a little snow

Last week the winds shifted, bringing in colder air for a day, and we actually had some snow to speak of—a fluffy inch despite it melting as it fell. It was just so damned determined, falling so fast it couldn't help but to accumulate. I was really surprised anything happened at all. Without the media hubbub and promise of a white death, it's much harder to know if anything is actually going to accumulate. It was very pretty and was all gone by the next morning as temperatures warmed again.

Maybe there is hope for snow here after all!

our first visitors in York

As you know, our friends Greg & Stephanie flew to London on Christmas Day and then all four of us headed back to York. While they were here, we braved the English winter to see as much as we could. By English winter, I mean rain. And floods.

Since nothing is open on Boxing Day, we spent it walking around York—seeing the streets, the decorations, walking through the Shambles, exploring the walls, visiting the abbey, etc. Stephanie took a morning run along the river. The next day we went to Helmsley castle, which is in ruins, and drove through Rievaulx. (click on the link for the archived blog) The wind was blowing and then the rain started.

Later on, we had a nice dinner and went to the King's Arms Pub along the River Ouse, a very authentic old pub complete with small fireplace. We had a nice seat facing the river and saw the flood marker they had on the wall inside the pub noting every year the pub has been flooded and how high the water got. Interestingly, floods seem more common in the last two decades or so.

The next day, it got windier and rained some more. So instead of heading out into the countryside, we went back to York to see things open. Stephanie and Greg also toured Clifford's Tower and the Minster.

Again, more rain, but we were able to go to Skipton castle, one of the first places Pat visited. (click on the link for the archived blog) It's a more finished, complete castle which was started by the Normans. I think it was one of Stephanie and Greg's favorite places... maybe because it was dry :) I really enjoyed it as well since I hadn't seen it myself.




After a very pretty drive through the Moors and countryside, we attempted a brewery tour, but ended up having a nice drink and talking to a friendly older Welsh couple who were giving us advice on places to visit. They can remember when Wales was heavily mining coal and the rivers ran black. News is that, not only are the rivers clear now, but a fish has been sited. That's a big deal since everything in those rivers has been dead a really long time.

I think it was that night we ate by the River Ouse in York and noticed that it had flooded very quickly. Out of curiosity, we went back to the King's Arms Pub (or as close to it as we could). It was flooded. It's a good thing Stephanie got her run in when she did since the riverside trail was covered too.

(Flooded. Note the blockade at the door in the upper left and the rope tying the picnic tables down—they've been through this before!)


(Post flood. About one week later and open for business. The river's still higher than usual.)

And, for the grand finale, we went to the coast, saving it for the day promising the best weather. We lucked out—no rain, low wind, and even a peak of sun that made everything magical. When you don't see it very often, it's really special :) It was another pretty drive through the Moors with some crazy, steep, curving driveways masquerading as two-lane roads. And, of course, sheep everywhere. We visited Robin Hood's Bay again. (click on the link for the archived blog) Still beautiful, even in winter.






From there we went to Whitby. This time we took the 199 step stair master down to the city. We got to see a lot more of Whitby than when we were there in the summer—the piers, the beach, and the cliffs. Then another 199 stairs back up the hill and a drive home.








The last night we stopped at the Hole in the Wall Pub which was another cozy place with a small fireplace.


Then we woke up in the wee hours of the morning on New Year's Eve to take Stephanie and Greg to the train station. They made the plane ok despite some engineering works hiccups along the way. They know more about the London tube system than we do now :) Somehow they managed to stay conscious enough to celebrate the holiday at home.


While they were here, we saw a lot of interesting stuff. Yorkshire hunting parties with men and women in flat caps, rifles slung over their shoulders and birds dangling from their belts, dogs in tow. A temporary roadside gypsy encampment with caravans, caged chickens, scraggly tethered horses, and a menagerie of junk. And, of course, donkey rides on the beach—even in winter.

It was great seeing Stephanie and Greg. It just reminds us how much we're looking forward to being home and seeing all of our friends again.

London & our first visitors

I'm a little behind on my blog entries since we were so busy around the holidays. We'll have to back up to December 22nd for this one. That was the day we drove to London.

It was a foggy morning here in York and was foggy for most of the drive, but fairly warm. Pat's parents and sister, Kathy, flew into London from the states that morning and met us at the hotel we were staying. By the time we got there and everyone was settled, we headed out for a late lunch at the very authentic "Tudor Rose" pub and set off to Harrod's to see some Christmas shopping craziness in full swing.


For those of you that haven't been, Harrod's is a huge, high-end department store complete with a gigantic food hall. It looks as though a Vegas casino got a hold of it and themed everything, but in a more tasteful way. There's a central Egyptian escalator hall and every section of the store is decorated with sculptures and reliefs from ceiling to floor. It was pretty impressive.

Now, before we really get into London, you have to understand a few things. We had a very unique experience since 1) it was the holidays and everyone abandoned London like rats abandoning ship 2) winter + holidays = more things closed and/or closing earlier than usual and 3) there was extreme fog.

Although the fog had cleared out by the time we got to London, it blanketed the city the next day and made it feel very cold. In fact, when we joined our "Hop-on, Hop-off" bus tour of the city with live guides, one said this was "the worst fog I've seen in London for 15 years." Another guide put a positive spin on it by saying it was "historically accurate fog" and allowed you to get a glimpse of what London would have been like on a more regular basis before the Clean Air Act when there were open fires, etc. That being said, it was a bummer for sightseeing, but put a beautiful, eerie twist on the city that made it more like what I would have expected from old movies.


(that's the only sun we saw that day and there's suppose to be a river beyond those trees)

Our big stop on the tour was the Tower of London on the bank of the river Thames. Not knowing much about London, I expected one tower, but it's really a complex of 19 towers, two concentric defensive walls and a moat. It's been around since the 1080s and currently houses the crown jewels, a military museum, a royal regiment museum, and the Yeoman Warders aka "beefeaters" and their families (they take care of the place and give tours).

(view of the Tower complex and super-modern buildings as seen on a clear day :)


(the central White Tower)



I don't pretend to know the extensive history of the place, but here's a few snippets:

• The Tower has been a prison, the Royal Armory, a treasury, the Royal Mint, a zoo, a public records office, and an observatory.

• According to Wikipedia, "The [zoo's] menagerie was open to the public by the 18th century; admission was a sum of three half-pence or the supply of a cat or dog for feeding to the lions."

• Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's unfortunate wives, was beheaded inside the Tower. Private beheadings like that were rare and reserved for people of formerly high status. Henry even shipped in the French executioner Anne had requested—what a sweetie. She's buried in a church on site. She reportedly haunts the Tower and has been seen walking around with her head under her arm.

• Speaking of ghosts, the Tower is suppose to be the most haunted building in England.

• Our friend, Guy Fawkes, was imprisoned here after being caught red-handed trying to blow up Parliament. He was tortured and eventually hung, drawn, and quartered. (Word is he might have just jumped off the gallows to break his neck so he didn't get to the drawn and quartered part) According to the Tower website, "Even today, before the State Opening of Parliament, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster – where Fawkes was discovered and arrested – to ensure that there is no repeat of the Gunpowder Conspiracy."

• They have royal armor on display, including miniature versions made for princes and Henry VIII's armor with its ridiculously large armored "codpiece"—think male ballet dancer times five. (We already knew he thought a lot of himself) The museum also has some interesting interactive exhibits including one where you can try a bow to see the amount of strength needed and another where you could put your face inside a knight's helmet with the slits to see how incredibly little they could see out of it.

• And for those fellow feminists, in 2007 Moira Cameron became the first female Beefeater in history to go on duty at the Tower of London. Impressive since there are rigorous military requirements that rule out most women.

Okay, so once we left the Tower, there was still a lot to see. Unfortunately, it was covered by fog which had actually thickened during the day. You couldn't see Big Ben, you couldn't even really see the second floor of Parliament. The river was non-existent even though we knew we kept crossing it. Unfortunately that was the only day Pat's family was in town. They left on Christmas Eve for Munich and then Dublin. It was a short visit, but it was nice to see family on the holidays and brush up on Bridge :)

Our Christmas Eve was somewhat of a repeat of the day before minus the fog. We were able to take the tour again (luckily it was a 48hr. ticket) and the weather was much warmer. Only a small peak of sun, but no complaints. Here's a drive-by of what we saw...

Dramatic Christmas Decorations in Soho


Trafalger Square


Tower Bridge (not London Bridge as I thought)


Shakespeare's Globe Theater (reconstructed with a thatched roof like the original)


Big Ben & Parliament


Westminster Abbey


Buckingham Palace


Some miscellaneous things we learned about London:
• The phrase "it's raining cats and dogs" originated here. Apparently the animals were running around stray and storm sewers were non-existent or not functional. When it rained really hard, animals would drown in streets and alleys and their corpses would float around, hence the saying.

• 1/3 of the city was bombed out in WWII (you can still see pock marks on buildings)

• The Great Fire of 1666 started in a bakery on Pudding Lane (it sounds so innocent)

• More than 50,000 people were executed at Tyburn Tree near Marble Arch.

• Of all the embassies we saw, the US has the biggest, ugliest concrete monstrosity.

I have to say I had no expectations of London so I was pleasantly surprised. It's a very formal, refined city and is very majestic in that sense. It was nice that we were visiting it during the quietest time of year. I'm sure the hustle and bustle of a normal day would be much different.

Happy New Year!

Bring on 2008!! As Pat says, "the year we come home."

Our celebration this year was pretty low-key. I was in my PJs well before midnight and we watched fireworks from our window. Fireworks seem to be a good way to celebrate occasions around here and since there aren't any laws against shooting the big ones off in crowded residential areas, we got a pretty good show from some of our pyro neighbors.

We hope you're all having a fun and safe New Year's Eve/New Year's!

Happy Boxing Day!

I'm not sure if that's really what you say, but it sounds better than Merry Boxing Day!

Before we came to England, we had no idea what Boxing Day really was or where the name came from. For all we knew, it could have been...
a. The day you step into the boxing ring with your "favorite" relatives after too much family togetherness.
b. The day to duke it out with fellow shoppers in an attempt to box up those after-Christmas sales.
c. The day you box up Christmas dinner leftovers to take to the elderly or poor.

While they might all be legitimate answers, we found out that the answer is suppose to be C. In reality, I think it's a combination of B and C :)

For us, it was none of the above. We're selfish with our leftovers and wouldn't know who to give them to even if we wanted to. We went into York expecting some better-than-usual prices in the stores and found that almost all of them were still closed from Christmas—we were lucky to find a place open for lunch. The place was virtually deserted. Apparently the really big shopping day is tomorrow. Maybe Boxing Day is just a good time to beat your pillow into shape for a good, long post-Christmas nap :)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all from London, York, and everything in between!

Today we picked up Stephanie and Greg from the airport in London and welcomed them to England with a rainy 4 hour drive up to York and day-old, pre-packaged sandwiches in a rest stop parking lot.



It's not because we're unusually cruel, but because EVERYTHING is closed on Christmas day—all public transport, almost all restaurants. We saw some random coffee shops that were open and were happy to find the rest stop bathrooms open.

We had a nice Christmas dinner with traditional British "crackers." They look like a toilet paper tube wrapped like a big piece of candy. You pull on both ends and they pop open, making a loud noise and releasing a paper crown you wear during dinner, a piece of paper with a joke, and a random gift (small plastic picture frame, bottle opener, key chain, small tool set).

Here's a great post-dinner photo of us in our crowns in front of our fake tree. Yes, we broke down and bought a cheap fake tree. We're not giving up on the real thing, but we are going to use this one every other year when we travel for Christmas so we don't leave a big stick of kindling in our house. We didn't really plan for it and didn't bring enough ornaments so we made origami stars and cranes.



Later we broke the law by eating mince pies for desert (click on this link for the archived post of ridiculous English laws). We hope you're all having a festive day!

Merry Christmas Eve!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas Eve from London!



We came down to London Saturday to visit briefly with Pat's parents and sister as they passed through on their way to Germany. Tomorrow we pick up Greg and Stephanie from Gatwick airport to take them back to York with us. So today we were on our own, being complete tourists in England's capital. We took a hop-on, hop-off bus tour around town to see all the big sites (more to come on all of that later).

We hope that all of you are enjoying your family gatherings on this festive day. We miss you all.