When I visited England in 2009 made a point, as a poet I am, to know the city where was born the great poet and playwright William Shakeapeare, the town of Stratford-Upon-Avon, which is located in the county of Warwickshire, in South Central region of England and has just over twenty thousand inhabitants. However, thanks to its famous citizen, the city receives more than three million visitors from around the world each year, more than Rio de Janeiro, in my opinion, is the most beautiful city in the world.
The name Stratford meant in Germanic dialect spoken by the Saxons a Roman road that led to a river or stream, as there was a Roman road that passed over the river Avon at that location, the city was named after Stratford-Upon-Avon (Roman road over the river Avon). The first houses appeared in the mid-seventh century, when the Saxon king Ethelhard ceded lands for the construction of the Roman road.
When we arrived in Stratford-Upon-Avon went straight to the hotel, which is located outside the city limits and is a wonderful place to relax, very quiet and comfort, plus birdsong. After leaving our luggage in the hotel, we took the car and drove to the center, which is very beautiful, with houses of the sixteenth century well preserved. We bought a pass to know all the properties related to Shakespeare, the houses where he was born and lived with his parents, where he lived when old, the house he gave to his daughter, and even the house where was born his wife, Anna Hattaway, prettiest house in town, shown in the photo above.
All homes have large and beautiful gardens and in the green area of the house where he was born some parts of his most famous plays are staged, is exciting because the actors are all the time surrounded by the public and this is not common to view. I made sure to see and photograph the attic where Shakespeare was hiding from his father in order to write, because his father wanted him to follow his profession, which was glover, create gloves with leather and fur. What proves that parents do not always know what is best for their children.
Other attractions are the houses of Shakespeare's time (most of them were transformed into store), the school incredibly well preserved where he studied and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, place of performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company (known by the acronym RSC). The RSC also operates in two small theaters in the city, The Swan Theatre and Black Box Theatre. Other attractions are the homes of birth of his mother (Mary Arden) and father (John Shakespeare), his father was born on a farm near the city. Buy a pass to every home's cheaper, look for the guard house where Shakespeare was born.
The next day we went back to see the city more calmly, visited the church of Holy Trinity, near the city, where the body of the great poet is buried since 1616. On his tombstone is written a curse for those who open his tomb and shimmy his bones, as this was one of his biggest fears. We ended the visit with a tour of the beautiful park on the river Avon, which is accessed through one of the city's bridges or through boats make the crossing of the River Avon at an affordable price.
Lupércio Mundim
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