Christmas with the Pooleys

Ah, the long awaited English Christmas post; I have been inundated with requests to share and so, after arriving home from my Christmas holiday, here it is.

On December 22 I took the train from Egham to Dartford which is a fairly good sized town in Kent and is located on the fringe of London. I was invited down by Rachel and her family to spend the 22-27th with them and was ecstatic when the day finally came to visit. After being greeted with a giant bear hug by Rachel (whom I hadn't seen for two weeks, which honestly felt like an eternity) at the station I was driven home by her mom, Liz to her house. Once there I met the rest of the Pooley family, her dad Simon, brother Jim, and sister Helen, all of which were instantly welcoming and hilarious to be around. Her family is a tight knit one but they easily welcomed me in as if I had known them for years. The first night consisted of a visit to Rochester cathedral for an evening church and carol service in the beautiful nearly 1,000 year old building. The carols that were sung were not completely recognizable to me and others like Oh Little Town of Bethlehem had completely different tunes and thus confused me a bit.

The 23rd was Rachel's 20th birthday and we spent it roaming around SoHo in London with Helen and Simon, complete with birthday lunch at a 1950's style American diner and later a big dinner and presents. The 24th consisted of spending the day at the nearby shopping centre, Bluewater, as Christmas Eve is not really celebrated as Christmas in England.

Christmas in Covent Garden, London

Rachel and Helen

Rachel with her dog Meg

It's a hard life for a dog

Now to the good stuff: Christmas day. I keep getting asked "what do they eat in England for Christmas?" and surprisingly (or not) the meal is not that different from what Americans eat as well. The staples of turkey, ham, potatoes, brussel sprouts, assorted veggies, cranberry sauce, sausages, and stuffing are all there. What is different is the way in which some of the dishes are prepared. Stuffing for example is usually pork based and not bread based, so you make it with minced pork rather than bread. It  creates a much thicker stuffing that is not crumbly. The puddings (desserts) were the biggest difference that I noticed on the dinner table. Christmas pudding is the main dessert at Christmas and it is unlike anything that I have ever tasted. It is made with suet, dried fruit, flour, assorted Christmasy spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, or ginger, apples, oranges, and the loads of brandy, rum, or stout (whichever you prefer). The pudding is soaked in the alcohol and then steamed in a pudding tin to form a sort of gummy mass that is eaten with brandy flavored cream. The best part of the Christmas pudding (because, to be honest, I hated the taste and consistency of it and had chocolate mousse instead) was that it is lit on fire by first lighting brandy in a spoon on fire and then dropping it onto the pudding; it was really cool to say the least. 

    The video above is the lighting of the Christmas pudding, don't forget to watch it! The rest of the evening consisted of lounging on the sofas in the living room and watching the traditional Christmas tv specials that are so near and dear to Britons. Most major television programs air a special Christmas show on the 25th and this year the blockbusters included Eastenders, Strictly Come Dancing, Doctor Who, and my personal favorite Downton Abbey. Remakes of Charles Dickens classics dot the holiday season as well to mark the upcoming 200th anniversary of his birth in 2012.  We opened gifts and there were even a few under the tree for me including the new Claire Tomalin biography of Dickens which I had nearly bought a few days before. It warmed my heart more than I can say to have been including in the gift giving because I honestly had not expected to be at all. I had already been invited into their home for the holidays and considered that present enough and was overwhelmed by their continuing generosity towards a person that they barely even knew. 

The Pooleys (minus Liz) and I having the big dinner

lounging after presents

Rachel's favorite present, a crocodile hand puppet :)

The 26th of December is a bank holiday in Britain and is labelled Boxing Day. We took the traditional Boxing day walk in a beautifully quaint Kentish village called Shoreham a few miles away from Dartford. The countryside was green and lush and the air was filled with mist and fog. It was in the 50s on Boxing day and for the first time in my entire life I was able to go for a long country walk in late December without a jacket on and was still warm. I was in heaven. Boxing day called for round two of the heavy eating and I once again packed my stomach full of turkey, stuffing, etc. Every meal finished with dessert and Simon remarked that I wasn't allowed to leave without putting on two stone  (which is about 28 pounds); I don't think I quite managed that but I know that I left with at least a few extra pounds gained. Boxing day was another rather lazy day spent playing games, resting, and watching Christmas tv. I left the morning of the 27th with a bag full of Liz's homemade raspberry jam and a tin of mince pies (another holiday tradition, they are mini pies filled with dried fruit and a sort of mulled wine flavored orange and cranberry sauce) and thoroughly disheartened at having to leave so soon. They days flew by but it was time to go back home and prepare for the impending arrival of Rachel McLean from America. I won't see Rachel Pooley again until January 8th and I am already sad at having to be without her for so long. She and Nikki keep my days interesting and vibrant and life is never quite as good when they are not around. 

My first English Christmas was a gift in and of itself; I've been waiting to have one for many years and I was not disappointed. If anything my time in Dartford strengthened my already overflowing love for Great Britain and her culture and I find that I love living here even more than I could have before. It is such a pleasure to be invited to learn about a culture through the eyes of its people and I love to learn about anything and everything to do with Britain. I hope that through this post I have given at least a slight taste of what Christmas is like here in England; it is a magical time and all I can say is that the British know how to celebrate the holidays! I thought Americans knew how to gorge over the holidays but we can't hold a candle to the Brits! They know how to do holidays properly.

                      

Walking the Streets of Old Paris

Well, my first term as a master's student has officially come to a close; with my essays turned in and classes ending on December 9th, I am now a free woman ready to enjoy the Christmas season. Nearly two weeks ago now Nikki, Rachel, and I spent three days in Paris to celebrate term's end. We took the best path of transit to Paris, the Eurostar, from London's St. Pancras station and two and a half hours later we stepped off the train into the heart of the most beautiful city in Europe.

Because it is winter and it gets dark so early, we had very little daylight and so ended up roaming Paris mostly in the dark. If I had to be in any city in the dark though, I would pick Paris every time. I can never decide whether I enjoy Paris more when it is day or night as each is so uniquely beautiful in its own ways. 

Most of these pictures are courtesy of Rachel- she is a great photographer!

We spent our three days walking; we didn't end up going into any sites except for the Notre Dame but instead just enjoyed seeing  Paris from the outside. We ended up on some pretty long death marches though and by Tuesday were thoroughly worn out, but loved every second of it. It is one of those places that no matter how many times I go, I pinch myself each time to make sure what I'm seeing is real; the city is simply that enchanting. Now, it wouldn't be a trip to Paris without some hassling from gypsies or being hit on by a rather forward French guy on the metro, and those occurred in bounty on this trip (and made for some funny jokes later). The last morning that we were in Paris it was pouring rain and we spent an hour in a cafe near our hotel. The waiter asked as soon as we came in where we were from and the second that he heard I was American (never mind those English girls) he launched in with "American? Oh.. so beautiful!" and did not give up with his special attentions until we left. Men, all I can say is how envious I am of you when I am in countries like France, Spain, or Italy; you have no idea how much attention foreign women draw in those countries.

The Christmas lights were everywhere throughout the city and it added to the magical effect of the coming season. One thing that we did that was new for me was that we visited Pere Lachaise cemetery in Eastern Paris. It is a beautiful, gothic cemetery home to 800,000 graves. We spent two hours there and barely saw it all. It reminded me of many Charles Dickens novels that have memorable scenes in graveyards such as Great Expectations, Bleak House, or Oliver Twist. It is a proper cemetery and the three of us agreed that we would give our left leg to be buried there one day. 

Our trip to Paris was short, but incredibly sweet; I had such a great time seeing the city through Nikki and Rachel's eyes. Paris is beginning to feel familiar to me and, after London, it is the city outside of America that I know best. I will be returning to Paris on January 2 for four days with Rachel McLean and am looking forward to sinking my teeth into the city once again. It is a strolling city and life is not as fast paced there as it is in London; I can relax a bit more and just absorb some of that Parisian "je ne sais quoi" that I love. 

our faces all the time :) so excited to be in Paris

Nikki and Rachel, my adorable travel companions

I love this one

This will be my last post before I am off to Dartford to spend Christmas with Rachel's family and I am winding down this past whirlwind of a year, I can't help but to smile at how much my life has changed. In 2011 I took a life altering class about the Holocaust, graduated from college, moved home, had a topsy turvey summer, and then moved to a foreign country where I knew no one and started over from scratch. I'm quite proud of the strides I have made and, looking back, can't imagine my life as it used to be. As they say, the only thing in life that is certain is change, and I learned long ago to embrace rather than to fight it. England and Egham grows more like home to me everyday and I am more excited than I can say to celebrate my very first proper English Christmas with the Pooleys. With that being said, I want to wish each and every one of you who are kind enough to read this blog a very happy Christmas and cheers to a beautiful New Year, wherever you may be. 

A Trip to Roman and 18th Century England

For months now I have tried in vain to visit the city of Bath in Somerset, which is in the Western part of England. Finally on Saturday, December 3rd, my friend Emily and I took a day trip to Bath. Bath is the second most touristed city in England (after London) and it is famous for hosting the site of the Roman bath and spas from the first century AD. The city is also famous for its 18th century architecture and for being featured in multiple Jane Austen novels such as Persuasion and Northanger Abbey (both of which I highly recommend reading).

Pulteney Bridge, Bath

Bath Abbey

The Pump Room

The Spa Water 

On first arriving in the city, Emily and I immediately realized that we were by no means alone in our idea of visiting Bath; the city was jam-packed and literally we inched along the narrow and windy pre-industrial era streets. We wandered past Bath Abbey, which is a magnificent Gothic church and made our way through the Christmas market (though we couldn't actually stop and look at the stalls, that would have impeded moving traffic). We walked through the Pump Room, known for pumping water from the spa up to the surface for people to drink (it was thought to improve health). We did not try it though; Charles Dickens famously described it as "warm, flat, iron-water" so we thought our health would probably be more hurt than helped and avoided it. Now the Pump Room functions mainly as a rather posh restaurant serving afternoon tea (which is very popular in Bath).

Christmas Market

Inside Bath Abbey

This Video shows Carol Singers Outside the Abbey

After having lunch we went to the Roman Baths museum and toured through the property. Included in the tour was an excellent, and comical, free audioguide and in parts of the tour Bill Bryson's audio comments were featured which was thoroughly enjoyable. The guide was a bit comical as it featured a "Celtic Briton" living in Bath during Roman times as well as a highly excitable Englishman, both giving over the top accounts of life in Roman Bath. I couldn't help but turn to Emily after having a listen and reenacting some funny line I had just heard in a thick Scottish accent. The museum featured Roman artifacts from the area and pieces of the exterior temple walls, which were dedicated to Minerva. We were then brought to the Roman Baths themselves. The thing that I found so wonderful about the museum was that we were allowed to get as close as we wished to the baths without going into them. Thus, I was able to reach in and feel the warmth of the hot springs and sit right next to it on the old Roman 1st Century ruins and imagine what it would have been like then. People just sort of lingered, taking photos, resting, and enjoying the beautiful English sunshine. It was one of the most beautiful and tranquil spots that I have ever been to. 

Roman Baths Museum

Gorgeous beyond words

Emily touching the water

So close I could be in it!

 After the museum we headed for one other museum that I had been dying to see: the fashion museum! The museum is known as one of the best of its kind in Europe and it features clothing from the 18th century onwards, focusing mostly on the 19th and 20th centuries, which I was thrilled with. 

Dresses from the 1820s and 30s

From the 1840s

Bowler and Top Hats

As the day winded down and we grew weary, we refreshed ourselves with a cup of tea and headed off for our 2.5 hour train ride home. The sun had set and the Christmas lights adorning the high street were in full form, reminding me that Christmas is just around the corner. If you get the chance to visit England, make Bath a stop on your list (but avoid holidays and Saturdays); You could never be disappointed with this truly beautiful gem of a city. I am so fortunate to only be 2 hours away and I do plan on returning as I only just managed to scratch the surface of Bath and the beautiful county of Somerset.

Rugby Match in Bath

Bath High Street