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Kylie

@a.curious.way

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🎥 Historic & magical places
🏰 Museums | historic & nature sites | food & drink | stays | side quests | London & beyond
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Foxes have always had a bit of mystery about them. In loads of old stories, they show up where things feel a little… in between. So when one appears in a graveyard, some say it means the veil between worlds is thin. 🦊🌫️

🌀 Celtic
In Celtic tales, foxes were seen as guides. They were clever enough to slip between this world and the next. A little warning, a little wisdom.

🦊 Japanese (Kitsune)
In Japan, fox spirits (kitsune) are known for shapeshifting and showing up at graves or shrines. Sometimes they protect. Sometimes they play tricks.

🪓 Norse
They’re not as famous in Norse myth, but foxes still show up as quiet signs. Wild, clever, and maybe a little otherworldly.

fox folklore / foxes in cemeteries / veil between worlds / Celtic fox legends / kitsune mythology / Japanese fox spirits / Norse fox symbolism / liminal spaces folklore / supernatural animals / fox as spirit messenger

#FoxFolklore #LiminalSpaces #Kitsune #CelticMythology #NorseMyth #SpiritAnimals by @a.curious.way

This is one of the best afternoon teas I have ever been to. My grandparents had a copy of the best of Andrew Lloyd Webber, which I watched a million times as a kid. So sitting in the Rose Lounge with the iconic soundtrack in the background felt wonderfully nostalgic!

Direct link to book in my 🎟️ story highlight | ad-affiliate

Act I: The Auction Begins
Refined savouries and finger sandwiches set the scene with quiet elegance, like the curtain rising on a shadowy opera house.

Act II: Beneath the Opera House
This course channels the Phantom’s underground world with darker, more indulgent sweets and even a nod to the misty boat moment across the subterranean lake, full of gothic atmosphere and romantic intrigue.

Act III: Masquerade
An elaborate finale of patisserie and petit fours that is decadent, theatrical, and gloriously over the top, bringing the experience to a delicious climax.

As a final touch, you even receive an extra chocolate “final act” surprise to take home, and if you can’t finish everything, they will beautifully box up the rest.

@sofitellondon @fever_uk

Phantom of the opera afternoon tea | afternoon tea in London | luxury afternoon tea in London by @a.curious.way

Just the two sides battling it out! Love a bit of the macabre and the whimsy!

whimsical ghoul, divine feminine, feminine energy, macabre by @a.curious.way

The Fitzwilliam Museum is one of Cambridge’s most beautiful treasures, filled with centuries of art, history and fascinating stories beneath its grand neoclassical walls.

I was invited to explore Cambridge with @visitcambridgeofficial

Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge • Cambridge museums • Things to do in Cambridge • Cambridge history • Cambridge architecture • Dark academia Cambridge by @a.curious.way

Memento mori. Time is passing. You cannot stop it. You cannot get it back. Your perception of it is unreliable. And eventually, it consumes us all.

That is the wonderfully unsettling idea behind Cambridge’s Corpus Clock. Designed and invented by Dr John C. Taylor, with sculptor Matthew Lane Sanderson creating the Chronophage. The golden face has no hands, while the monstrous Chronophage, meaning “time-eater”, appears to devour every passing second. Its jaws snap shut at the end of each minute, as though literally consuming the time that has just disappeared. The clock even deliberately plays tricks with our perception of time, reminding us that what feels like a constant, reliable thing is far more mysterious than we imagine.

Look closely and there are even more layers. The ripples across the face represent the expanding universe, while the three rings of light mark the hours, minutes and seconds instead of traditional hands. The coffin-like sound that marks each hour, reminding us that every hour brings us closer to death. And the grasshopper itself is inspired by the historic grasshopper escapement, a mechanism used by clockmaker John Harrison.

It looks like a spectacular piece of art, but underneath all that gold is something much darker: a mechanical meditation on time, mortality and our inability to control either. Even the clock cannot escape time. It can only keep eating it.

I was invited to explore Cambridge with @visitcambridgeofficial by @a.curious.way

Cambridge is one of the OGs of the Dark Academia aesthetic and less than an hour from London. With centuries-old colleges, Gothic architecture, cloistered courtyards and ancient libraries that feel like they’ve stepped straight out of a novel.

I was invited to explore Cambridge with @visitcambridgeofficial

Cambridge • Dark Academia • Cambridge University • Historic Cambridge • Gothic architecture • UK travel by @a.curious.way

Atlantis bookshop in London by @a.curious.way

Founded in 1123, St Bartholomew the Great is over 900 years old and one of London’s finest surviving examples of Norman architecture. Remarkably, it survived both the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the Blitz during the Second World War, making it one of the city’s most extraordinary medieval survivors. @greatstbarts by @a.curious.way

Forget demons and vampires for spooky season. Ordinary life in the not-too-distant past is enough to send a chill down your spine! We don’t realise how lucky we are to live in modern times in so many ways.

The Old Operating Theatre Museum in London offers a fascinating and rather gruesome glimpse into the history of medicine, surgery and the conditions patients once endured. Would you have survived surgery in Victorian London?

🎟️ Entry: £10 @oldoperatingtheatre

The Old Operating Theatre Museum London • Victorian medical history • History of surgery • London museums • Creepy places in London • Medical history museum • Spooky things to do in London • Hidden historical gems in London by @a.curious.way

This might be one of the creepiest things you’ll find inside a 900-year-old London church.

Damien Hirst’s Exquisite Pain depicts St Bartholomew after being brutally flayed alive for his faith.

He’s holding his own skin over his arm, while carrying a scalpel and scissors, a nod to the nearby St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

It’s gruesome, unsettling and somehow completely fitting for one of London’s oldest churches.

@damienhirst @greatstbarts by @a.curious.way

The rust and peeling paint might add to the Palm House’s character, but unfortunately, they’re signs that this Victorian glasshouse is in need of urgent restoration.

Built in 1848, Kew’s Palm House now needs around 16,000 new panes of glass, alongside major work to its historic structure. The restoration will help protect the building and the tropical plants inside it, while making it more energy efficient for the future.

The final plants are due to be moved out in spring 2027, when the Palm House will close for restoration for up to five years. So if you’ve been meaning to visit, now is the time!

You can support the appeal by sponsoring a plant, a pane of glass or other elements of the Palm House. Donations are also being matched up to £300,000, helping Kew raise the funds needed to secure its future. 🌿 Visit @kewgardens for more information by @a.curious.way

Memento mori is the Latin phrase meaning “remember that you must die.” It’s an important philosophy because it encourages us to remember that life is finite, rather than taking time, relationships and experiences for granted.

It has roots in ancient Roman and Greek thought and became particularly prominent in Stoicism and the medieval period, appearing in art, architecture, literature and everyday objects.

The idea isn’t necessarily meant to be depressing. Instead, it can be a reminder to:

* Value the present because you don’t have unlimited time.
* Prioritise what matters rather than getting consumed by trivial worries.
* Accept mortality as a natural part of being human.
* Make meaningful choices rather than continually putting life off.
* Stay humble, because wealth, status and beauty are temporary.
* Appreciate other people while you still have them.

There is also a useful paradox at its heart: remembering death can make you more conscious of life.

That’s why memento mori has remained relevant for thousands of years. It isn’t simply “you are going to die”, but more importantly, “because your time is limited, what are you going to do with it?” by @a.curious.way