Today’s excursion was all about Dickens. I was really excited to be able to connect all of our Dickens readings to the city today. We’ve gotten bits and pieces of Dickens in London throughout the trip, but I felt like I could really connect to Dickens’s London today. Learning more about his environment helped me understand his works much better.

Our day started with a tour from Ruth, who was a spectacular tour guide. She was so knowledgeable about Dickens. Ruth was a little eccentric and very personable. I thought people in London would be really reserved and proper, but my stereotype has been broken through all of the people we’ve met through our tours and simply just asking for directions. Walking tours are usually not my favorite, but her passion for Dickens and her outgoing nature made this walking tour quite enjoyable. It was cool to see the pictures she found of what the street the workhouse Dickens worked at looked like back in Victorian times.

The Dickens House brought more connections to bridge (or mind, hah!) the gap between Dickens’s works and London. Dickens wrote a lot about young females encountering death, which was inspired by the sudden death of his sister-in-law in one of the rooms. Diana took us on a second tour of the house after we walked around to get our first impressions. I was happy she did that because she elaborated on a lot of things that I would have glossed right over.

I’m excited for our upcoming Dickens House collaboration project. Charla and I will be attending a fundraiser party on Friday to take pictures and write a short article about the even for the House’s website and Facebook. I enjoy mingling with others and am constantly on social media, so this project is the perfect fit for me!