Hi I'm Tour Guide Barbie

So today I got to give my first tour! Well sort of, it was to my mom, sister, and family friend but still I was able to show of all the cool things I know about Oxford. And the things I didn't know, I just made up! (Hopefully they are not reading this) We walked all around the Oxford City Center, academic and shopping! And through Headington which is the opposite direction. In the City Center we walked through Christ Church, up the Carfax Tower (built in 1032 :) though the rest of the church is no longer in existence.), through the shops, through the school of divinity and other colleges, and ended at the oldest known pub, The Turf Tavern. And that was just before lunch!! After a few of us taking some short naps we head out to Headington to visit my favorite pub so far, The White Hart, and a stop at the chocolatier for gelato! 

View from the top of Carfax Tower

 Oxford Castle in the distance

Can you tell I missed her?

Yummy pub food! 

First Day of School!!

Yesterday was my first day of classes (I know finally!!) Granted I did only have one class, but I did have class!! The classes here are very different than the ones I am use to at High Point. The class I had was Cross-Cultural Psychology and it only meets once a week for 2 hours! Not to mention we got a 10 minutes break in the middle! The class itself was very interesting, since it was the first class it was mostly an overview and throughout the class our lecturer would compare things to the opposite end of the cultural spectrum, Americans being completely individualistic, and East Asia being extremely collectivists. Thankfully I had another student from my group in class sitting next to me because we could not stop talking about how weird it was that they were talking supposedly about us. As the class ended we were both shocked and excited to keep going to the class, we could not stop talking about how we have the same impression of Europe that they have of us! What a wonderful first day class!

Last Day of Freedom

Well not quite my last day of freedom, but it is the last day before my classes start tomorrow!! I am so excited to see what my classes will be like, but I made sure to use the best of my time! It was back to City Center and into Blackwell's the Bookstore, seemed to be a fitting way to start school! Though I did not buy anything, my friend Sally is now in possession of the book and DVD versions of the Philosopher's Stone! For those of you who do not know, this is the English version of the Sorcerer's Stone in the Harry Potter Series and I am sure I will be borrowing it soon!

A Beautiful Sunday in Stratford

"Small Cheer and Great Welcome Makes a Merry Feast"

-- The Comedy of Errors

Today was another field trip, this time off to Stratford upon Avon. For those of you who don't know, this is where William Shakespeare was born, grew up, and past away. There are 5 sites associated with Shakespeare in Stratford and we had the opportunity to visit 3 of them and the famous Stratford theater. 

The first of the houses was Shakespeare's Birthplace. For a single family house of its time it was quite large! It was really neat to see all the rooms decked out in original furniture from that time period. We also got to see where he first worked in the house, the glove maker shop. There a tour guide explained to us the importance of gloves and accessories during the time as it told you how wealthy a person was. As we left the house we got to see actors perform Shakespeare by request. The two actresses performed scenes from Hamlet, As You Like It, and The Tempest. 

Trinkets and toys made to look like Shakespeare

Coins representing each of Shakespeare's plays organized by genre

Timeline of when Shakespeare's plays were published

First folio

Bust of Shakespeare

Early edition of Hamlet

Summary of the Shakespeare timeline

Shakespeare's family tree, Shakespeare no longer has any direct descendants

What the house would have looked like before it was turned into an inn.

Bed room 1

Dinning/ Kitchen

Glove workshop

Bedroom 2

Bedroom 3

View of the gardens from the upstairs

Artifacts from when Shakespeare lived there

Pantry

Left our mark!

Shakespeare by Request

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I1PLsiilqU&feature=youtu.be

The next stop on our tour was of the Nash's House/ New Place. Nash's house was the residence of his only surviving Grandchild, Elizabeth. The house that use to stand next to Nash's was New house where Shakespeare raised his family. This house was eventually burned down after the owner got mad at the constant amount of tourist and the state wanted him to pay taxes(it was a vacation home) so he burned the place down, presumably to get back at them. 

What New House would have looked like

The gardens belonging to Shakespeare/ the New House

Where New House stood

The upstairs talked about the various characters in Shakespeare's plays and provided dress up materials!

Most well-loved Shakespeare characters

Props from the plays!

Making our own Coat of Arms

Our last house tour was at Hall's Croft. This was the residence of Shakespeare's Daughter Susanna who married a wealthy doctor. This house was extremely beautiful and luxurious. It was full of upper class amenities and architectural pieces like lumber and stone that only the wealthy could afford.

Our last tour was of the Royal Shakespeare Theater. Plays of the Royal Shakespeare Company are written and produced with all of the props and sets made right in Stratford upon Avon (except for any fake blood). We were able to see what a set looked like as they were setting up for the next play(no pictures aloud) along with getting to see the various props and costumes for various plays that have been put on. 

Here is a costume from Jubilee in 2001

Before heading back to the coach to go home we were able to wonder around and shop for a bit. Stratford seems to be a very touristy place and few shops are not aimed solely for tourists. 

Year round Christmas Shop!

Magic Alley-- knock off Harry Potter souvenirs

Sculpture garden of Shakespeare and favorite characters. Shakespeare is the high one in the middle, Hamlet is showing me the creepy skull. 

Although I cannot get it in Northern Virginia, I can buy Cheerwine for about $10 a can in Stratford! (Don't worry mom and dad I did not buy any, nor did I spend $20 on a box of Lucky Charms)

Shakespeare Selfie Sunday!