【莎翁故鄉】Anne Hathaway's Cottage @ il Giardino Romantico

The first place to visit on our second day itinerary, was Anne Hathaway's Cottage. We departed after we enjoyed a lovely breakfast prepared by Pascal. From the maps and Pascal's word, it would take about 5-6 minutes to walk from the B&B to our destination. If you like walking while you travel, you would probably understand, that when you have no idea where the destination is, even a few minutes walk would seem like a couple of hours.

We had been very lucky on our frist day. There was barely any rain. This second day was a little different, though. There were two reasons that made the walk seem extra long: 1. we had all our belongings with us, as I came up with this brilliant idea in order to save us a trip back to the B&B before boarding the train back; 2. it had started to rain since we got up. Although Stratford-upon-Avon in the rain seemed just as pleasant and enjoyable, it did affect one's journey, especially when there were hardly any shelter along the way.

When we were half way there, we saw a cottage, and mistook that as the cottage. I know we must have seen pictures of the cottage more than a dozen times, but this just shows you how desperate we were to get to it.

安排在第二天的第一項行程，我與友人在吃完B&B主人Pascal精心準備的早餐之後就步行出發。依照觀光地圖以及Pascal口述，步行距離約五、六分即可抵達。不過喜歡走路冒險的人應該會很清楚，當你不知道目的地在哪裡的時候，即使只是幾分鐘，走起來也會感覺像是一兩個小時。

我們第一天很幸運，雖然天陰陰的，但是一滴雨都沒淋到。不過這第二天就不同了。路程走起來感覺特別遠的原因有兩個：一、我們將這兩天的行李（背包）扛著，打算這天行程走完直接去車站就不用回B&B。二、一大清早就開始飄雨。雖然雨中的Stratford-upon-Avon更有英國鄉村的特色，但是當你必須步行，沿路上也都沒有可以遮雨的地方時，的確還是希望沒在下雨的好。

就當我們走到一半時，我們看到了一棟房子。其實Anne Hathaway的小木屋的圖片不知道看過幾百次了，但由於我們太想抵達，因此這間可愛的房子就被我們誤認為是目的地。接近了之後才肯承認我們認錯了。

Although it wasn't 'the' cottage, still pretty cute, don't you reckon?
雖然不是Anne Hathaway's Cottage，但還是很可愛吧！

Finally, we arrived at the cottage. We were satisfied with every place we visited in Stratford. However, because of the grey sky, it might seem a little gloomy. Please don't be misled by the colour of the sky. Whether in the sun, under dark clouds, or in the rain, the cottage creates different atmospheres, but all of them just as enjoyable as the other.

終於，我們抵達了真正的Anne Hathaway's Cottage。基本上，如同在Stratford-upon-Avon所有的行程，我們都覺得很滿足。但是或許照片中灰暗的天空，顯得此行少了點歡樂。所以大家可別被照片給騙了。其實無論是晴天、陰天、雨天，應該都可以帶給來訪者不同的感覺。

Now, some of you may start to wonder: who is this Anne Hathaway, and what exactly does the house have to do with Shakespeare? Well, Shakespeare didn't actually live in this house. However, being the most important writer of the English language, scholars tend to grab at everything that is related to him. Anne Hathaway was Shakespeare's wife. Undoubtedly, by studying the house, and finding out the way the Hathaways lived, gave scholars a slightly clearer idea about a part of Shakespeare's life. Although it is called a 'cottage', at the time, it was pretty lavish for a farmhouse.

When you come for a visit, provided the weather is not too bad, you might want to take some time and walk around the garden around the cottage, and see what kind of plants people at the time might have in their gardens.

不過寫到這，是不是似乎有人開始想要問：Anne Hathaway是誰？這間屋子跟莎士比亞又有什麼關係？雖然莎士比亞本身是沒有居住在這間屋子，但是由於Anne Hathaway是莎士比亞的妻子。因此任何能夠提供關於大文豪當時生活的遺跡，都被視為很重要的。這間屋子也是如此。從探索Hathaway家庭以及屋子，學者希望能夠延伸對文豪更深入的了解。這間雖然被稱為『小木屋』的屋子，實際上對當時的人來說，已經算是中上等的住家了。

來訪時，若天氣不錯，可以趁機在木屋周圍的花園裡走走。看看當時在此地種植的樹木以及花朵。體驗一下十五、十六世紀時期英國鄉村生活喔！

Jst like all the other tourist attractions, the giftshop is always a great way to end your visit. See the cute little cottage-shaped tea pot? Doesn't that make you want to own one?

如同其他觀光勝地，紀念品專賣店也是不容錯過的好所在。瞧瞧上圖中的茶壺，是不是很可愛？很有特色，想要帶回家呢？

Shakespeare's insult made into magnets. You might like to hand some out to people you don't like? I reckon this is the most classy way of insulting people.

這是出自莎士比亞作品中拿來罵人用的。實際上他們是磁鐵。要不要學一些起來？罵人不帶髒話，讓對方霧煞煞，也挺好玩的呀。呵呵！！

Miniature sculptures of Shakespeare.
當然也少不了莎士比亞的上半身小雕像。

And of course, I finally made my souvenir penny. This cottage is included in the Five Houses online ticket. If you purchase this, even if you don't get to see all of them, it's still a better deal than buying seperate tickets. Highly recommended!

最後，我當然也在此製作了屬於我自己的紀念硬幣。Anne Hathaway's Cottage，同樣也算在Five-House ticket內。一張玩到底。看不完也不會覺得可惜。天仙大力推薦喔！

延伸資訊：
Anne Hathaway's Cottage
Shakespeare Houses Ticket