Read-A-Thon: Mini Challenge nm.2

I write this post to participate to the mini challenge for hour 7.

One of my main reasons for my love to books is the fact that through reading I will be able to travel to places that I would not be able to get familiar with otherwise. These places are ones that actually exist, or ones I can only dream about. 

For this challenge I chose to write about Jane Austen and William Shakespeare. Since I read Pride and Prejudice years ago, Jane Austen has been my favorite author. I cannot express my love and respect for her with words. After reading all her novels, I have done research about her. A lot of research. I have been lucky enough to have a change to do some of my school projects about Jane Austen... I have actually had one doing projects that others have hated. 

Through the plays of Shakespeare I have learned to love and respect theatre and I have realized it is something I want to know more about. Before I thought I would not be intelligent enough to read Shakespeare... it is one of those writers I think most of us feel a bit distant with. But after picking up some of her plays and reading them, I become familiar with his style and now reading the plays has become easier for me. 

Austen's world is familiar for many through the movies/mini series that have been made of her novels. Most of us are familiar with Pemberley, the grand estate of Mr. Darcy or with the beautiful scenes of Bath. Those are places I dream about, and one day, probably already next year, I am going to go and explore those places myself. 

I have traveled to UK twice. The first time I went there I spend five days alone in the city getting familiar with the museums, sightseeing places etc. It was the best holiday I've ever had. One of the best moments of the whole trip was seeing Jane Austen's portrait in the National Portrait Gallery. Seeing that little picture of a woman who has changed my life and inspired me in so many ways was a moment I will never forget. Through her novels I fell in love with literature again, and she is the reason I want to study literature more.  

The second time I went to UK for this school trip. During the trip I got to visit Stratford-Upon-Avon. I love Shakespeare and since Stratford is tightly linked to him, it was interesting to visit that place. I got a chance to visit Mary Arden's farm and to see a play at the Royal Shakespeare Company's theatre. During the same trip we went to London as well and I got a chance to see a play at Shakespeare's Globe. Macbeth, the play I saw, is the best play I've ever seen. Everything about that play was amazing.

I definitely think that reading is something we all should do. It opens up so many new places for us and teaches us something about new cultures and traditions. If I would have to say one place I would really like to visit in real life, except the Jane Austen and Shakespeare related places, I would say the world of Harry Potter. But since that is not really possible, I am dreaming of traveling to the Harry Potter theme park to experience that amazing magical world at least someway.