Hils's journal

( Lots of Shakespeare stuff )

I'll post the rest tomorrow :)

Did I read the censored version of the play? Because I do NOT remember Hamlet using the word cunt. LOL!

The play was actually quite rude in places, the old people sitting on one side of me were tutting and the girl on the other side of me gasped when David used the naughty word (ok, I gasped too)

I'm not even sure meeting Michael on Saturday can make me as gleeful as today has. Ok, maybe that's a lie. LOL! It's been brilliant though.

I did all five Shakespeare houses and gardens, went around this silly little tour that was like a cheap version of The York Dungeon (but was still fun) and went on a river cruise.

I have to give kudos to the guide at Anne Hathaway's cottage who managed to keep us in the first room of the house for about half an hour while she told us stuff. At least some of it wasn't true (like Ring a Ring o' Roses being about the plague) but I didn't have the heart to correct her, and some of it was really interesting.

I managed to find time to kip for an hour before I headed out to the theatre. Wow, I had no idea how close to the stage my seat was! I was six rows back from the front and at times I could have touched some of the actors if I'd wanted to.

David and Patrick were wonderful, as expected, but the guy who played Polonius was brilliant! I always imagined Polonius to be quite a dry character but this man made him funny. It worked perfectly!

Ophelia I did not care for but I can't decide if it's just because I don't like the character or because it wasn't a very good actress.

Did the fangirl thing afterwards and loitered at the stage door. It was easy to find, I just followed the other fangirls. LOL! After about five minutes an usher came out and told us that Patrick and David had already left. I was too cold to wait just in case he was fibbing. Hehe!

I has lots of photos of my day in Stratford which I will post tomorrow. I think I need some sleep first.

I can't believe I got up at 7am on a day when I don't have to be at work. It was mostly so I can cram as much as possible in to today, only now I have discovered that most of the places I want to visit don't open until 10am

Ah well. LOL!

I slept quite badly last night, mostly because I was in a strange bed, so I might have to try and crash for an hour or so before the play. It's three and a half hours long and I really don't want to fall asleep in the middle of it

Well, I don't know what Google was on but they claimed it would take me an hour to walk from my hotel to the theatre. It takes 15 minutes. Less than that just to get into town.

Had a little wander around this evening and just about exploded from squee.

When I first arrived in Stratford I was a little disappointed that the first things I saw were a Morrisons and a construction site. Really, not what I was expecting

The town centre, though, is EXACTLY what I was expecting. Lots of old buildings, a pretty river, it's perfect. I'm going to be a total tourist tomorrow and go to all the Shakespeare places. I accidentally found the foundations of a house it is believed Shakespears father owned, just by wandering to the theatre. LOL!

I hope the weather is good tomorrow. I've already taken a couple of photos

I would really love to find time to do some writing tomorrow. It just feels like something I should do while I'm here.

*is excited*

Greetings from Shakespeare country! WHEE!!!

Haven't been here long but I've had good news and bad

The good news is that according to the girl behind reception the town centre isn't far away at all. It's certainly not the 3 miles Google claimed it was. Got no idea what's going on there

Bad news is it's raining so I don't really want to go out and explore just yet. I'm hoping it will settle down later. I'll need to go out for dinner anyway. I'm not eating in the hotel, it's bloody expensive even with the £5 discount they offered me