Windsor and Wychrust

Before Tom and I dated, we would occasionally go into London for theatre days. Since we shared a passion for Shakespeare, we would find something to do during the day(often a museum, a gimmicky attraction, or just a walk around London), eat somewhere that served steak for dinner, and then conclude the day with a performance at the Globe. So far we’ve seen Winter’s Tale, Richard III, Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2, Henry V, and Dr. Faustus. Since we started dating in the middle of lockdown, most of our actual dates have been walking various places while keeping our distance and wearing masks, but this week, now that lockdown restrictions are easing and theatres are re-opening, we were determined to have one of our actual dates live up to the enjoyment of our previous not-dates.

I was up in Birmingham for the week, since Tom is still working and I have the summer off before I start teaching in September. On Sunday, we found a fun fantasy medieval faire. It was at a castle, which I’m sure I will want to come back and visit one day when there’s not pirates and fairies and mermaids and knights all around. I had a chance to wear my Eowyn dress again, and got to hold some birds! It was a scorching hot day and I can’t imagine how the girls who were doing the bohurt fighting managed to move at all with all their padding.

Tuesday was my actual 28th birthday, however we did the birthday celebration on Thursday. We drove down to Windsor on yet another scorching hot day; the ice cream bars we had brought along were soup by the time we got there. We walked up to the castle and had a good look around the place. According to the flag, the Queen was in, but she didn’t invite us in. Rude.

I remembered being here on my first trip to London with mom and Rachael on a very rainy day back in 2014. We had done both Oxford and Windsor Castle in one day, which certainly wasn’t enough time.

We had our tour around St. George’s chapel (gave a little glare to the resting place of Henry VIII), the estate rooms, and the lower wards. Tom’s embracing his new imposed photographer role rather well.

We had a cool-down pint at the pub across the street and then headed to our BnB to drop off our stuff. As a surprise, Tom had booked the cutest Tudor farmhouse! I could have lounged around there, playing piano, for a lot longer, but we had to get back to Windsor. We had our customary steak dinner - which was phenomenal - and then walked to the theatre.

I had booked these tickets ages back, a little time after I had booked the Tennant tickets which had to be delayed, so I am very thankful that this performance was able to go ahead.

SHAKESPEARIAN GANDALF!

Sir Ian McKellen starred as Hamlet. Now, Hamlet’s normally played by someone in their 30s (in the gravedigger scene he remembers Yorick who is said to have been dead for 23 years, he’s a university student, often called ‘Young Hamlet’ etc). Now, this was slightly at odds with the 82-year old actor. However. It’s Ian McKellen. Who’s going to tell him ‘no’? It was odd at times, mainly when he’s clearly older than his mother, but suspension of disbelief was manageable. It’s still so strange to see Gandalf in real life, being that close to someone who only ‘exists’ in movies and Middle Earth.

Some unexpected stars of the production for me were the ghost of Old Hamlet and the main player; I wouldn’t normally give those roles much thought but they were very well done and gave some new layers to their characters.

It was a beautiful day, and heralded the beginning of a beautiful weekend. This was the long awaited Wychurst at War, the first Regia national training event in 2 years, and the first time I’ve seen many of my friends in that long. The whole weekend was magical: crossing blades with people I have missed for far too long, sitting around a campfire catching up on everyone’s lives, and I finally had a chance to work on a creative project that has been in the works for ages. I’ll be posting that elsewhere.

I was very pleased with my fights in Saturday’s tournament, however, I was beaten 3-2 by Tom. He knows that I daydream about killing him. It will happen eventually.

Sometimes in the blur of bureaucracy, the endless applications, and hidden costs, I wonder why I’m putting so much effort in staying in this country. But that thought never lasts long when I think about the beautiful community and friends that I have here and all the amazing things I get to do with them.