Shakespeare's Stratford

This past weekend we enjoyed a quick overnight to Stratford Upon Avon.  Jeri and I met at the train station Friday afternoon for our departure, and I must say that we are beginning to develop a nice routine around these little UK excursions.  I arrive with a small backpack that holds our toothbrushes and a change of clothes along with a small cooler that holds our sandwiches, and Jeri arrives with our printed weekend itinerary.  We hop on the train, and 2 hours of perfect reading time later we arrive at our destination, in this case, Stratford.  I have to confess that since my intensive Shakespearean study at Emerson, I have always wanted to see Stratford.  This was truly an idyllic trip for me.  


We arrived at the train station in Stratford and had a 15 minute walk down the road to our bed and breakfast.  Although the breakfast bit was excellent, the bed part was not so.  Much to our chagrin, the bed ended up being the most lumpy and uncomfortable mattress we have ever (not) slept on.  So much for the reviews on Trip advisor... but I digress...


After we arrived, I enjoyed a cup of tea while Jeri finished up some work.  Yes, teatime has officially been adopted by us both.  We have also realized that teatime's perfect compliment, "biscuits"- although just a guiltless name for "cookie"- will be something that we enjoy in London,  and miss when we return home.  


We then grabbed our map and headed into town to explore.  We were blown away by the architecture of the half timbered houses.  It is one thing to have seen pictures of these houses in our history books, and another to stand in front of them and witness the wobbly walls.

We found a wonderful restaurant for dinner called "The Opposition" that was supremely satisfying.  The rooms inside were almost cavernous, and rightfully so being that is is a 16th century beamed building.  It was the perfect place to relax on a Friday evening-


After not sleeping, we arose early on Saturday to enjoy our breakfast and plenty of coffee.  We enjoyed an amazing locally made honey that was served with our toast, and departed for our day hoping that we could find some to bring home with us.  Fortunately, we later stumbled upon a market in town that just happened to have a booth from the farm in which the honey was made.  Mission accomplished.  I digress, yet again...


We started our adventures that morning with a hike to Anne Hathaway's house.  She was courted by Shakespeare at this house, and later married him.  She was 8 years his senior, and together they had 3 children.  The house was incredibly small, but beautiful, and the natural, almost unkempt gardens surrounding the house were our favorite. We walked around in the sun for quite a while before even entering the house. 

Lost in the Labyrinth

Anne's House

After our time at Anne's house, we enjoyed the trek back into town via an old country cottage-lined road.  Back in town, we stumbled upon the market with the fabulous honey.  We also stopped into a little coffee shop for a quick pick-me-up before heading on to Shakespeare's house.  

Shakespeare's Birthplace

They had actors performing scenes in the courtyard behind the home, in full costume and make-up.  However, we did not stick around to watch.  We had somewhere else to be....


Really, this is the highlight of the trip for me, so do forgive my rant.  Let's start with some background.  Don't worry, I will spare you the details of my childhood backyard dramatic productions, skip right over my very favorite class in college where I had to read and translate various Shakespearian works, and bypass the stories of the hours I spent rehearsing those lines of iambic pentameter in the Arlington Street Church in Boston.  Consider yourself lucky.  The background of which I speak is that from the moment Jeri said "pick any spot in the Cotswolds you want, sweetie.  It doesn't matter to me," I started obsessively trying to get tickets to The Royal Shakespeare Company.  I looked online.  Everything sold out.  I called.  Everything sold out.  I checked online again.  One available seat, denoted as having a high back chair.  Not a possibility for the two of us, but the notion of a high backed chair only increased my excitement.  In the original Globe Theatre, the thrust stage was surrounded by benches, the backs of which increased in height as the seats moved up the three tiers of the theatre building.  Ah, to sit for 4 hours in a high backed chair trying to make sense of each and every word spit out by the actors... how wonderful.  At this point though, I was beginning to doubt the reservations I made for our B&B.  How could we go to Stratford Upon Avon and not see Shakespeare?  Of course, had I known the condition of the bed we were to sleep on, I would have found these doubts to be an admonition.  It just didn't seem possible.  Could they really sell out of every seat in the house?  I called the ticket hotline again.  I began to plead my case in hopes that there would be secret tickets, ones that they don't actually advertise and only make available to poor souls with stories such as mine.  "Well, Miss, it is common for us to sell out for the entire run of a show almost as soon as they become available.  Have you joined our mailing list?"  I let out a guffaw.  "Of course I am on the mailing list.  I just never imagined that I would move to London with the love of my life and actually have the opportunity to see Shakespeare in Stratford.  I did not pay attention to the ticket release dates.  I did not plan our visit to Stratford well in advance.  Due diligence was not done, and now I guess I will have to suffer the consequences."  I let out a heavy sigh, hoping to express my true sorrow.  Perhaps that would make the ticket hotline lady find me tickets.  Nope.  "Keep checking back, as we occasionally get returns.  It is rare, but it sometimes happens."  That was all I got.  


Up until this point I had not mentioned the issue to Jeri.  How could I explain that her ex-thespian wife-to-be could not get tickets to The Royal Shakespeare Company?  It would be simply mortifying.  It was now Wednesday, and considering we were leaving Friday afternoon, I knew I needed to muster up the courage.  I tried the sneak technique, subtly mentioning it as we were fumbling for a valid Oyster Card while climbing onto the bus while we were on our way to Yoga just after she returned home from Paris. With all that was going on at the moment, the odds were stacked in my favor that she would hardly hear me.  Since I talk a lot, I know she sometimes must tune me out.  I was secretly hoping that this might be one of those times.  Nope.  She heard me.  But her quick response made me feel better.  "Oh well."


Thursday morning, the day before we were scheduled to leave, we were up early as usual.  I stumbled to the computer after sending Jeri off to work, and sleepily opened the RSC website.  Saturday.  1pm.  Seat availability in the stalls: 3.  What?  3 seats available?  Can this be true?  I was so excited I could hardly stand it.  We'll take 2, I thought calmly.
Before 10 minutes had passed, I had paid for the tickets and proudly emailed confirmation to Jeri for her to print so that we could retrieve our tickets from the box office.  We were going to see the Royal Shakespeare Company...in Stratford!  Oh, and did I mention that the show we were to see was Romeo and Juliet?  Life is good.

Now jump ahead to Saturday afternoon.  As you probably suspected, we eagerly walked over to the show after visiting Shakespeare's birthplace and found our seats.  What followed was 3 1/2 hours of the most incredible theatre ever.  Well, I thought so.  I think Jeri was ready to go for a run.  She is such a good sport!

I would say that we indeed had the most quintessential Shakespearean Stratford Upon Avon getaway.


With love,
Amy


ps- for you, my sweet

Spring is Coming...Slowly

Week 9 in London 

This past week was a bit of a blur.  I had an overnight trip to Paris during the week so I took the  Eurostar for the first time.  What a great way to get to travel!  It’s comfortable, spacious and much easier than flying.  It also offers beautiful scenery along much of the trip.  It was a very busy trip so Amy didn’t go on this one, but we’re planning a few days in Paris at the end of the month.  I was reminded while there of how lucky we are to be in a European city that is English speaking during this year abroad.  Paris is fantastic but feels so much further from home because everyone speaks French (and expects you to).  However, it was refreshing to see them driving on the proper side of the road and in the proper drivers seat. J

Back in London, we finally found a great yoga studio about 20 minutes from the house.  It’s the type of yoga I love and the instructors are very good.  We were able to squeeze a couple classes in last weekend as well as on the night I returned from Paris.

We went to Stratford Upon Avon on this Friday and Saturday as a little getaway.  It was beautiful and a lot of fun.  I’ll let Amy give the highlights.

I hear that we’ve had spring like weather in Seattle – each time it makes me miss my runs through Discovery Park, the barbecues with friends and family and the flowers that I know are blooming everywhere.  We are very fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the world and to have so many people who we love near us – being away from home reminds me of that often.  We are planning a trip home for early August.

Amy scheduled a massage for me to enjoy upon our return from Stratford Upon Avon, which was the most incredible massage I’ve ever had.  I am already so sore from it – the deep tissue work was intense.  I literally cried out in pain on more than one occasion.  It’s a bit masochistic but I know it’s good for me and so does my baby who always takes good care of me.

With love,

Jeri Jo

Mothers Day 2010

We love you Mom and Momma, unconditionally.

With humble gratitude,

Jeri Jo and Amy

Pilates Bootcamp

As most of you know, I have been working intermittently at Pi Studios Chelsea for the past month.  It is a great studio, and is just down the road from our house.  We started a Bootcamp program last week where clients sign up to take 4 sessions per week over the course of two months.  The premise is, of course, that you will change the shape of your body in that period of time.  I am one of the instructors for this program, and am super excited to see people commit to transforming their bodies into longer, leaner, taller, trimmer, inspired Pilates devotees. 


On my first day of teaching Bootcamp, my sweet love inspired this Pilates enthusiast with her commitment to me.  Even though Jeri has been working so hard, spending long hours at the office, she brought me flowers to congratulate me on this new endeavor.  What was most adorable was that she was waiting as I went off to my first official day of work.  She had the to-go coffee ready, and was cheering me on as I walked across the street to work...  

 

I am so grateful.

With love, 

Amy

PS- My boss has since asked me to write for the Pi Studio Bootcamp blog... Stay tuned...

The First Visitor

Just over a week ago, April 30th, our first visitor arrived in London.  Mary flew from Seattle, sans sleep, to arrive at our door Friday afternoon.  It was great to see her and we had a fun and exciting week together.  We enjoyed seeing the awesome musical Billy Elliot, walking through Borough Market, relaxing at home with a few movies, lunch at Harvey Nichols, exercising in the rain, cooking, and shopping for souvenirs and scarves.  Mary also treated us to a wonderful dinner at our favorite spot, Tom's Kitchen.  It was fantastic!  We made a great dinner at home on her last night in town, and invited Jeri's coworker over to infuse the atmosphere with true English spirit.  Being that it was election night, we all had a blast acting as political pundits.  Here are a few highlights of the week...

Relaxing at home with a glass of wine...

At Borough Market in line for Filter Coffee...     

At Borough Market with bags of spices...

Jeri and Mary on the Double Decker Bus...

Jeri and Mary at Billy Elliot...

At the Show...

Dinner Party Prep...

(yes, that is a shrimp... and yes, I tore off his head... and yes, I love Jeri)

 

What a great week!  Thanks, Mary, for coming to visit.  

With love, 

Amy

We would like to take an extra moment to thank Mary for replenishing our stock of Peanut Butter.  We were just about out - finishing our 4th Costco-size container in two months!  I primarily take the blame for ingesting that much of the stuff...