At the Cemetery Gates: Highgate Cemetery, London

{Allthough i LOVE the traditional grave stones THIS was one of my FAVES!! So Gorey-esque don't you think!?!?!}

So...when i was little my Dad used to take me to a lot of cemeteries....He's a minister and he wanted to teach my brother and I about death early so we wouldn't fear it but embrace it as part of life... and it definitely taught me that...it ALSO gave me a great appreciation for graveyards....they are such calm quite places of reflection and beauty....places to wander and think...Thus began my love for cemeteries!! 

So on my most recent trip to London i made a delightful stop at Highgate...being that my trip was planned quickly i "forgot" that you needed to book a tour to be let in the "good side" of the cemetery....and even my verbose charm could not convince the stern school mark like tour guide to let me "sneak in" with the group!!! I even offered more money!!! but apparently on either side of the pond a bribe is a bribe and wasn't let in...i DID however get to look at the public side which was equally as beautiful!!!

and much like the Smiths lyric it was a dreaded sunny day...albeit perfect for walking through this lush necropolis....overgrown with amazing vines and ivy...resplendent with spiders and their intricate webs...filled with the sounds of nature...I was dutifully entranced and spent hours wandering and reading.....

this house was just outside the cemetery...its a very posh neighborhood and i met a lovely cleaning lady...she told me the house was once owned by a "very popular female American singer" and hinted towards Madonna....regardless i was drooling over its Gothic splendor....I mean who wouldn't!?!?!?

She was from Japan and had moved to London to be close to her husbands grave...he fought in WWII and was buried in Highgate....she told me that on All Saints Day people from all over come to visit their dead because many are buried here from the war....she was super sweet and even picked a flower for me to place on her husbands grave for her as she was running to work....

the greenery was so lush and omnipresent...in some areas even hard to manouver through...the smell was strong and fresh and the sunlight filtered  through in bright beams 

Someone left a poem at this soldiers grave as an offering....it was lovely...

I actually gasped when my camera was able to catch the delicate beauty of these spiders webs.....

industrious ants feed on a dried earthworm as if to push the point home even further....

i adored this grave especially the description 'Curator of Oddities"....just lovely....Apparently he was a British TV personality who fancied himself the British Ripley of "Believe it or Not" fame...

So this was Malcom Maclarens grave stone...or a space holder at least...beacuse recently i Google his grave and now theres a HUGE stone in its place!!!! I was excited because it was on the "public" side...

SO that was my delightful day at Highgate...I could help but hum the Smiths tune most of the day....it was just so evocative and...well OBVIOUS.....

and regardless of people thinking its "typical" that i like cemeteries because of my Sartorial leanings and musical likes....Cemeteries have been a haven for me since youth...and defiantly ALWAYS will be!!!

XOXOX