Sick in Stratford-upon-Avon

Yeah, the inevitable illness that always catches up with me finally caught up on Monday. I stayed home all day and slept. I finally got up and went to Billy Elliot before heading back home to back for our trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. I have really been trying to keep a great attitude despite feeling like I just got out of a spaceship that crash-landed on the earth. But, I finally gave up feeling good and tried to not be cranky. I probably failed at that about the time we were going around Shakespeare's birthplace. Being on my own was what was needed so I could just wander a little, appreciate the beauty of what I was seeing and then sit down. But I failed. I fell asleep during the RSC's Julius Caesar, wanted to sleep instead of exploring Oxford, slept all day today, yesterday afternoon, and before leaving for Stratford-upon-Avon. I feel like Rip van Winkle. I sleep and wake up in surprising places.

But enough of that. I am loving what I recall of Stratford-upon-Avon and the Cotswolds. I did not really like our bus driver, Fred. Though, unlike most everyone else, I understood everything he said. My one talent I have discovered in the UK is my ability to understand most dialects of English. I have also discovered that I look like I know where I am going. I was even asked for directions in Stratford-upon-Avon. This is added to being asked for directions in London, Dover, and Edinburgh. I just look like I am non-threatening and competent. This does not apply to farms. Farms are the one place where I know absolutely nothing. I have visited them before and still know very little. My weakness was revealed at Mary Arden's farm. One thing I did learn there was that most pigs just want you to feed them grass. At least the ones I met were satisfied with clumps of grass raining down upon them. "Doors and sardines. Doors and sardines. That's theatre; that's life."

I did discover that the dress I bought in Oxford while wandering the streets in a completely useless fashion is highly flammable, but other than that, it was a good find. I am wearing it now and as long as I keep it away from any heat sources, I hope it lasts through Europe. I am required now to leave the sanctuary of my room, tissues, and bed and venture out to see another play by Shakespeare. After that, who knows.