Saturday, February 11, 2012

Market Day At BIRKA

The weekend of January 28th, our new roommate, Alexandra, invited us to go with her to a Renaissance Market at a hotel in New Hampshire. She is a wonderful seamstress and dressed us all in acceptable period garb that she hand sewed her self!!


There were some sparring going on- it got crazy at points...


Kenzie got some awesome footage from some of the skirmishes!


That man with the trumpet? He actually does the trumpet thing.

 See? Totes cool.

The armor was pretty legit. It had to be certified and double checked before they could fight.


 The fights were held in the armory, and an armory it was, as you can see....


Kenzie and Jami liked the mannequin...


But, the merchandise was splendid! All very impressive.





This guy's horsehair crest was AMAZING! He was a winner for most of the time! But as soon as I decided that he was my favorite fighter, he lost...I guess that says something about me... :(



Also, this guy... LOOK AT THOSE DREADS!!


Kenzie thought this man especially fierce!


I guess this hotel was dog friendly, because there were wolf-hounds, Chihuahuas, and delightful Poodle in attendance.


The fencing was also fascinating, and the very different styles in technique, garb and ferocity was very impressive. Take this guy- did he have good taste in shields or what?


This lady had a face put on her mask wich seemed a good tactic- always well composed.


These spars were my favorite.






For both combat and fencing matches, if you lost your leg and won, it would carry on to your next match. It was quite humorous.


...as seen here...


We had a roast pig for lunch...but I myself had a sandwich. I can eat anything that will stare at me while I consume it.


Besides the fights, there was an amazing market, with all sorts of amazing wares for sale.


I loved this armor, except it probably weighed as much as I do, and besides, where on Earth would I wear it? But it was SO COOL!



This charming and outgoing young man had quite an impressive outfit.


Kenzie got into the awesome leather maks they had for sale.



There was a fashion show after the fights were over, and this lovely Russian lady won first place! (Admittedly, there were like, 4 first place winners, but her costume was the most impressive.)


I didn't get a picture of her, but there was a young lady in attendance who was dressed like this...


Which was against the rules...fantasy/cosplay wasn't allowed, but there she was! It was a very impressive and true to form costume, though.

I did like this girl's costume, but she was very, very shy I think.


Jami was a little tired on the way home...


(The embarrassing photos are payback for the cemetery post ladies! Take that!)

We had so much fun that day! It was really a wonderful new experience!