A Time Traveller's Jaunt to Medieval England

Come with me down the path of ages...

down to the middle ages where this maiden sits under tree in a rune circle

Where Chaucer awaits to tell us his tales

And the master of a mouse circus smiles at us from behind curious wooden spectacles.

While Hagrid watches on

Right now, peasants are watching over their baby in sight of a castle

and women prepare their supper around the fire

but there are others who look on at the splendour of Herstmonceux Castle and wonder what treasures lay inside

Some armies are more than curious. A battle to siege the castle is brewing and this dog guards his master's amour

The men march off into the battle field

And the battle begins

This knight is left standing, a respite in between the fighting but in the end, someone will surely lose their head...

I have to say, going to a living history medieval festival with a real castle and elaborate grounds is really magical. No mere dress up for freaks and geeks, this festival transported me back in time. It was wonderful and inspiring and fun.

Herstmonceux Castle, a 15th century moated castle nestled within the Sussex countryside, is the magical setting where history comes to life during the annual Medieval festival held every August bank holiday. At present, this Castle has a Canadian connection. In 1993 Herstmonceux Castle was acquired by Drs Alfred and Isabel Bader and given to Queen's University of Canada. It is now an International Study Centre attracting students from around the world.

I hope you enjoyed this little jaunt to the middle ages with me. Have a beautiful weekend everyone.

All photography by Shehani Kay.

Whitstable's Shuckable Oysters and Other Fresh Views

Before we got blown into the pub by the fierce wind and biting rain, we strolled along the pretty seafront and I sucked back a shucked raw oyster drenched in lemon juice and tabasco sauce from a harbour front seafood stall. You can't get fresher and more delicious than this! Judging from the overflow of shells in these trays, I'm not the only one who appreciates raw oysters!

Whitstable, a seaside town in northeast Kent, in the southeast of England, is famous for its oysters, which have been collected in the area since Roman times. The town itself dates back to before the writing of the Domesday Book, which was a great survey of 'who owned what' in England, completed in 1086 for the Norman King, William the Conqueror, shortly after he crushed the Anglo Saxons and took the English crown.

(Fishing boats in the harbour)

(Old fisherman's huts now converted into deluxe seaside huts)

Unfortunately for me bad weather drove me indoors and so I got a very brief view indeed. I also had a terrible cold at the time and lacked the strength to push on when the sun finally did come out again. All this means is that I will have to return another day to suck back at my leisure more oysters and sample more fresh seafood from the outdoor stalls.

For my fellow oyster lovers, Whitstable holds an annual Oyster Festival around July 25th to celebrate the feast day of St James of Compostella (the patron saint of oysters). It was originally a ’Holy Day’ so the festival symbolically recreates the ‘Landing of the Oysters’, with Whitstable Sea Scouts bringing oysters ashore for a formal Blessing by clergy before being presented to the Lord Mayor. These blessed oysters are then passed along to inns and restaurants as part of the vibrant Oyster Parade as it travels through the town centre. Sounds like good fun.

Chillin' in Chilham

I'm a lucky girl. I got invited to stay at my friend's village in Chilham this last bank holiday. Chilham is located in the valley of the Great Stour river, in the English county of Kent. The village square pictured above is considered by many to be one of the most perfectly preserved medieval settings in South-east England.

Below is a photo of teacups in the window of the abandoned Peacock Antiques, a shop in the square that closed its doors suddenly, left everything as is and hasn't reopened in years. It's like Miss Havisham's house!

This spooky by night church is a 15th century parish church, dedicated to St Mary.

I loved wandering through the overgrown cemetery.

Chilham Castle is a manor house and keep. The polygonal Norman keep of the Castle, the oldest building in the village, dates from 1174. It was owned by the Viscounts Massereene and Ferrard until it was sold in 1997. In those days coaches of tourists visited the castle and spent their tourist pounds in the village, injecting some much needed wealth into the local community. Unfortunately, the present owner, Mr Stuart Wheeler, has stopped this practice, closed the castle to the public and as a result, the village has fallen on much harder financial times. Wheeler is valued at £40m so it's a shame he doesn't open up the castle grounds regularly to coaches of tourists so that his neighbours may share in some wealth in these lean times of recession. Boo, Mr Wheeler or should I call you Mr Burns! Booo!

I had such a lovely time here. Chilham is renowned for its beauty and I will join in the chorus and sing its praises. When I got thirsty I went to the two local pubs and had me some really tasty local beer. The Whitehorse pub in the square, where the locals hang out, has got old stories and charm dating back to the 16th century. Not to be missed.

Big thank you and kisses to the Glancy family for hosting me!!

All photography by Shehani Kay. Chilham.

Just Carry On Dreaming...

I'm on the cusp of a new venture. I'm dreaming lush dreams of selling my photos at Sunday Upmarket in Spitalfields, in east London. I've got my acorns lined up and dreaming cap on. The dream turns into reality on the 12th. See you there!

Huzzah!

This lady sleeping on a grass bed in the middle of the woods is not a sight you see every day. Discovering a bed in the fecund woodlands is surreal and fable-like. It inspires me to carry on dreaming my magnificent dreams. And I hope it inspires you too.

Happy Monday!

Photography by Shehani Kay. Taken on the grounds of Herstmonceux Castle near Hailsham in East Sussex.

How I long for Jesterday...

While I was traipsing around the English countryside, being driven along narrow canopied lanes, drinking local bitter, visiting castles and cathedrals, and attending Britain's largish Medieval Festival, my Belgian buddy had been a busy bee putting together the music video we did during our last month in Madrid. So instead of posting about my country trip, which I will do over the next few posts, I'm going to return to my beloved Madrid for a different kind of trip... one down memory lane. Ah, Jesterday...

I hope you enjoyed it! I highly recommend making videos as a fun project to do with your friends. We had a amazing day laughing and laughing as we made a spectacle out of ourselves on the streets of Madrid. Locals and tourists alike stopped to gawk at us and these are some of my favourite memories of my time in Mad Madrid. The photo shoot from that day is here.

On a sad note, another friend of mine from Madrid, Nick, who was to visit me in London in mid Aug, died recently from a diabetes related fall. He was an eccentric, cultured and lively character, a right English gentleman who never shied away from sitting on the grass in his white outfit under the scorching sun. He delighted in saying that only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. Cheers to you Nick! You knew how to live life to the fullest and you remind the rest of us to live well and large while the sun still shines. Besos a ti, mi amigo xx.

Guest blogging over at Gypsy Girl's Guide

Today over at the Gypsy Girl's Guide I write about my move to London from Madrid, my tactics for coping and how I quieten the uncertainty with unexpected magic.

For those you not familiar with GGG, it's a wonderful resource and inspirational site for bohemian women with a passion for travel. I'm currently doing an internship over there, resizing images, researching, editing content, putting up & scheduling posts, and liaising with contributors. Alessandra, the original gypsy girl's guider, has gathered a formidable tribe of talented and interesting women around the globe. It's an awesome community and I recommend you have a visit.

Fashion Street E1 Graffiti

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of Fashion Street's graffiti in Spitalfields!

Happy Friday! Have a good weekend!

Photography by Shehani Kay.

Hands of an Angel

While wandering around the fairly unremarkable cemetery of St Giles the Abbott in Farnborough, I made this remarkable discovery - a beautiful wailing angel draped upon a tomb. I love the poignant pose of her strong hands.

For some reason this photo evokes for me the lyrics of an old Smiths song, I Know It's Over:

It's so easy to laugh

It's so easy to hate

It takes guts to be gentle and kind

Over, over...

What does it evoke for you?

Photography by Shehani Kay. St Giles the Abbott Cemetery in Farnborough, London.

Great Eastern St Wall Graffiti

I was wandering down the street from Brick Lane towards Old Street when I was struck by the calibre and beauty of this collection of graffiti on the walls of this squat in Shoreditch.

Sprung from the site of the Foundry, an infamous grimy bar and gallery space that was closed down in June because the building is slated for the demolition ball, the Shoreditch Social Centre is a 'free for all' arts community centre run by squatters who aim to shows how easy it is to create an art for all space by hosting a variety of events. [resource]

As an avid urban art documentarista, London is an awesome town to be in!

All photography by Shehani Kay. Shoreditch Social Centre. Great Eastern Street, London EC2. Aug 2010.

Around town: faces in windows

I first caught a glimpse of these portraits while on the Haggerston train, heading for Brick Lane. What's that about? I wondered.

Curious about these giant faces covering windows, I returned via Regent's Canal Walk yesterday while the fickle sun was shinning.

Turns out these photographs of residents have replaced the orange boards that were used to cover the empty flats in Samuel House of Haggerston Estate in East London. The estate is currently being redeveloped and using these portraits is the brain child of I Am Here, an arts project initiated by artists who are themselves long-term residents of Samuel House. They say, I Am Here "shows the faces of ordinary people so often excluded from the visual material produced to market an up-and-coming area by estate agents, developers, private landlords, local councils and other stakeholders."

Their aim is to humanize a piece of architecture on its final journey by challenging onlookers to ask questions. In this they have succeeded. As I sat on a bench along the canal in front of Samuel House, writing in my moleskine, I heard several people passing by wonder what these photos could mean as I did. What great street art! It certainly compelled me to investigate the meaning behind this piece and with a little googling, all was revealed.

Photography by Shehani Kay. Samuel House is located alongside Regents Canal in between Kingsland Road and Victoria Park in Hackney, London.

New dawn, new day, new life, new blog

As promised, I've revamped my blog. What do you think? I figured since I'm now in a new city, I ought to change my look, use my name and broaden my scope. Special thanks to my brother, Reza, for his mad pro skills and advice in the redesign process of this blog! Couldn't have gotten it looking so slick without his feedback and design expertise. Big besos to you bro!

This last month in London has been a mind boggling, surging swirl of new experiences, hopes, disappointments, magical moments, possibilities, impossibilities and the raw excitement of the unknown. I've been riding the wave of uncertainty and trying hard to find solid footing on which to build my sandcastles. Things are crystallizing slowly. I've got new projects on the go that I'm thrilled about. More about those plans later.

I suppose the question I get asked a lot is how London compares with Madrid. In fact, one cheeky reader suggested that Madrid still has what London lost years ago, which I find baffling. Of course you can compare cities superficially but the whole point of relocating to a new place (and not simply being a tourist passing through) is learning what is unique about each city in a more profound, day-to-day way and besides, places are often charming for very different reasons. Madrid has lively street culture, fabulous nightlife, and a 'no pasa nada' easygoing attitude. But London is huge! You can find everything here (it's light years ahead of Madrid in the cosmo, multi-ethnic, open-minded department). Whereas Madrid is still quite Spanish in their tastes (especially for food) which is charming, London embraces all cultures and you can find pockets of every type which is charming in a different way. Dining out here is really an amazing experience with a multitude of delicacies from all corners of the globe on offer. London is also beautifully green and filled with parks and wildlife. Then there's the water. I love the water. The mighty river and the snaking canal. Both wonderful. Madrid may have many fiestas but it's dry and the poor narrow/shallow excuse they call a river is just pathetic. This is not to say that I don't miss Madrid. I miss my villagey Lavapies with the intensity of an estranged lover but I know the time had come to move on, to grow, to flourish in ways I no longer could in Madrid. Now, Brick Lane and Spitalfields promises to satisfy my craving for alternative, gritty, hip street culture. And in the end, I think London offers me opportunities and adventures I can find no where else. How exciting is that!

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me

ooooooooh

AND I'M FEELING GOOD

Photography by Shehani Kay. Cake shop window in Brighton.

Richmond upon Thames

Wild Rosebay Willowherbs line the bank along the Thames in Richmond near Richmond Bridge. There's a lovely tree lined path along the bank around here with plenty of benches. Ideal for strolls, cycling, or a bit river and bird watching.

Photography by Shehani Kay

Brighton Unblinged ~ Alt.Graffiti.Scene

Followers of my blog will already know my predilection for street art - I document graffiti wherever I go and Brighton didn't disappoint. There's a great little street art scene in B.Right.On. The graffiti style ranges from tacky whimsical mermaids to photorealistic faces.

In and around Bond Street, I found this collection of illegal, store front and Brighton council commissioned graffiti.

A commission wall art project just off Bond Street:

A store front piece:

Random stencil work on newspaper.

Boy Juggler at Artrepublic.

Girl Juggler outside Artrepublic.

Walls in retro stylee from small alleyways off Bond Street.

Below are a select few works from the ubiquitous and prolific Cassette Lord. Read an interview with him here.

All photography by Shehani Kay