thing.

We went to see Hall's Croft. It belonged to Shakespeare's son-in-law, a doctor in town. A very nice house! It was large and pretty. Obviously belonged to a wealthy person. We got bored touring houses, so we just took goofy pictures in gardens.
Yay for self-timers!

Yet the gardens were really beautiful!
And at this point, my camera batteries died. Sadly. But I have the memories!

We wandered around the rest of Stratford for awhile. It's a pretty neat town - lots of shopping, etc. For dinner, we got fish and chips to go and sat by the River Avon. It was wonderful, until we got attacked! A swan decided he wanted our food, so he basically stalked around us until we left. I don't like big birds, so I was mildly freaking out the entire time. It's okay. We won in the end - I ate all my fries.

Then, it was time for our real reason for the trip - we saw a Royal Shakespeare Company produciton of The Merchant of Venice. This is why the trip was mandatory for my Shakespeare class. We had studied MoV before we went on the trip. Interesting production...I enjoyed it, but there were some aspects of the production that detracted from the experience of the play. However, one GENIUS move: they introduced the play with a dance thing, and closed it with the same. The closing dance was awesome! It illustrated all the relationships/interplay between the characters. I loved it.

The bus ride home I actually didn't sleep at all! I get on a performing-arts-high either after watching or participating, so I couldn't sleep. But I had some bonding time with my music and it was all good.

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That's done! Now to do Ireland, which will mostly be a picture update(s).
And this week is busy busy busy! But I love life!

Hope all is well in the States. Let me know how it's going!