Me (Emily Grand), Camille Steigler, Sarah Humphreys, and Alex Berry by the North Sea showing our Theta pride.
I can’t imagine a better way to spend ten days in England than with three of my best friends, who also happen to be my Theta sisters! The adventure all started in December when Camille first brought up the idea of taking a class being offered on the Brontes. We would examine the themes and motifs of their major works and follow up our studies by taking a trip to England in May. At first Sarah, Alex, and I had some of the usual reservations about the class and the trip, but by January we were all attempting to read Jane Eyre in lightning speed while researching the small towns we would be visiting on our trip. After a semester of analyzing plot devises, the four of us and the other six people in the class flew across the pond, piled into two rental cars, and sped off to Haworth to explore the Brontes’ childhood home. We spent our first night enjoying the architecture of York and the next morning wandering around the little shops while snacking on pasties (little puff pastry pies). The next few days were spent in Northern England exploring castles (including the castle the first two Harry Potter films were shot), museums, gardens filled with pansies, and any other tourist destination we could find. We left England for Edinburgh, Scotland where I was the only one who dared to try haggis. I mean, who wouldn’t want to chow down on sheep lungs mixed with oatmeal and cooked in a stomach for three hours?! I don’t know if I would get eat it again, but it really wasn’t as bad as it sounds and at the very least it didn’t make me sick for our quick jaunt to London.
All of us enjoying the Tower Bridge in London and Camille and Alex kite-ing a guard. Sadly, that was the closest we could get to them!
In just 36 hours the four of us managed to hit every major London site-seeing attraction, including King’s Cross, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace and Tate Modern. We were all sad to leave London (Sarah could have stayed forever), but we had to meet up with the rest of our group in Liverpool the next day. We were so exhausted when we got there that we ended up falling asleep in the bus station only to be woken up by a stumbling drunk and a pigeon who was obsessed with Alex. Our last day in England was spent relaxing in The Beatles’ home town by taking pictures with Eleanor Rigby and listening to some bands in the evening. Despite difficulties getting home, our summer trip to England was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had; it brought us closer together as sisters and friends. We can all say we “kited” a Buckingham Palace guard, failed at hiking through the Moors, and made memories which make us laugh as soon as we start to reminisce. I am a lucky girl for having found three amazing women to call Nature Gurlz (our nickname for ourselves in England) and sisters.
