My day with Jane . . .

There is no real possible way for me to be normal.  Especially when it comes to literature.  And ESPECIALLY when it comes to Jane Austen.  My mother used to say that while other little girls were dreaming of becoming princesses, I was dreaming of becoming a character from a Jane Austen novel.  (Although, in all honesty, I probably dreamed of both ;))
     So, when I was able to visit Jane Austen's country cottage and Chawton House (where it is speculated that she did much of her writing at), I once again was living my dreams.  My English major colleagues have come to expect the dramatization that comes with "Hallie Caddy excitement" and quite lovely about helping me find cool things despite my constant nagging that people are getting in the way of my picture . . . (I blame it on the only child syndrome)
  Anyway, here is a teaser of what it looks like . . .

And of course, as those of you who follow this blog closely have probably recognized that we don't exactly travel anywhere with ease or without a story.  This is a theme that I am sure will reoccur throughout the rest of the trip.  This time, it would be the fact that our professor (acting as a surrogate guide) was using map directions from 1998 . . .
                           I am just going to leave that there.
But despite that comedy of errors, I was able to do all of this . . .

Practicing writing our names with real quills and ink wells . . .

HER ACTUAL WRITING DESK ...EEK! . . .

Cassandra's Cup is the little cafe that we decided to eat lunch at that is named after Austen's beloved sister, Cassandra.  Pot of Earl Grey, anyone?

 From here, we covered about another half mile or so to get to Chawton House which was owned by the Austen's relatives, the Knights.  These are the family members that adopted Jane's brother Edward into their wealthy financial status.  It is rumored that Jane spent much of her time at the house, writing her novels.  However, that has almost widely been disproved.
   The house is still used as a library today and it is a rather remarkable one, containing rare forms and highly ornate dust covers and bindings.
The entrance towards the house is almost a direct reflection of how the house looked in the 17th and 18th centuries . . .

Once inside, we heard a lecture from a grounds hostess about the effect of the proper portrayal of country homes in cinema and the obvious revenue they receive in return, appropriately called "The Pemberley Effect."  The ironic bit was that I have actually used her research to support a theory I created once for a paper.  Although, I do not agree with everything that she claimed, I found it worth my time.

After Chawton House, me, my friend Becca, and my two professors trekked ourselves to Winchester where the abbey contains the burial remains of Jane Austen.  Of course I had to go!

Overall, a brilliantly beautiful day in the London countryside :)