By:  Dylan Daugherty

To wake up, or not to wake up— that is the question. The class had to wake up extra early today to head out to Stratford-upon-Avon to see Shakespeare’s place of birth and burial. After a quick breakfast, we were out on the road. First, we took the long bus ride to Warwick Castle. Here we received a medieval experience. Knights roamed the fields with swords at hand. We got to explore a real life castle with moats, traps, and stone walls. The actors treated us with catapult launches and an actual jousting tournament.

Next, we boarded the bus and went straight to Stratford-upon Avon. We saw Anne Hathaway’s cottage and smelled the flowers in her garden. The class traveled downtown to see Holy Trinity Church, Shakespeare’s final resting place. We learned about Shakespearean rumors as well. Legend has it that Shakespeare was buried in Holy Trinity Church, but not all of his body is still there. Grave robbers are believed to have stolen his head straight from the grave! A few years ago, scientists sent waves through the church floor to pick up body signals. They were able to make an outline of a body but not his head. Crazy stuff bro.

Finally, we went to Shakespeare’s birth place. The tour started with a 180-degree screened projection of Shakespeare’s works. We got to walk on the same floor Shakespeare walked on, see the style of beds and clothing that he wore, and duck under the small doorways that he ducked under. Outside of the house, performers did short scenes from his plays. I got to see the balcony scene from Romeo in Juliet. Once we had visited his house, we were free to explore Stratford-upon-Avon. I went to a small diner for food and explored the various shops in the downtown mall. Others went to ice cream shops or rode row boats on the river. As the evening concluded, we all headed back to the bus. Some people went straight to bed when we got back, but others (including myself) polished up our final essays due the next day.

By: Dylan Daugherty

There are two things that I absolutely hate in life: strawberries and waking up early. I’m always able to make exceptions though; like when the strawberries are covered in chocolate or on the first day of class. As soon as my alarm clock went off I hopped out of bed and into the shower. After about 20 minutes of bathing and trying to figure out British shower knobs, we headed out to class. Class began with our first quiz of the course. It covered one of our required summer readings and some background information on the author. Everyone was nervous but we all did just fine. Our wonderful professor, Dr. Walker Rutledge, continued the class with a lecture on proper writing techniques.

Once class was over, we had London to ourselves. Several of us headed straight downtown, but others preferred to nap. My group went to a small Indian restaurant on the backstreets. We then headed to the National Gallery and saw original works by Van Gough and Picasso. We were able to walk around and look at Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Parliament. Other groups went and rode the London Eye and saw the Portrait Museum.

As the evening concluded, groups headed back to the dorms and rested. As Gatton tradition, we all found a park to play a game of Frisbee. The students returned to class to watch a movie of one of our summers reading. Our first day of classes has been a success. Eager for another day of adventures, we all headed for bed.