What the Dickens?

This was the actual house of Charles Dickens. He lived here for around two years. He wrote Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickelby and other shorter stories while living in this house. He loved entertaining people and he would even write his stories while in the company of others to be "sociable." The furniture in this video is Dickens' actual furniture, saved from the different houses he lived in. Learning more about his personal life made me love his writings all the more. He was an eccentric, hard-working, dramatic and lively man. I wish I could have known him.

A Ripper and a Writer

This week, I went on two guided school trips. They were about two different men, one famous, the other infamous. Of course this could only refer to two of the best known Englishmen (perhaps) of all time: Jack the Ripper and Charles Dickens.

Here I am, happily perched on what I didn't know was a crime scene at the time. Right behind me, in that luscious looking grass, Jack's third victim was discovered on the night that he committed two murders one right after the other...I will spare the gruesome details that wiped the smile from my beaming face when the tour guide spoke them. He happened to say the body was found, and here he dramatically pointed directly at where I was seated, "There!" Of course I hopped off the little brick wall as fast as I could. The tour was enjoyable as any creepy evening could be, full of mystery, gore, crime, ransom letters and the coolest Scottish tour guide ever. Our tour guide kept talking about how cute kittens were in the midst of the discussion of a serial killer. By digressing into stories about the cuddly cuteness of kittens, the guide allowed everyone to survive the tour without any lasting trauma. Sadly, we did not solve the mystery of who Jack the Ripper really was that night. The identity of Jack died when his last known victim did.

Walking on Graves at Westminister Abbey

This is the famous Westminister Abbey. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures inside. This is really a shame since it has the most ornate, elegant ceiling (in one of the wings) that is creme colored and carved in delicate swirls. My favorite part of Westminister Abbey was Poet's Corner. I saw Chaucer's grave and so many others. Chaucer was the first to be buried in Poet's Corner. It was interesting to me that Chaucer was valued as a government man and that's the reason he was buried in the Abbey. Only later did it become a Poet's Corner and he is now valued more for his writing than his politics.

I even walked on Lord Byron's grave. Lord Byron was the Elvis Presley of the Romantic Era; women actually swooned over him and his poetry! For all his writings about defying death, he died at a young age (early 30s) in battle fighting in a revolution. A very spirited man, indeed!

Is it morbid to say I enjoyed this walk over the graves of the poets and authors whose works I love so dearly? Maybe so, but I found it fascinating. I stopped for a while at Charles Dickens grave. I know many people have mixed feelings about this author because he is considered so lengthy. But to be honest, he was the reason I wanted to see Poet's Corner. I actually didn't know my other favorite, Chaucer, was buried there until I listened to the audio tour! This is why I love London. There is so much history everywhere. And all that history is intertwined with literature. Everywhere I look, there is something I have read about or a plaque saying an author I have read has been here. This is what fascinates me.