Christmas in England, a step back in time to old traditions, in a sense. Christmas Day we awoke and exchanged presents between ourselves. Paul, Stephen and I were pleasantly surprised with all of our gifts. We then dressed ourselves and made the trip over to Stephen's mother's house. There we saw his mother Janet, his brothers Craig and Carl, and Carl's girlfriend, Emma. Once again all were pleasantly surprised, and it was wonderful to bask in the company of the family. Soon again, however we were on our way back home as we were getting dressed up to go to Stephen's Aunt and Uncle's house just outside of York.
It was here, in their quaint, transformed barn house, that I experienced a traditional Christmas supper. We had turkey, stuffing, parsnips, cranberry sauce, apple sauce, brussel sprouts, stand pie (which is a pork pie), Christmas pudding with brandy sauce (which is lit on fire prior to eating), Christmas cake with cheese and roast potatoes. It was a magnificent and well-prepared feast by Stephen's Aunt Margaret and his cousin Olivia. For the remainder of the afternoon and the evening was spent having discussions and playing various games, it was quite the experience.
Finally, my final Christmas of the day I had the experience of getting to Skype with my parents and for a few minutes, my brother. It was my first Christmas away from my family, and it was a very strange feeling for me, but Christmas isn't really anything to do with the day itself, it's who is there with you and how you all feel about each other. I know that my Christmas will come the day I get home for my family and I.
But now it is on to New Year's Eve. I combined the two posts because they are both fairly short. New Year's Eve was spend at our house with our friends Ash, Nichola and Tom. We played Monopoly (a game I absolutely detest) until just before midnight, and then sat around and talked for the remainder of the time they spent with us. Our friends left at about 2am, and it was wonderful being able to spend time with them.
Well, this wasn't the liveliest of posts, but it has been reported on thoroughly, and it does of course relate to my travels.
Tomorrow I will be leaving England, well, at least for now. I know that I will be coming back because I have made so many friends here, and I have so many places that I now want to explore in Europe. So while it is a terribly sad farewell, it is not my finale farewell to Europe, not even close. It is more like a "see you soon."
All the best to you in the New Year, I hope you are happy, healthy and wanting of nothing in 2013.
All my love,
Janean X
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Hallo, Deutschland!
Germany itself is a fairly small post, simply because we repeated a lot of things while there. The reason for the repetition is because it was great, so I apologize if this post seems short.
Monday morning saw us flying out of Leeds-Bradford airport to Dusseldorf-Weeze. We took a bus from the airport to the train station, and then a train from Kevelaer to Dortmund where we would meet our good friend Kerstin. After wandering around trying to find wi-fi to contact her, we ended up calling her and finding her quite near to where we were, fortunately. We took the train to her house and in the afternoon got acquainted with the lay of Dortmund.
We went to the art museum called The "U" and from there saw the biggest Christmas tree in any Christmas market in Europe! Stephen and I immediately fell in love with the Christmas market. Kerstin had us tour around a few building, and we saw Dortmund from the top of a church and got an art/history lesson while in the same church. We ate curryworst, and potato cakes and went home pleasantly stuffed, albeit a little wet as it started to rain. We picked up a few groceries on the way home to bake cookies to take to our friend Chrisi and her family that would host us Wednesday night in Nuremberg.
Kerstin had class the next day, so we treated ourselves to a sleep-in session, and then walked down to the football stadium in Dortmund and back, to just meet her coming home from class. We had a nap, and then Stephen and I sneaked off to the Christmas market to buy Kerstin a thank-you gift, flowers, and groceries. It was to bed early that night because we had to get up at about 5 the next morning so we could get to Nuremberg.
So 5 we rise, and we were packed and ready to go to catch the train for 6:30. We slept as much as we could on the train, and were met by Chrisi at the Nuremberg train station. We spent the day touring the old town of Nuremberg, the Christmas market, and the Kaiserburg Castle. It was really a great day, and I tasted my first chestnut. It was nice to taste, but had a bit of a strange texture. We learned so much, but as night began to fall, we found that it was time to head back to Chrisi's house.
Once there we played a few card games, and then I had a nap, as it turned out I was catching a bit of a cold. When I woke up it was time to feast. We had a marvelous supper of what I can only describe as pancake-like fajitas. It was AMAZING. You put meat and vegetables and cheese in the "wraps" that were for the main course, and fruit in the ones for dessert. We had great food and great conversation the entire night. Stephen and I were so impressed that Chrisi's parents were both fluent in English, and her grandmother joined us for supper as well, and while she did not remember much of the English she was taught at school, she lit up when she asked "Canada?" I absolutely adored our time spent with the family, it was a lovely atmosphere, and we also were privileged to experience Feuerzangenbowle (sugarhead wine). The Feuerzangenbowle is gluhwein (mulled wine but better, for anyone who knows of that) that has sugar suspended above it, then has rum poured over the sugar and then lighted. It is a dreamy drink, and I am a little sorry that we don't have such an experience in Canada, but it was lovely nonetheless. We finished the night talking and playing cards and then back to bed to be up early once again.
It was up again early the next morning so that we could catch another 6am train. We made it back to Dortmund in time for Kerstin's class, so we went home and slept while she was a diligent student. Kerstin napped when she came back and we freshened ourselves up and packed so that we would be ready to leave the next day. That night we enjoyed a traditional meal of sauerkraut and sausage as prepared by our lovely hostess. We settled in for the night talking and reflecting on shared memories, but then again it was time for sleep as another early morning greeted us the morrow.
Early morning saw us say good bye to Kerstin at the Dortmund train station, to go back from whence we came. It was lovely to meet and make a friend while waiting to board the airplane named David, one year older than Stephen and myself, who played card games with us and taught us a great deal about trains and the systems that run them.
On the whole, Germany was such a lovely trip, and we really got into the Christmas spirit by visiting there. I only wish Canada was temperate enough to host Christmas markets such as we say there, but there is no way it could be done in Saskatchewan, not unless they wanted the markets in August!
It was so lovely to see so much of Germany, and there is no denying that the company was fantastic. I really can't wait to see more of Germany in the future, as Stephen and I have many, MANY friends who live in other parts as well. It is a country that I cannot wait to explore more, and hopefully see the castle that was used in Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang called Neuschwanstein Castle.
Tschüs, Deutschland, danke schön!
Pictures will be soon to follow, but for now, I hope you enjoyed our adventures here... Not as lively for us as some places, no tampons up Stephen's nose like in Sweden, but all the same a perfectly lovely adventure that finally boosted us into the Christmas spirit. On that note, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas yourselves, and that you were surrounded by beloved family members and friends, and stuffed to the brim with good food!
Love,
Janean X
Monday morning saw us flying out of Leeds-Bradford airport to Dusseldorf-Weeze. We took a bus from the airport to the train station, and then a train from Kevelaer to Dortmund where we would meet our good friend Kerstin. After wandering around trying to find wi-fi to contact her, we ended up calling her and finding her quite near to where we were, fortunately. We took the train to her house and in the afternoon got acquainted with the lay of Dortmund.
We went to the art museum called The "U" and from there saw the biggest Christmas tree in any Christmas market in Europe! Stephen and I immediately fell in love with the Christmas market. Kerstin had us tour around a few building, and we saw Dortmund from the top of a church and got an art/history lesson while in the same church. We ate curryworst, and potato cakes and went home pleasantly stuffed, albeit a little wet as it started to rain. We picked up a few groceries on the way home to bake cookies to take to our friend Chrisi and her family that would host us Wednesday night in Nuremberg.
Kerstin had class the next day, so we treated ourselves to a sleep-in session, and then walked down to the football stadium in Dortmund and back, to just meet her coming home from class. We had a nap, and then Stephen and I sneaked off to the Christmas market to buy Kerstin a thank-you gift, flowers, and groceries. It was to bed early that night because we had to get up at about 5 the next morning so we could get to Nuremberg.
So 5 we rise, and we were packed and ready to go to catch the train for 6:30. We slept as much as we could on the train, and were met by Chrisi at the Nuremberg train station. We spent the day touring the old town of Nuremberg, the Christmas market, and the Kaiserburg Castle. It was really a great day, and I tasted my first chestnut. It was nice to taste, but had a bit of a strange texture. We learned so much, but as night began to fall, we found that it was time to head back to Chrisi's house.
Once there we played a few card games, and then I had a nap, as it turned out I was catching a bit of a cold. When I woke up it was time to feast. We had a marvelous supper of what I can only describe as pancake-like fajitas. It was AMAZING. You put meat and vegetables and cheese in the "wraps" that were for the main course, and fruit in the ones for dessert. We had great food and great conversation the entire night. Stephen and I were so impressed that Chrisi's parents were both fluent in English, and her grandmother joined us for supper as well, and while she did not remember much of the English she was taught at school, she lit up when she asked "Canada?" I absolutely adored our time spent with the family, it was a lovely atmosphere, and we also were privileged to experience Feuerzangenbowle (sugarhead wine). The Feuerzangenbowle is gluhwein (mulled wine but better, for anyone who knows of that) that has sugar suspended above it, then has rum poured over the sugar and then lighted. It is a dreamy drink, and I am a little sorry that we don't have such an experience in Canada, but it was lovely nonetheless. We finished the night talking and playing cards and then back to bed to be up early once again.
It was up again early the next morning so that we could catch another 6am train. We made it back to Dortmund in time for Kerstin's class, so we went home and slept while she was a diligent student. Kerstin napped when she came back and we freshened ourselves up and packed so that we would be ready to leave the next day. That night we enjoyed a traditional meal of sauerkraut and sausage as prepared by our lovely hostess. We settled in for the night talking and reflecting on shared memories, but then again it was time for sleep as another early morning greeted us the morrow.
Early morning saw us say good bye to Kerstin at the Dortmund train station, to go back from whence we came. It was lovely to meet and make a friend while waiting to board the airplane named David, one year older than Stephen and myself, who played card games with us and taught us a great deal about trains and the systems that run them.
On the whole, Germany was such a lovely trip, and we really got into the Christmas spirit by visiting there. I only wish Canada was temperate enough to host Christmas markets such as we say there, but there is no way it could be done in Saskatchewan, not unless they wanted the markets in August!
It was so lovely to see so much of Germany, and there is no denying that the company was fantastic. I really can't wait to see more of Germany in the future, as Stephen and I have many, MANY friends who live in other parts as well. It is a country that I cannot wait to explore more, and hopefully see the castle that was used in Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang called Neuschwanstein Castle.
Tschüs, Deutschland, danke schön!
Pictures will be soon to follow, but for now, I hope you enjoyed our adventures here... Not as lively for us as some places, no tampons up Stephen's nose like in Sweden, but all the same a perfectly lovely adventure that finally boosted us into the Christmas spirit. On that note, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas yourselves, and that you were surrounded by beloved family members and friends, and stuffed to the brim with good food!
Love,
Janean X
LONDON
October 19 saw Stephen and I traveling to a place affectionately called "The Smoke," that is to say, London. We boarded the train in Bradford between 9 and 10, and arrived around 2. We sorted our "tube" tickets out for the weekend, familiarized ourselves with a map, and hopped on our first underground train (which would take us a whopping one station to our destination) to our hotel. We arrived about 3, and after checking-in we had a quick recoop (nap). We fought with the wi-fi for two hours, then managed to find ourselves a Wetherspoons, which is a lovely restaurant that we need in Canada, and what stations to use and we were off!
After supper we took the tube to look at Big Ben, the Parliament Buildings, and the London Eye, which was absolutely gorgeous by night. There may have been a slight mist, but the weather was calm and it added to the British experience. We decided we would take our time walking around as the weather was cooperating and there were not too many people about, and who wants to be cooped up in a hotel when you could be exploring anyway?
We started at the London Eye, walked along the Thames to cross over to the Parliament buildings and Big Ben, also known as Queen Elizabeth Tower, renamed this year for the big celebration. We crossed the road behind the Parliament buildings, and by chance happened upon Westminster Abbey (as neither Stephen or I knew it was located there, that's how we "happened by chance"). We made our way down a backstreet and accidentally ran into an informal changing of the guard. I asked him if at the next corner we would turn right to get to Trafalgar Square, and he told me I was correct. On our last full day in London, it would occur to me while on our bus tour that I had talked to one of the guards of number 10 Downing Street!
After we had briefly explored Trafalgar Square, Stephen and I headed down a long, straight tree-lined road (which I have recently come to realize is called the "Mall"). With no rush and good weather, we weren't bothered to be wandering around London in the pitch black. There were many street lights, of course, and a steady flow of traffic, but nowhere in London did we feel unsafe. As I'm sure those of you who are familiar with the "only city in England" layout, at the end of this tree-lined road, we found ourselves at Buckingham Palace.
What we then did was take our time going around the circumference of the palace, taking our time to see the gates for South Africa, Australia, and then of course, Canada. The flag was not flying at the palace, however. It surprised me on the walk back from the palace that we had seen everything I associate with London in the span of two hours, minus St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge and Windsor Castle. This was nice though, because we knew where we would have to go in the daylight without any fuss. We also managed to see Piccadilly Circus as our final sight before we caught the tube back to our hotel.
When morning came we started our journey the same way we did the night before. We had it set in our minds that we would go on the Eye, but that we would rather see the changing of the guard at the palace first. We walked through a park (the gardens in front of the palace) and arrived just in time to watch the guards march down the streets. We did not attempt getting any closer to the Palace than the far side of the Victoria monument, as it was difficult enough to move on the far side of the street.
I was quite annoyed at what happened next, on our way back to the Eye. On our way back from the palace, back down the Mall, some guards were marching out of the Royal Stables. As is to be expected, all of tourists assembled on the sidewalks to take pictures, as that is where the guard responsible for the overseeing of the stables told us to go. Well, all of us except one. One foreign lady (from Eastern Europe) decided to run,yes, RUN, directly at the guards to take a picture. The guard supervising yelled at her threateningly several times before she got off the road. This woman was in her 40's and thought it was absolutely HYSTERICAL that she had done that. I know more issues would have come from this situation had she been struck, but her behaviour undoubtedly called for it. I simply could not believe her (and her friends who joined in laughing) blatant ignorance. It definitely soured the experience, as is want to happen at times - something is just so good, and one person ruins it for the whole group.
After walking (VERY quickly) away from the scene, we ate lunch just down the road from Piccadilly Circus. We then wasted about an hour and a half of our lives in the lines 1) to get tickets for the London Eye and 2) to get on the London Eye.Although it was a long wait and a tad expensive, the experience was certainly worth it. It was absolutely magnificent to see London laid out in front of you, stretching on for miles and miles all around you.
Tower Bridge was our next stop. We thought it might be nice to explore the Tower of London, but the prices were quite extortionate. Had we more money than our meager students' allowances, we would have embarked on the tour, alas, it was not to be on this particular trip. We had a nice surprise on the way to the tube station from the Tower of London - we decided to pass over the bridge, and were stopped because there was a ship going under. It was nice to experience while we were there. We also saw the HMS Belfast and passed the Dungeons of London center also.
That evening (Saturday) was a very special night. As our one year anniversary gift, Stephen bought us tickets to see Wicked at the Apollo Theatre in London's West End. It. Was. Fantastic!! Even Stephen loved it, and was singing the songs for weeks after. This has been a show I've wanted to see for many years, and the show definitely did not disappoint.
Sunday was Trafalgar Day, and on the way to our bus tour company, we watched some of the ceremony that took place in Trafalgar Square. Before arriving at our bus tour, we found Canada House. It was lovely to see all the red and white in London. The bus tour took us many places in London, most of which we had seen before. However, we did get to finally see St Paul's Cathedral, the Victory Arch, the Wellington Arch, and the business/bank sectors. It was interesting to note that the actual area of the city of London, and not any of the suburbs, is one mile square! We learned so much on the tour, but when it started to rain and there was no room inside the bus, we decided we had seen enough.
On Monday we had only a few hours before we needed to catch the train. We had rented bicycles the night before so that we could get to Vapianos for supper, and ended up cycling up and down Oxford Street. You rented for 24 hours so the next morning we made use of our money (only 1 pound each!!!) and cycled to 221 B Baker Street to glimpse the Sherlock Museum. And what to my wondering eyes was RIGHT beside it (on the left, technically if we were facing it), but a Beatles Store. I couldn't resist running in to look around, but that was the end of our adventures in London.
We both got pictures at platform 9 3/4 before we left though, and snuggled in for a comfy train ride. It was an entirely lovely trip, minus the black mucus that came out of our noses when we blew them for the next few days. However, getting back to the fresh Yorkshire air cleaned out our systems well. And thus, the end of our London adventures.
I hope you enjoyed this post... I apologize for it being so late and so long, but I hope you feel "caught up." There will be two more posts coming your way, Germany and Christmas/New Year's, so stay tuned for those.
Wishing you all the best in 2013!!
Love,
Janean X
After supper we took the tube to look at Big Ben, the Parliament Buildings, and the London Eye, which was absolutely gorgeous by night. There may have been a slight mist, but the weather was calm and it added to the British experience. We decided we would take our time walking around as the weather was cooperating and there were not too many people about, and who wants to be cooped up in a hotel when you could be exploring anyway?
We started at the London Eye, walked along the Thames to cross over to the Parliament buildings and Big Ben, also known as Queen Elizabeth Tower, renamed this year for the big celebration. We crossed the road behind the Parliament buildings, and by chance happened upon Westminster Abbey (as neither Stephen or I knew it was located there, that's how we "happened by chance"). We made our way down a backstreet and accidentally ran into an informal changing of the guard. I asked him if at the next corner we would turn right to get to Trafalgar Square, and he told me I was correct. On our last full day in London, it would occur to me while on our bus tour that I had talked to one of the guards of number 10 Downing Street!
After we had briefly explored Trafalgar Square, Stephen and I headed down a long, straight tree-lined road (which I have recently come to realize is called the "Mall"). With no rush and good weather, we weren't bothered to be wandering around London in the pitch black. There were many street lights, of course, and a steady flow of traffic, but nowhere in London did we feel unsafe. As I'm sure those of you who are familiar with the "only city in England" layout, at the end of this tree-lined road, we found ourselves at Buckingham Palace.
What we then did was take our time going around the circumference of the palace, taking our time to see the gates for South Africa, Australia, and then of course, Canada. The flag was not flying at the palace, however. It surprised me on the walk back from the palace that we had seen everything I associate with London in the span of two hours, minus St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge and Windsor Castle. This was nice though, because we knew where we would have to go in the daylight without any fuss. We also managed to see Piccadilly Circus as our final sight before we caught the tube back to our hotel.
When morning came we started our journey the same way we did the night before. We had it set in our minds that we would go on the Eye, but that we would rather see the changing of the guard at the palace first. We walked through a park (the gardens in front of the palace) and arrived just in time to watch the guards march down the streets. We did not attempt getting any closer to the Palace than the far side of the Victoria monument, as it was difficult enough to move on the far side of the street.
I was quite annoyed at what happened next, on our way back to the Eye. On our way back from the palace, back down the Mall, some guards were marching out of the Royal Stables. As is to be expected, all of tourists assembled on the sidewalks to take pictures, as that is where the guard responsible for the overseeing of the stables told us to go. Well, all of us except one. One foreign lady (from Eastern Europe) decided to run,yes, RUN, directly at the guards to take a picture. The guard supervising yelled at her threateningly several times before she got off the road. This woman was in her 40's and thought it was absolutely HYSTERICAL that she had done that. I know more issues would have come from this situation had she been struck, but her behaviour undoubtedly called for it. I simply could not believe her (and her friends who joined in laughing) blatant ignorance. It definitely soured the experience, as is want to happen at times - something is just so good, and one person ruins it for the whole group.
After walking (VERY quickly) away from the scene, we ate lunch just down the road from Piccadilly Circus. We then wasted about an hour and a half of our lives in the lines 1) to get tickets for the London Eye and 2) to get on the London Eye.Although it was a long wait and a tad expensive, the experience was certainly worth it. It was absolutely magnificent to see London laid out in front of you, stretching on for miles and miles all around you.
Tower Bridge was our next stop. We thought it might be nice to explore the Tower of London, but the prices were quite extortionate. Had we more money than our meager students' allowances, we would have embarked on the tour, alas, it was not to be on this particular trip. We had a nice surprise on the way to the tube station from the Tower of London - we decided to pass over the bridge, and were stopped because there was a ship going under. It was nice to experience while we were there. We also saw the HMS Belfast and passed the Dungeons of London center also.
That evening (Saturday) was a very special night. As our one year anniversary gift, Stephen bought us tickets to see Wicked at the Apollo Theatre in London's West End. It. Was. Fantastic!! Even Stephen loved it, and was singing the songs for weeks after. This has been a show I've wanted to see for many years, and the show definitely did not disappoint.
Sunday was Trafalgar Day, and on the way to our bus tour company, we watched some of the ceremony that took place in Trafalgar Square. Before arriving at our bus tour, we found Canada House. It was lovely to see all the red and white in London. The bus tour took us many places in London, most of which we had seen before. However, we did get to finally see St Paul's Cathedral, the Victory Arch, the Wellington Arch, and the business/bank sectors. It was interesting to note that the actual area of the city of London, and not any of the suburbs, is one mile square! We learned so much on the tour, but when it started to rain and there was no room inside the bus, we decided we had seen enough.
On Monday we had only a few hours before we needed to catch the train. We had rented bicycles the night before so that we could get to Vapianos for supper, and ended up cycling up and down Oxford Street. You rented for 24 hours so the next morning we made use of our money (only 1 pound each!!!) and cycled to 221 B Baker Street to glimpse the Sherlock Museum. And what to my wondering eyes was RIGHT beside it (on the left, technically if we were facing it), but a Beatles Store. I couldn't resist running in to look around, but that was the end of our adventures in London.
We both got pictures at platform 9 3/4 before we left though, and snuggled in for a comfy train ride. It was an entirely lovely trip, minus the black mucus that came out of our noses when we blew them for the next few days. However, getting back to the fresh Yorkshire air cleaned out our systems well. And thus, the end of our London adventures.
I hope you enjoyed this post... I apologize for it being so late and so long, but I hope you feel "caught up." There will be two more posts coming your way, Germany and Christmas/New Year's, so stay tuned for those.
Wishing you all the best in 2013!!
Love,
Janean X
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