Why You Should Escape to England

Let me just start by saying that we stayed in a castle. Yep, you heard me right. We stayed in Alnwick Castle. 

To prepare for the trip, we learned about the history of castle ruins, so staying in one IRL was a great culture shock. Textbooks can only do Alnwick Castle so much justice. Plus, it was a filming location for both “Harry Potter” and “Downtown Abbey,” so the Film Studies major in me totally nerded out over that. 

With streets of cobblestone and aged buildings, Alnwick is full of history. It also has deep roots with England’s infamous Percy family, who actually own Alnwick Castle. We learned about the Percy family and how they’re related to the British royal family. We even got to explore the castle staterooms, which gave us a glimpse into living like a royal. 

Because the overarching themes of our class were poets, priests, and prisoners, many of our day trips focused on churches left in ruins and those still functioning after the English Reformation. 

My favorite adventures include climbing the picturesque ruins of Dustenborough Castle (queue an image of sheep grazing right next to the sea), walking the Royal Mile in Scotland, and visiting a Viking museum.

We learned a lot about medieval England and what life looked like back in the 15th century. It was surreal to experience the same places and tread the same paths that historical figures we read about had themselves. 

We were also immersed in a time of history marking the beginning of bookmaking. Getting to view ancient manuscripts and reflect on where literature originated from was a very cool moment as a Creative Writing minor.

After Alnwick, we trekked to London, where we dove into topics like crime and punishment. 

We explored the infamous Tower of London and went on a walking crime tour of the city to learn about London’s dark past. And you guessed it: that included Jack the Ripper. 

The themes from our first half of class also carried into London, where we visited Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral. We also got a detailed look at London’s art scene, from roaming the Tate Modern to taking a guided deviant street art tour across the city. It was fun to learn about deviance and how it can be something as simple as a graffiti tag. 

Another highlight from our time in London was watching live theatre. Our class attended “Romeo and Juliet” at Shakespeare’s Globe and “My Master Builder,” starring Ewan McGregor. 

And since the night was our own, many of us traveled to the West End to catch even more shows, including “Mean Girls,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Moulin Rouge,” and “Hadestown.” The theatre kid inside me was screaming!