Shakespeare's Beginnings

Today we got back from visiting Stratford, where William Shakespeare was born and lived. The town of Stratford was a lot different than I expected it to be. I expected it to be a really quaint small town, and it was, but it still had a lot to do and a lot of things going on. It was a nice break from the busy city of London! First, we visited Mary Arden's farm. Mary Arden was Shakespeare's mother. It was a beautiful farm and had lots of unique animals. I thought it was really interesting the way they kept it still a working farm and they had people taking care of the animals and chopping wood, like they would have done at the time his mother lived there. It was a beautiful place and probably my favorite thing we saw while in Stratford. Then we went to take a walking tour of Stratford, saw where Shakespeare was buried, and finished in the home where Shakespeare was born. While spending some time in this town, I found myself seeing where Shakespeare got a lot of his inspiration for his sonnets and other pieces of writing. Especially today, while it was sunny and beautiful in Stratford, I kept thinking about Shakespeare's sonnet 18, where he compares his love to a summer's day. I thought it was really cool to be in Stratford, a place Shakespeare knew very well, on a beautiful summer's day. I really enjoyed this unique experience to see where such a well known poet was born and raised and enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about his life.