Notebook page 103
Ann Hathaway's Cottage at Stratford
Students in Britain have to go to Stratford on Avon, don't they? The town is a sad memorial to two hundred years of tourism, but it could certainly be worse, at least it is clean and the center is lively. And, it isn't possible to have many thousands of visitors in a small village without an impact.
Crowds queue through the sterile Shakespeare birthplace downtown; while only a few of us have the luxury of time to walk the mile to Ann Hathaway's cottage - a much more evocative home. While I was sketching, busloads of tourists drove by; they had to look pretty quick because the buses barely slowed down and if you were on the wrong side of the coach, tough luck! I guess they probably didn't get a good look at the garden.
Also while I was sketching, an entranced 70-something Australian spoke to me, "I've been waiting all my life to see this." I asked him if he were a teacher. He laughed and said, "No, I'm a cattle rancher. I dropped out of school after the 8th grade."
That's why Stratford is busy.
It's a shorter walk from downtown to the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity where Shakespeare's grave and memorial stone are prominent. What a beautiful church! Definitely worth the visit to the town.