During my time here at Oxford I have been studying the works of Jane Austen which has been a dream come true! I can’t believe I get to learn about my favorite author in the country and even some of the cities that she lived in. So this past weekend when we got the opportunity to go the beautiful city of Bath (home of Jane Austen and setting for two of her novels) I was ecstatic!
Upon our arrival in Bath we got the chance to tour the ancient Roman baths and the history nerd inside me was screaming! The architecture and genius of the Romans truly shone through, and we even got to try some of the “bath” water! (Spoiler Alert: It was disgusting!).
Then we were on to my favorite part of the day! Six of us made our way through the winding streets of Bath, through a cute little street fair, and finally arrived at the Jane Austen Centre, aka the Mecca of my literary world. I was understandably freaking out the entire time. We got the opportunity to see a collection of some of Austen’s belongings and learn about her life and work which was absolutely fascinating!
However, by far the best part of day was the Regency dress up station! We all rushed to raid the closet and we donned bonnets and dresses, and Alec looked quite dashing in his captain’s hat and coat. Then we gathered around Mr. Darcy for the most fantastic picture I’ve ever been a part of.
After that we got to try our hand at writing with an old fashioned quill and I spent far too much money in the gift shop (hooray for my third copy of Pride & Prejudice and an I love Mr. Darcy pins!) Long story short, this was the best excursion yet and I’m living my best life.
Shakespeare in Oxford! 