The Brooklyn Adventurer: Canterbury

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Sunday Style: Ode to an Old Coat

I received a new coat for Christmas this year, a military-style one, and I like it very much. It's a great coat- simple, attractive, flattering, and a little bit badass. That's about all I can ask for in a piece of clothing.

However, a button fell off of the front a few days ago, so I wore my older coat today. It's black and white, with buttons down the front. I love it mostly because, when I look down at the sidewalk beneath me, I silhouette like an Elizabethan courtier.

And that, my friends, is cool.

Anything that makes me feel Renaissance-chic is wonderful. Anything that went to Europe with me is marvelous. I wore this coat all around Europe- it traveled through four countries with me, and even though it isn't as new, or as trendy as the military-esque coat, this fact will always give it a place in my heart.

Stay tuned to see what I was working on today, why I wore the coat... I was acting in a short film directed by my friend Ginny. I'm so pleased with how the shoot went, I can't wait to see the final result! Hopefully I'll be able to post it on here once I get a hold of it.

Until then... another reminisce through my European travels with my coat.

God, I need to get myself back to Europe!

In a tourist shop in Picadilly Circus, London, England, paired with a Union Jack cowboy hat.

At the Albert Memorial in London, with a black beret.

At the Tate Modern in London with Lenny and Jackie!

At Camden Stables Market, London, with a be-dreaded horse.

At the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London, with a hunting cap, pipe, and Watson.

At Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, England, with some graves.

In Canterbury Castle, Canterbury.

Trapped in Canterbury Castle, Canterbury, but wearing some cute gloves.

Outside the Rupert Bear Museum in Canterbury.

Inside the delightfully awesome Rupert Bear Museum in Canterbury.

Inside of Cardiff Castle in Cardiff, Wales.

In Bute Park, Cardiff.

At Stonehenge, England, with a black scarf.

In The Rocket pub in London, with Kim!

On the hostel-boat in Stockholm, Sweden!

With Laura, Morgan, Alex, and Kelly in Stockholm, on a ferry!

Gazing into the future in Oxford, England.

In a college courtyard in Oxford.

Pairing a pink face with a pink scarf in Cambridge, England.

Gazing into the baths in Bath, England.

Straddling a crevice in Bath.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Inspiration Fridays: I Just Want a Castle...

Who doesn't want to live in a castle? I do. Castles are the coolest.

While I was studying in London, I was able to visit many of them, including Canterbury Castle, below. I wrote a post about it soon after visiting, but the structure was incredible. By incredible, I mean it was old, historically important, and crumbling to bits. Though it had been a residence of the monarchy of England, it apparently wasn't important enough to charge money for entry, or even to be guarded. We walked right in. I climbed around in it. I stole a rock from off the ground, which was part of the Roman wall that surrounded it. This was legal, apparently, because were there cops or Unesco Heritage Site guards or anything? Nope. It was a big, open space that, you know, happened to have a castle in the middle of it. No big deal. The UK has tons of those.

As an American, this pretty much blows my mind. Living in a castle, or seeing one, is one of the pinnacles of existence, as far as I'm concerned. I was in awe of every structure I had the pleasure to view that was built before about 1550AD because we just don't have any of those on our continent. At some point during the first couple weeks I was living in London, I took a moment and bragged to one of my English friends that I had lived across the street from one of the oldest pubs in New York- it was founded in 1865! With an utterly straight face she said something along the lines of "Yeah, whatever, my building is fifty years older than that and it's the newest building on my block"... It's just different.

But, this post is about castles, not pubs. Once again, as I have hypothesized during basically every Inspiration Friday post from the past few monthes, I may only be inspired by castles because I read too many fantasy and historical fiction books, watch too many fantasy and historical fiction films, and play too many fantasy video games. I'd play historical fiction video games if more of them existed. Or, maybe I do all of those things because I love fantasy and historical fiction with a passion. Honestly, I'm rather certain this is the reason. I almost accidentally acquired a minor in medieval and renaissance history in college. If I had been paying attention, I would have achieved that, but frankly, I didn't notice I had done it until I was about to graduate. I just gravitate towards this stuff. Reminders of times gone by, times in which I did not live, excite me. Or, maybe I did live there. Who knows the true nature of our existence?

Yet someday, I want to climb a castle tower in the middle of the forest and gaze out over the land. I want to feel the wind whip through my hair as I do this; I wish to watch a hawk circle overhead.