Brevity, Wit, and the Birthplace of William Shakespeare

I visited England for the first time in the summer of 1997.  I was changing jobs, moving from CT to San Francisco, and thus, free for a three week vacation with my parents to visit our relatives near Birmingham.

About an hour from my my mom's eldest sister and family is Stratford-upon-Avon, famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare. The "Shakespearience" is a trip back to sixteenth-century Tudor England with a visit to the house on Henley Street where Shakespeare was born and the Holy Trinity Church where he married Anne Hathaway.  In the recreated village, many of Shakespeare's fictional characters stroll through the house and grounds and act out beloved scenes.  Although touristy, the experience gives insight into what life was like when the famous bard was a child.  I hope to go back someday with my family.
 

I did not fully appreciate the influence of Shakespeare when I visited.  I'd struggled through a few plays in high school, such as Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth.  Shakespeare is not easy! I'd watched a few movie versions, such as Hamlet and Roman Polanski's interpretation of Macbeth (umm, nude Lady Macbeth?).  But, since the days of high school, I've gained a high regard for not only Shakespeare's high brow wit and still relevant prose, but also, the profundity of his impact on people of all walks of life. Who hasn't quoted a line from Shakespeare, whether knowingly or unknowingly?  The man affected theater, literature, and the English language.  Not to mention his influence on novelists and poets and movie scripts.  The extent of his genius is admirable, especially to an aspiring writer.

FYI...My college friend W schooled me on the grammar rule regarding quotation marks adjacent to periods and commas:

• American style:  commas and periods are almost always placed inside closing quotation marks.
• British style:  include within quotation marks punctuation marks that appeared in the quoted material, but otherwise to place punctuation outside the closing quotation marks.

Below I've selected some of  Shakespeare's  best-loved quotes.

Sonnet 18
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date".

Hamlet
To be, or not to be: that is the question". - (Act III, Scene I).
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry". - (Act I, Scene III).
"This above all: to thine own self be true". - (Act I, Scene III).
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks". - (Act III, Scene II).
"A little more than kin, and less than kind". - (Act I, Scene II).
"Brevity is the soul of wit". - (Act II, Scene II).

As You Like It
"All the world 's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts" - (Act II, Scene VII).
"Can one desire too much of a good thing?" - (Act IV, Scene I).
"How bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes!" - (Act V, Scene II).
"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool". - (Act V, Scene I).

King Richard III
"Now is the winter of our discontent". - (Act I, Scene I).
"A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!" - (Act V, Scene IV).
"Conscience is but a word that cowards use, devised at first to keep the strong in awe". - (Act V, Scene III).
"So wise so young, they say, do never live long". - (Act III, Scene I).
"Off with his head!" - (Act III, Scene IV).

Romeo and Juliet
"O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?" - (Act II, Scene II).
"It is the east, and Juliet is the sun". - (Act II, Scene II).
"Good Night, Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow." - (Act II, Scene II).
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". - (Act II, Scene II).
"O that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!" - (Act II, Scene II).

The Merchant of Venice
"But love is blind, and lovers cannot see".
"If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" - (Act III, Scene I).

The Merry Wives of Windsor
"Why, then the world 's mine oyster" - (Act II, Scene II).
"This is the short and the long of it". - (Act II, Scene II).

Measure for Measure
"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt". - (Act I, Scene IV).
"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall". - (Act II, Scene I).
"The miserable have no other medicine but only hope". - (Act III, Scene I).

King Henry IV, Part I
"He will give the devil his due". - (Act I, Scene II).
"The better part of valour is discretion". - (Act V, Scene IV).

King Henry IV, Part II
"He hath eaten me out of house and home". - (Act II, Scene I).

King Henry IV, Part III
"The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on". - (Act II, Scene II).

King Henry the Sixth, Part I
"Delays have dangerous ends". - (Act III, Scene II).
"Of all base passions, fear is the most accursed". - (Act V, Scene II).

King Henry the Sixth, Part II
"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers". - (Act IV, Scene II).

King Henry the Sixth, Part III
"Having nothing, nothing can he lose".- (Act III, Scene III).

Timon of Athens
"We have seen better days". - (Act IV, Scene II).

 Julius Caesar
"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him". - (Act III, Scene II).
"But, for my own part, it was Greek to me". - (Act I, Scene II).
"Et tu, Brute!" - (Act III, Scene I).

Macbeth
"There 's daggers in men's smiles". - (Act II, Scene III).
"what 's done is done".- (Act III, Scene II).
"I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none". - (Act I, Scene VII).
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair". - (Act I, Scene I).
"I bear a charmed life". - (Act V, Scene VIII).
"Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness." - (Act I, Scene V).
"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red" - (Act II, Scene II).
"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." - (Act IV, Scene I).
"Out, damned spot! out, I say!" - (Act V, Scene I)..
"All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." - (Act V, Scene I).
"Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't." - (Act I, Scene V).
"Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?" - (Act II, Scene I).
"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." - (Act V, Scene V).

King Lear
"My love's more richer than my tongue". - (Act I, Scene I).
"Nothing will come of nothing." - (Act I, Scene I).
"Have more than thou showest, speak less than thou knowest, lend less than thou owest". - (Act I, Scene IV).

Othello
"‘T’is neither here nor there." - (Act IV, Scene III).
"The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief". - (Act I, Scene III).

Antony and Cleopatra
"My salad days, when I was green in judgment." - (Act I, Scene V).

Cymbeline
"The game is up." - (Act III, Scene III).

Twelfth Night
"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them". - (Act II, Scene V).
"Love sought is good, but giv'n unsought is better" . - (Act III, Scene I).

The Tempest
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, rounded with a little sleep".

King Henry the Fifth
"Men of few words are the best men". - (Act III, Scene II).

A Midsummer Night's Dream
"The course of true love never did run smooth". - (Act I, Scene I).

Much Ado About Nothing
"Everyone can master a grief but he that has it". - (Act III, Scene II).

Titus Andronicus
"These words are razors to my wounded heart". - (Act I, Scene I).

 Taming of the Shrew
"Out of the jaws of death". - (Act III, Scene IV).

Postcard: Washington D.C.

I've been to Washington D.C. maybe eight or nine times.  Wow, I had no idea I have gone there that many times!  The first trip, the one I don't recall, was with my family when I was a toddler.  I went with my classmates when my junior high school made a big D.C. trip in the 8th grade. That was an exciting trip because it was with friends and no family!  I went many times over the years to visit college friends who were living there.  One of my college friends grew up there and hosted me during a job interview weekend and two other friends are diplomats for the State Dept and travel in and out of D.C. fairly frequently.  The last two times, I went with my husband pre-baby.  The photos in this blog are from our 4th of July trip in 2007.

There is a lot to see in D.C. and most of the sites are free.  I have visited the landmarks (Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Memorial Bridge, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, WWII Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial).  I have seen government buildings - the White House, U.S. Treasury Department, U.S. Capitol Building. I have walked around the National Zoo and the Arlington Cemetery.  I have hung out in Georgetown and Dupont Circle.  I have eaten great Ethiopian food and Korean food.  I teared up at the Holocaust Museum and laughed through the International Spy Museum.  I have gazed at the cherry blossoms in the spring.  I have been frustrated and baffled by the road grid and traffic circles.

What strikes me the most about D.C. is the awe that you feel when walking downtown or driving around the beltway.  It is always breathtaking to me to see the Washington Monument or the tops of the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials from no matter where you are downtown.  No matter what your feelings toward those in office, you can't help but be amazed by the history and the formation of this country.  I would not want to live here (the driving!!), but I love to visit again and again.

 U.S. Treasury Department

 White House North Lawn

 White House South Lawn

 Washington Monument

 Washington Monument as seen from the Lincoln Memorial

 Lincoln Monument

 Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

 Vietnam Veterans Memorial

 WWII Memorial

 Lincoln Memorial

 Korean War Veterans Memorial

 Walking over the Arlington Memorial Bridge

 Arlington Cemetery

 tombs of JFK and Jackie Kennedy

 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Postcard: Ireland

Cliffs of Moher in Ireland

Our friends warned us that our whirlwind life of travel would end when our son arrived, but I was and am determined to prove them all wrong.  Travel doesn’t need to end when you have a baby, but your mindset about travel does need to change.  Your African safari and Amazon River cruise may be distant memories, but you’ll discover a new world that you hadn’t seen before when you vacation as a family.

For our baby’s first international vacation, our main concerns were flight time, ease of getting around the country, and costs.  We chose Ireland because of the 5.5 hour flight time from New York city, the short driving distance between the main historic sites, and the lower costs compared to other European countries.

Being the consummate overplanner, I compiled my packing lists and our day-by-day itinerary.  I outlined every possible scenario in which an eight month old might lose it (lack of toys and entertainment, too much time in the car, boring food choices, bad weather).  I wrote down three goals: (1) sightseeing in Dublin, (2) kissing the Blarney Stone, and (3) viewing the Cliffs of Moher.   As long as we accomplished those three things, we should be happy.

My husband and I chose Ireland because of the distance mainly but discovered that it is an underrated country.  The landscape is lush and green (as beautiful as New Zealand), the food is excellent (too many stories of the potato famine danced in my head), and the memorable sites are numerous. 

Sunday, 10/11/09
We arrived at 7AM at the Camden Court Hotel in Dublin after a red eye flight.  I was exhausted as I did not sleep at all on the flight because I was holding our son most of the time.  Adding to the pile of reasons why a red-eye flight might not be advantageous is that we had to wait over three hours in the brightly lit and loud hotel lobby for our room to be ready.  In the past, we would have dropped off our bags and explored the city; however, that is hardly a plan of action with an eight month old. 

After finally getting into our small room and sleeping for a few hours, we did mange to go to St. John's Green, which was walking distance from our hotel.  The little one loves nature, especially sitting in the grass, which means that we spent more time on this vacation relaxing at parks and playgrounds than rushing through cathedrals and castles.

Monday, 10/12/09
We began the day with the Dublin Pass, a double decker bus tour of the city's main attractions.  We caught the bus at St. John's Green and hopped off a couple of stops later at the Dublin Castle.  We found out that most of the castles require you to reserve a set 45 minute to 1 hour tour group in order to see the inside.  We quickly dropped the castle idea because we did not expect our son to sit still or be quiet through an organized tour.  Being new parents, we were not quite ready for the glares and sympathetic looks this would engender.  We walked around the outside area and then headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral.  The Cathedral was beautiful with gorgeous stained glass windows and grand architecture.  We happened to visit at lunchtime at which time there is a prayer service; the melodic voices vibrate through the building. 

We left there and walked past Christ Church Cathedral, which is the older of the medieval cathedrals and the official seat of the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic archbishops of Dublin.  We decided going inside one cathedral was enough as it was sometimes tricky to navigate with a stroller.  Luckily, we had brought our compact and lightweight umbrella stroller because doorways and sidewalks were narrow and there were lots of up and down steps. 

We finished the day with a visit to the Guinness Storehouse where we learned the history of the brew and that Guinness was celebrating its 250th anniversary in 2009.  This is definitely a site more for the parents, but my son loved the indoor waterfall.  My husband learned to pour his own pint while I lifted my self-imposed ban on alcohol to have a few sips of Guinness.  I am not a beer person, but I do like Guinness.  The building, by the way, is quite impressive.  There is a 360 degree view of Ireland from the bar at the top of the building and a free pint is included with entry into the Storehouse. 

Tuesday, 10/13/09, Jurys Cork Hotel
We left Dublin in the morning via car rental and drove down to Kilkenny on our way to overnight in Cork.  Kilkenny Castle is an imposing site.  We toured the exterior of the castle and the grounds.

We made one more stop in Cobh, a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork.  There is not much going on there except that the Titanic's last port of call was to Cobh on the morning of April 11, 1912.  The colorful buildings are indicative of many of the small towns of Ireland.

Wednesday, 10/14/09, Killarney Plaza Hotel
A ten minute drive from Cork city is Blarney Castle, which houses the famous stone of eloquence.  We stopped here, of course, to kiss the Blarney Stone.  We had not realized that the stone was at the top of the castle and the climb to the top was challenging, especially for my husband who was carrying our son up the narrow, winding stone staircase.  The experience reminded us both of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona although that climb was more claustrophobic, more rigorous, and longer.  We made it to the top not a moment too soon.  The Blarney Stone is still set in the wall below the battlements. To kiss it, you have to lean backwards while lying down and hanging in the air as some guy holds on to you. Once kissed, the stone bestows the gift of eloquence.  Check that off the list.

Thursday, 10/15/09, Hotel Galway

Outside the town of Killarney is an expanse of rugged mountainous country, enormous lakes, and green woodlands.  The focal point is the Muckross Estate, which we viewed from the outside.  We stopped at Ladies' View overlooking a beautiful green valley.  Ladies' View provides a good view of the Lakes including the Gap of Dunloe, the Black Valley and Ross Castle.  We stopped at one of the lakes to take a boat ride from a elder Irish man who said he'd been giving tours for 65 years.  It probably wasn't the best idea as our son lost it about 20 minutes in, but I felt sympathy for the old man standing outside in the cold.

Friday, 10/16/09, Hotel Galway

The Cliffs of Moher stretch for 8km and rise up to 702 feet above the Atlantic Ocean at the highest peak.  The cliffs consist mainly of beds shale and sandstone, with the oldest rocks found at the bottom of the cliffs.  From the top, one can see the Aran Islands, Galway Bay, The Twelve Bens, the Maam Turk Mountains in Connemara and Loop Head to the South.  The main reason I wanted to see the cliffs is because I'd been to the Dover Cliffs years earlier and so I'd gotten it into my mind to visit the Cliffs of Moher, also.  And then, once I found out that the cliffs were featured in The Princess Bride, that cemented my need to go there.  The cliffs were also featured in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I found out after the trip.

Saturday, 10/16/09, Bunratty Castle Hotel

Our last day in Ireland.  Although we had a great hotel room, this was the most manufactured, tourist trap portion of the vacation.  Bunratty Castle and Folk Park is a recreation of 19th century Ireland, with a village and townspeople acting the part.  It's sort of like Plimoth Plantation.  The saving grace was when we stopped at a pub because my husband wanted to make sure that our son visited his first Irish pub.

I bought a bookmark with a lucky shamrock and the following Irish blessing. 


May you live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.

Postcard: San Francisco

I heart San Francisco as you may have noticed from the numerous mentions of it during the short existence of my blog.  It is one of my favorite places ever.  I lived there from September 1997 to August 2001, which covered the pivotal self-discovery ages of 23 to 27.  I think those years there have had a lot to do with the person I am because this was the period after college when I was learning to support myself and live away from my parents but before 30 when the realities of adult responsibility began to hit me.  It's hard to cover that impact in one blog post, so I'll keep this postcard entry to my favorite touristy things to do in San Francisco.  The list is not all encompassing as I could go on and on about the city, but I picked some of the more interesting to me.  The photos are from my last visit there in June 2007 when my husband and I covered much of my list since it was our first trip there together.

1.  Ride the Cable Car.  Walk downtown to Powell and Market Streets so you can take the route from start to finish.  There are two lines and the one we took - the Powell-Mason line - runs from downtown up and over Nob Hill (my old neighborhood) and down to Bay Street at Fisherman's Wharf.

Hang off the side like this guy, a Sox fan.  We are everywhere!

And enjoy the views.

2. Drive down Lombard Street.  Lombard Street is America's crookedest street.  Because this area of the street between the cross streets Hyde and Leavenworth is so steep, the brick paved road was created with sharp curves to prevent accidents.

Apparently, my family drove down Lombard Street on my first birthday.  We were visiting the Oakland area, perhaps as a precursor to our move to northern California when I was 2.  My family owned our first motel in a little town called Sonora that was on the drive from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park.  By the way, I have two regrets from the time I was living in SF - (1) I did not make it to Yosemite and (2) I did not visit Hawaii.

3.  Take the Alcatraz audio tour.  It is well worth it.  Book ahead and early morning with Alcatraz Cruises, so that you can spend as much time as you'd like there.  There is a short ferry ride from the wharf and then you must climb a steep hill to the top of the island where the prison lies.

My brother and I went to Alcatraz when he lived in San Francisco for a year before I moved there.  I went to visit in December 1996 and we did the tour.  This day was memorable to me because the audio tour provides a rich history of the prison and its inmates.  Also, I did not bring my walking shoes on the trip and thus had to climb up the steep, steep walk-up to the prison wearing Mary Jane block heels.  I will not forget that torture.

4.  Walk around Fisherman's wharf, aka Pier 39.  This is a touristy shopping marketplace and restaurant area.  The street is lined with souvenir stores and street vendors.

This is the city's worst tourist trap area but I still recommend it mostly because I always got a fresh crab salad sandwich and clam chowder in sourdough bread bowl there.  I am a New Englander and I love seafood. While there, see the seal lions on the dock or sign up for the tour to Alcatraz.  My parents went to the Bubbagump Shrimp Company when they were there.  I said tourist trap.

5.  Go to a service at Grace Cathedral.  Grace Cathedral was only a few blocks from my old apartment.  It is one of the city's oldest landmarks and is of the Episcopal tradition. 

No matter what your faith, it is a beautiful building and it is enlightening to attend services. My friend and I attended Easter services once when I lived there.  We were two open minded people who thought it would be a great experience to try it out.  We weren't the only ones who thought so because the church was packed and we had to stand for an hour.  I was impressed that the sermon was open-minded and inclusive of all people and even all faiths.  In fact, we were encouraged to follow our own spiritual path.

 On my last visit, I acted for the camera.

6.  Dip your feet in the frigid San Francisco Bay water. 

I always laughed when tourists arrived in San Francisco with their shorts and summer clothes.  It is California, but northern California is cold.  I never wore shorts once and always carried at least a light jacket.  I would not go swimming at the beaches.

7.  Drive across the Golden Gate Bridge even if it is covered in fog.  The Golden Gate Bridge has become the symbol of San Francisco and is recognized by its red color.  When built in 1937, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.  It spans the Golden Gate, the opening between the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean.

Another thing visitors do not know is that San Francisco is foggy all summer long.  The nicest weather months are September and October.  Of course, I moved to the city during the year of El Nino and carried an umbrella for the first 4 months straight.

8.  Visit Coit Tower.  Coit Tower lies atop Telegraph Hill.  It resembles a fire hose nozzle although the designers claim that is not the case. It is, however,  beautification project for San Francisco that was built using money left by Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy socialite.  The area offers fantastic views of San Francisco including Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, and Nob Hill.  There are murals painted in fresco inside of the tower by local artists.

When I had lived in San Francisco, I had bought into a myth that the tower was built to honor the firemen of the city because the daughter of the wealthy family who bequeathed it had been saved by the firemen.  This is why I liked the site and I am disappointed to find out that this story was untrue.  Alas, I'll leave it as a favorite because a friend of mine proposed to his fiancee at the top of the tower.

9.  and 10.  Leave time for two day trips out of the city

These were two of my favorite trips when friends visited town.  I would almost always head north to Napa and Sonoma Valley and do a wine tour.  Mondavi was a must stop because the tour guides gave a great intro to wine making there and I enjoy the sweet dessert Muscats.  I also liked Beringer, Sterling, Gundlach-Bundschu, and Benziger.  Once in while I would drive south toward Monterey and Carmel.  This is a longer drive but much prettier along the way.  I am a big fan of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.