Story and Photos by Monique Burns.
Films like “Pride and Prejudice,” featuring the wealthy but aloof Mr. Darcy and the poor but brave Elizabeth Bennet, have charmed moviegoers for decades. But few know the real Jane Austen, the writer whose insights into the manners and mores of Regency England inspired six of the world’s best–loved novels, including Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion and, of course, Pride and Prejudice.Reading Austen’s works is always a treat. But the best (and most adventurous) way to commune with Jane Austen and her unforgettable characters is to follow in their lively footsteps.
Story and Photos by Monique Burns.
In search of Jane Austen, the English author who penned classics like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, most people head to Bath, less than two hours west of London. There the 18th–century beau monde came to dance, attend concerts, flirt with suitable mates, and “take the waters” at ancient Roman springs. Briefly a Bath resident, Austen set two of her six novels there: Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.
Norway: Cruising, crab hunting and fine cuisine
By Monique Burns.
In Norway, I signed on for Hurtigruten’s six-day coastal cruise in late summer when the Midnight Sun stays high in the sky through much of the night. After a couple of days in Oslo, treating myself to Edvard Munch’s work at the National Gallery and the Munch Museum, and innovative New Nordic cuisine at waterfront Louise Restaurant & Bar and at Ekebergrestauranten high in the hills above the Oslofjord, I made the two-hour SAS flight north to Kirkenes, six miles from the Russian border.
Adventurous Pursuits in Coastal Peru
By Monique Burns.
Ernest Hemingway came to the Peru Coast in 1956—partly to hunt black marlin, partly to oversee the filming of his monumental novel, The Old Man and the Sea. Sixty years after his visit, I, too, head to coastal Peru. None of my magazine articles have been optioned for Hollywood blockbusters. Nor will I fish for black marlin—much as I’d like to. But, make no mistake, I’m bound for adventure.
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