Around The World Without Flying: Stratford-upon-Avon Part 4

Early the next morning, which was a Monday, my tour director very kindly took me to my new hotel, which is listed as a heritage building - in a town that is so full of history! The reason for the change was this hotel, the Arden Hotel, was right opposite the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which meant I just had to cross the road after the performance of ‘Titus Andronicus’ that night.

After I had my luggage stored, I decided to walk to the station to collect my train tickets for the next day. It was quite a walk, but I was so glad I did it, as I saw many fascinating historical buildings, some related to Shakespeare, of course.

By then it was just about time to meet my lovely young honeymooners who were my very special dinner companions on ‘Navigator of the Seas’. They drove quite some distance to see me and take me out to lunch. Fortuitously it was a Bank Holiday in England, so they had the day off work that day. I was just so delighted to see them! We talked and laughed and teased one another non-stop, both at the restaurant and then at the gardens on the riverbank, just as we had done on the ship. It was such an idyllic, balmy, sunny day too, so all in all we had a great time. I feel so privileged and honoured that a young couple would make all that effort for me. It was very hard to say goodbye. I really hope they will come to Australia one day!

That evening I went to the performance of the not very well-known play ‘Titus Andronicus’ by the Royal Shakespeare Company. My goodness, it was a powerful but very violent play! I hate to think how many bags of artificial blood were used during the performance - stabbings, hands chopped off, throats slit, heads cut off and served in a meal, a violent rape that including cutting out the tongue and hands off a beautiful innocent young girl . . . Fortunately not all was shown on stage - just the aftermath. That was bad enough! Many of the actors would have needed a new costume for each performance.

Interestingly, the actors were dressed in modern clothes and the stage setting was quite clever but minimalist, to try to show that this story of extreme outrage and revenge is a universal one for all times. Sadly it is too, when you think of the barbaric acts terrorists have perpetrated. It was very hard to get to sleep after that, I can tell you! And I had so much looked forward to seeing a Shakespearean play performed there . . .

I caught a series of two trains to get back to London the next morning. Stratford-Upon-Avon certainly had provided me with a range of unforgettable experiences. And as usual, I found the views from the train very interesting. It is a great way to see a country. That afternoon I spent over three hours at a post office posting as much as I could back to folks at home, as I was due to head to New York in two days time and my luggage was getting very heavy.

That evening I had dinner at my hotel with the very special couple I met on Queen Mary 2 who had taken me to see the Royal Albert Hall. I have been so fortunate to meet many lovely, kind people on my long journey!

The next day I headed off to Sussex to see where some of my forebears came from. I will tell that story in my next post.

PS. As I write this, I am in Banff in Canada and will be boarding the Rocky Mountaineer early in the morning. Another 4 am start to the day to ensure I am ready on time!

My first historic hotel, at night.

The same hotel by day.

A drawing room inside the hotel.

My second historic hotel.

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre next to the Avon River.

Another view of the theatre.

The stage of the theatre in which our play took place. The 'cage' represented the separation of the Roman Ruler from the people, who clamoured at the fence.

A close-up of the 'cage'.

Where the audience sat. We were not allowed to take photos when the play was on. There were two 'boardwalks' through the audience seating for the actors, as well as the stage.