Sssh….I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  I really think I was meant to be British.  My family tells me this all the time.  I love tea.  I love a dry sense of humor.  I  swoon when I hear the accents (my New Yorkese is just not pleasing to the ear).  Burberry- oh don’t get me started on the plaid.  I would kill for sticky toffee pudding.  I truly believe I was born in the wrong place.

Looks wise, when you mix my Mediterranean Mother with my Slavic Father, you end up with a fair skinned. greenish hazel eyed, brunette.  People have never thought I was Polish or Italian, the dominant genetic groups- they’ve always thought I was English or Irish.  There was a point when I only dated blue eyed, blonde guys with Irish ancestry.  You could say that’s my type (my daughters history teacher fits this description- even though he’s about 12, I still felt the need to check my appearance before I walked into parent teacher conferences)

But my intense love of all things British sort of manifests itself in my love of three things:  Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice and Agatha Christie.  There is nothing I like more than absorbing myself in these two works.  So this month has been wonderful.

Why?  Because a few weeks ago, a Downton Abbey exhibit opened in NYC.  I was treated to seeing the actual kitchen, servants dining hall, Mr.  Carsons office, the Dowagers desk, the main dining table and Lady Mary’s bedroom.  As I told my friends, I could have moved into that room.  And the costumes!!!  Oh, those dresses!

For an Anglophile, a drawing room drama is perfection.  Back stabbing, wheeling and dealing and intrigue are so much better when done with an accent and a country estate.  There is a sense of class and elegance to the shows aired on PBS that just draws me in. (OK- I know- they’re PBS- they’re supposed to be like that) I don’t necessarily want to be part of that world (well- I have had a few dreams where I am Lady Mary), but it sure is a fun ride.  No American drama has captivated me as Downton did.  The dialogue was just line after line of clever and concise writing.  The actors- really- do I need to explain how good each and every cast member was?  I still haven’t gotten over Matthew and Cybil…..the attention to detail- there was not a thing on the set that wasn’t perfect and accurate to the time.

But my love of all things Brit also extends to literature.  Pride and Prejudice.  Seriously- could there be a better book?  Jane Austen had the ability to describe the universal nature of people is such an insightful and timeless way.  And tonight, I get to see an off Broadway production of that amazing book!  I get to live in a world of Elizabeth Bennett for just a few hours tonight!  To see such a strong female character, and to know how long ago the book was written….to know that Austen had the courage to write about it!

Of course, “Murder on the Orient Express” also came out this month.  Agatha Christie- the queen of the detective story.  Adapted by Kenneth Branagh.  Come on…..  Clever, timeless, witty, erudite…..the whole thing is perfect.  (ok- the movie is not perfect- but still- a murder on a train….Hercule…..it still works)

So here is my nod to all things British.  Here is to my wishing I was British.  I’m going to finish my tea, take the lift down and exit my flat to walk my Yorkshire terrier……perhaps I’ll even wear my trench…..

 

93 thoughts on “My Secret…..”

  3. LOL! When my sisters and I were kids we all LOVED watching British sitcoms and comedy, my mother would shake her head as she walked by us as we all laughed so hard as she had no idea what we saw in the BBC programing. One of these days I would like to take an extended trip to England, for me I want to visit the walking paths, and see where so many of the authors I adore so much originated. That’s very neat you were able to see the exhibit at the museum, super cool!

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  6. Jolly good! Keep that attitude and a stiff upper lip! Maybe you were British in a previous life. I have a thing about men in kilts, Irish music, red hair, rolling Green hills with sheep on it, and oh my! an Irish or Scottish brogue. I do have half of my genetic heritage is Irish and Scottish-Irish. I know how you feel!.

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  7. This is a great post and I feel like I could have written it myself! I can’t watch a show containing English actors without spending the next 7 day’s talking with a British accent. I’m in a complete swoon about Prince Harry’s upcoming wedding. I am addicted to British crime shows like Broadchurch and Wallander. And scones are my favorite dessert.
    And the 12 year old teacher…hysterical!! I completely understand your need to fluff your hair before seeing him!

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  10. Great post, I can relate to a few points; I saw Murder on the Orient Express and it was ok, mostly for the scenery, I grew up watching Monty Python and I like tea but honestly prefer coffee so, I guess I would ever make a proper Brit.

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  11. I fell in love with London when we went there 20 years ago. We are finally going back in June. I don’t think it’s a British thing with me though. I feel the same about NYC. I think I’m a city guy who was unfortunately born in rural small town and now stuck in the burbs

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  12. I, too, am a hopeless Anglophile! I love just about everything to do with the British Isles. 🙂 Let us know how the play is! I’m jealous that you get to see it

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  15. ooo wee, let’s put the kettle on and curtsy to all that’s uppercrust while we simultaneously bow to Austen who, by the by, played those lords and ladies of the manor like the paupers of noblesse oblige, they, for the most part, turned out to be.

    “Take the scene in “Pride and Prejudice” where Lady Catherine de Bourgh demands that Elizabeth Bennet promise not to marry Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth refuses to promise, and Lady Catherine repeats this to Mr. Darcy as an example of her insolence — not realizing that she is helping Elizabeth indirectly signal to Mr. Darcy that she is still interested.”

    “It’s a classic case of cluelessness, which is distinct from garden-variety stupidity, Mr. Chwe argues. “Lady Catherine doesn’t even think that Elizabeth” — her social inferior — “could be manipulating her,” he said. (Ditto for Mr. Darcy: gender differences can also “cause cluelessness,” he noted, though Austen was generally more tolerant of the male variety.)”

    Quote from Jane Austen: Game Theorist

    As to Burberry, I’m in total agreement…wouldn’t have been caught dead in that imperium driven WWI without wearing one in the trenches.

    nice post.

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      1. I’ll go see it if they resurrect Matthew. I still feel robbed on that one. (…but I’d see the movie either way. Whether still dead…or 🤞 “undead”)

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      3. We kind of had ourselves convinced it was a Butch and Sundance situation….like…you don’t *reaaally* know that they died? They may have actually lived *through* the shootout? ‘Ipso fatso’ ➡️ Matthew. Still alive.

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  18. During my early 20s I was a flight attendant and we spent much of our summer in Brighton, England. This is where I discovered British things, and I yearn to go back there sometimes… 🙂
    Agatha Christie and particularly the Orient Express… LOVE.

    And speaking of tea…I think I’m gonna have some now.

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  19. I want to be a Parisian living in a loft in some artsy-fartsy part of Paris, dressing very boho and having very eccentric friends (kinda like Auntie Mame) OR be southern with a great twangy drawl living in a small community and doing stand up comedy and killing it!
    I just watched “Enchanted April” last night and how fun would it be to take a “holiday” for a month at an old villa in Italy….but I would want just a few select women around me. Leave the damn men at home! I want someone to wait on me and clean up after me so all I have to do is enjoy myself for one whole month!!!

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  20. Haha this made me laugh so much! Every American I know is a total Anglophile except the one who has lived here and they hate the country now! 😂 We do not live up to expectations! I actually grew up wishing I was American, my Husband says he always wished he was Australian. I think we have an inherent need in us to want something different!

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  23. you know, you have to earn quite a lot of money to pull off burberry. It’s got certain associations in the uk. (or it did have a few years back)

    tea is THE BEST DRINK EVER. and with a chocolate hobnob or 5… well, heaven.

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  28. OMG… I thought I was reading my own bio!! We love so many of the same things. I’m an Anglophile too. I guess that’s why I follow your blog. Many things in common. I’m jealous you got to see the Downton Abbey exhibit. I sure hope it comes to my neck of the woods.

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  30. Secretly, I have always wished I were British too! Everything they say just sounds so much better, and their literature is incredible. Although I must admit I love Italian food the most, and their accent is also pretty darned wonderful. Maybe I should have been born half British/half Italian? One can only dream…..

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