My Native Land

Last night I spent some time looking through a friend's pictures from their trip to the United Kingdom and Paris.  Have I mentioned I'm going there?  I'm going.  At every amazing glimpse of Scottish countryside, Parisian architecture, and famous London landmark, I became more and more excited, entering into a state of complete unbelief that I am REALLY going.  Really.  At least, the plane tickets have been purchased.  So, as far as I know, I'm going.


And although I know I will look every bit the tourist, gasping and exclaiming at every new wonder, taking thousands upon thousands of pictures, I'm not going to really FEEL like a tourist.    I'm going to feel like I've come home.  I have been to these places in my imagination and in my heart over and over again since the time I was a little girl.  


I explored manor houses and the moor and learned about a Yorkshire accent with Mary Lennox.  I walked the foggy streets of London with poor Sara Crewe.  I learned from Edmund Pevensie that Brits call a flashlight a "torch."


As a teenager I learned about good King Richard and Prince John in Ivanhoe, I was shocked to find that Sherlock Holmes used cocaine, and I stood beneath the Tower of London with Charles Darnay.  I learned what a dangerous thing it can be to stay at a manor house over the weekend, unless you're Hercule Poirot of course.  I solved mysteries with Miss Marple and reveled in the story of David Copperfield.  


In my first year of marriage I visited Derbyshire and the Peaks and learned all about entailment.  I finally understood that Colonel Brandon was a much more worthy hero than the scoundrel, Willoughby, and learned all about the coastal towns of Ramsgate, Brighton, and Lyme.  I rejoiced when Heathcliff was finally dead and couldn't torment people anymore.  I was infuriated by the unfair treatment of poor Jane Eyre and fell in love with her Mr. Rochester right along with her.  I walked the Dales with James Herriot and laughed over those Yorkshire farmers.  


In short, there's not many places in the United Kingdom that don't bring to my mind a cast of characters, stories, and emotions.  Those three paragraphs are but the tip of the iceberg, and they don't even touch the historical references.  Oh, England, how I love thee.  I can't believe my feel will finally stand on your soil.  


What are your favorite British characters and places???