Fountains Abbey by Festive Floodlight

Christmas in England is really pretty special. All of the towns are massively decorated and many places (like Castle Howard in our last post) have special Christmas events. And in a country that does not have separation of church and state, it's Christmas, not the "holidays" as most refer to the season in America. 

I had heard that Fountains Abbey is lit up by colored floodlights two weekends a year in December. It seemed like a neat way to take Bev and Allen on a tour the abbey, so we went! We arrived around 3:30 in the afternoon, since we knew by 4:00 the sun would be setting. As we arrived, the sun was already going down and the floodlights were illuminated. It didn't take us long to begin to see the floodlights in all their glory.   

Before Sundown

In one of the few remaining enclosed halls (most ceilings have long since been torn down) a vibrant, festive display of light set the mood for a Christmas concert.

Festive Floodlights

Festive floodlights from another angle

A local band played Christmas carols and music for the whole time we visited. Here's a short snippet of one of their songs. (Reminder, this video will play on a computer or laptop, but not on a tablet or phone.)

Along the Abbey's ancient nave, more floodlights illuminated the stone columns. In the second picture below you can see a man and his shadow which I think gives a good perspective as to how large this nave was and is.  

Abbey at dusk

Abbey columns with stranger and his shadow

As we left Fountains Abbey to find some much-needed warmth and refreshments, Allen turned around and noticed the full moon, perfectly situated in the center of the Abbey's window. We all had to stop and take many more pictures. It was truly a beautiful sight!

Posing with full moon through abbey window

Bill and Beverly at Fountains Abbey

Full moon at Fountains Abbey

Castle Howard at Christmas

We took Bev and Allen to Castle Howard, the backdrop for Brideshead Revisited (the '80 movie and the recent remake staring Emma Thompson). It's amazing to think that such a house is still a home! Many of the manor houses nearby are closed for the holidays, but Castle Howard remains open to visitors (only one wing of the house is ever open) and decorated top to bottom for the holidays.

As per Bill and my modus operandi, we arrived about 20 minutes before the house was opened for the day, which gave us some time to walk around the outside a bit.  

Castle Howard's front entrance

Guard owl

Castle Howard's back yard

Once inside, we warmed up by the fire and spent quite a while walking through the beautiful house. 

Warming up by the fire

More warming up

The house had so many Christmas trees, I lost count! Here is one of the first trees we came upon - sorry the photo is a bit blurry, I had to take it quickly before someone walked in front of me! 

Blurry but sweet photo of Bill and his Mom

All of the rooms were decorated for Christmas, some more than others. One of the three dining rooms (yes, three - and this was only one [no longer used by the family] wing of the house!) was especially beautiful.

Fancy-schmancy Christmas dinner table

Even statuary in the hallways were decorated with Christmas wreaths and garland. Everywhere you looked, there was amazing art, architecture, and gorgeous decorations. 

Festive bust

Festive statue

As I've stated, Castle Howard had a Christmas tree in almost every room. When they didn't have a Christmas tree, they had a Christmas branch - apparently a holiday tradition in England. It seems the branches they have are family heirlooms that are brought out each year and decorated. My guess is that they are downed branches from the family estate that have been stored year after year just for this purpose.  

One of the many, many Castle Howard Christmas trees

Decorated Christmas branch 

It was really special seeing the house decorated for Christmas, but we were also surprised to see several of the family members while we toured the house. As we walked through a few of the rooms, we spotted the two family dogs doing their morning chores by delivering firewood with either a family member or a member of staff. The dogs were mostly obedient, but the black one was visiting the "open" wing of the house for the first time, so s/he was a little over-exited to see so many people!   

Family Howard's dogs

And in one of the last rooms on the visitors' route, there was a wonderful pianist playing Christmas music. As we were listening a woman about my age and a ten-year old boy came running in, stocking feet and all, and stood behind the piano to listen. A docent I was speaking with told me it was the lady of the house (Lady Howard!) who used to play in a concert band with the pianist, and the ten-year old heir to Castle Howard. They looked so normal and down-to-earth, it's hard to fathom the fact that they own and manage such a massive and beautiful estate! 

Howard Family members and pianist family friend

Grassington's Dickensian Christmas Festival

In mid-December, Bill's mom Beverly and her boyfriend Allen came to Yorkshire for a week-long visit. We had a lot of fun with them, especially visiting all of the local Christmas-themed events for the first time. While driving to the small village of Grassington for their annual Dickensian Christmas Festival, we spotted one of the iconic British telephone booths, and had to stop to get a picture. The phone booths are not as prevalent as they once were, and are often devoid of a phone. Some have been repurposed as small art galleries for local artists, village lending libraries, etc. 

Beverly and Allen

I had been warned to arrive in Grassington prior to the 11am Festival's start time, as it is a small village and the festival can get so busy one can hardly walk around. We arrived at 10am, and by the time we were bussed to the village center, we had about 30 minutes before the festival's official start time. Plenty of time to get in trouble with the local law enforcement!  

Busted by Bobbies!

Another Bobbie bust!

Yet another n'er-do-well

We walked around a bit, and then headed back to the beginnings of High Street in order to watch the Dickensian Festival's Opening Parade. I was able to record the parade in its entirety.  (Reminder - This video works using Quicktime. It will work on a laptop, but not on a tablet or phone.) After the parade, Allen asked "Is that it?" and I had to reply "It's a VERY SMALL village!" :-) 

We walked around some more, bought some hot roasted chestnuts, gawked at all of the decorations and dressed-up Dickensian characters. My favorite were the little kids dressed as street urchins with coal rubbed on their faces, running around having fun. Alas, they moved too quickly and I didn't get any photographs. We watched a few minutes of a Punch and Judy show, listened to the town crier and village band, and tried in vain to stay warm. 

Punch and Judy

Trying to get warm!

Almost everyone who dressed in character were happy to have their photograph taken. As the afternoon wore on and the crowds increased, it became more and more difficult to do so. But I did get a few good photographs! 

Town Crier

A very tall Bobbie 

A depressed-looking Dickensian

All in all it was a lot of fun. We left by 12:30 as the clouds were beginning to look ominous and the crowds were getting thicker by the minute. As we were bussed back to the quarry parking lot a few miles away, we saw additional busloads of people being delivered to the festival. I am very glad we took the advice of arriving early, as we were able to see everything and have fun without dealing with the height of the crowds.

Steam punk Dickensians

Robin Hood's Bay

Sorry for the delay in posting new items! With the holidays and all the crazy that surrounds them, this blog went on the back-burner for a few weeks. We have many, many posts to catch up on, so check back here throughout the next week or so to catch up on all of the Alexander shenanigans. And without further adieu...

On our return home after a weekend visiting Scarborough and Whitby, we stopped by the small fishing village called Robin Hood's Bay. According to the reading I've done, it seems doubtful Robin Hood was ever in the area, but the village does have a history of smuggling via a reputed network of subterranean tunnels connecting some of the village houses. In the late 1800s, tea, gin, rum, brandy and tobacco were among the contraband smuggled into Yorkshire from the Netherlands and France to avoid paying the duty (taxes). 

But enough about history - this is a gorgeous little coastal village! We visited on Sunday morning, so it was pretty quiet as we walked around. 

Walking towards Robin Hood's Bay

The tide was low and still receding when we visited, but some folks told us the ocean often crashes against the coastal wall.  

Robin Hood's Bay

The village itself consisted of a dozen or so tiny streets, a few shops and markets, and some festive bunting blowing in the wind. Not much was open, but we often prefer visiting places when they're quiet as opposed to bustling. 

Robin Hood's Bay Village

Down on the beach we were able to do some tide pooling. The sounds of the ocean waves and seagulls paired with the salty sea air really made us think of home. But there were no barking sea lions, so it wasn't a complete Monterey experience! :-) 

Bill enjoying the ocean sights and sounds

Low tide in Robin Hood's Bay

Bram Stoker's Whitby

Our three-day weekend by the sea continued with a two-night stay in the town of Whitby. Bram Stoker's Dracula includes several key scenes based in Whitby, and because of that and the erie church and abbey ruins perched high up on a cliff,  it is a gothic teenager's dream! In fact, when researching bed & breakfasts, one weekend in October was all booked up thanks to the town's annual Gothic Festival. So the Whiby residents (and tourism board) definitely milk their Dracula connection!

St. Mary's Church and the Abbey ruins at the top of Whitby Cliff

To get to the abbey and church on the cliff, you have to walk up a stairway with 199 stone steps. We stopped a few times on our way up to take in and photograph the views of Whitby (and for me to catch my breath).

Whitby Pier as seen from stairstep #101 (or maybe it was step #103? or #98?)

We toured the inside of Saint Mary's Church before heading over to the Abbey.  I didn't know anything about the church before we arrived, but have since researched a bit about it. It was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and inside contains only pew-boxes that families had to purchase to use for services. I tried to find a picture of the pew boxes online as no photos were permitted inside the church, but alas, no good photos were found. Trust me, the pew boxes were interesting :-)

St. Mary's church and graveyard

The church and its graveyard are partially responsible for the town's popularity in all things goth. Take this quote from Bram Stoker's Dracula:

"For a moment or two I could see nothing, as the shadow of a cloud obscured St. Mary's Church. Then as the cloud passed I could see the ruins of the Abbey coming into view; and as the edge of a narrow band of light as sharp as a sword-cut moved along, the church and churchyard became gradually visible... It seemed to me as though something dark stood behind the seat where the white figure shone, and bent over it. What it was, whether man or beast, I could not tell."

St. Mary's graveyard looking toward Whitby

While there, we read about a much more recent and super-creepy occurrence that took place in this graveyard. In November 2012, a rainstorm eroded part of the cliff where St. Mary's and the Abbey is perched. Over the course of several days, as the cliff eroded, human remains tumbled out of their coffins in the graveyard and landed on the street below. Ewwwww!! The remains were collected, and re-interned farther away from the cliffside.

St. Mary's graveyard looking towards the Abbey

And now on to the Abbey! Yet another abbey destroyed by Henry VIII in the mid 16th century. The abbey ruins that we see today was originally built in 13th century, so it is actually younger that St. Mary's church next door! I found it interesting to learn that the British / Anglo-Saxon conversion from Paganism to Christianity can be traced back to the Synod of Whitby . I won't bore you with the details (as there are a lot of details), but if you want to learn more, click on the words underlined above. If you click that link, congratulations! You're a history geek like me :-) 

Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey and the Whitby coast

After our tour atop the cliff, we walked back down to the town (this time on the steep horse/donkey cobblestone ramp next to the stairway) and ambled along the shops and restaurants. I tried to get Bill to purchase some kippers from the smoked kipper shack run by the same family for more than 140 years, but he wasn't interested. Everyone told us if you go to Whitby, you have to eat the traditional fish & chips. It's like, THE place to eat fish & chips in all of England. We asked our BandB hostess where she would recommend we go and she told us to skip The Magpie (which is on tourist row and is overpriced and way too crowded) and head for the Royal Fishery in town. We noticed a line out the door at The Magpie, so we made our way to the Royal Fishery per her suggestion. We were seated at a table right away amongst all of the locals (we seemed to be the only tourists) and had a delicious and super-filling dinner of sustainably caught fish & chips. YUM!! 

Then, because we're such a wild and crazy couple, we walked back to our Bed and Breakfast and watched the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who. It doesn't get more British (or nerdy) than that, ladies and gentlemen!!

Whitby Abby - NOT MY PHOTO, it's from the English Heritage website

As a side-note, England experienced an awful storm yesterday. The storm hit the English northeast particularly hard. The storm, coupled with an exceedingly high tide flooded most of Whitby's coastline as well as its seaside homes and shops. I hope everyone in Whitby recovers quickly and am very thankful we hadn't planned our mini-vacation this weekend.

Scarborough Faire... without the Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, or Thyme

The weekend before thanksgiving I made Bill take Friday off and we set off for a long weekend by the sea. Our first stop? Scarborough! It's only a two hour drive from home, but we hadn't had a chance to visit the English seaside town yet. Although Scarborough doesn't have a pier, it does have a tourist-y area like fisherman's wharf in Monterey or pier 39 in San Francisco. 

Have you been to Scarborough Faire?

If we had visited in the summertime, everything would have been open for business and it would have been packed with tons of English weekend warriors. But we arrived on a drizzly, cold November and the faire (carney-like rides), casinos (arcades with skeeball, pinball, etc.), and food shacks were mostly closed. That kind of stuff doesn't interest Bill or I anyway, so we really enjoyed looking around without fighting the crowds. We had lunch at a small tea house and took in the sights by the sea. The weather, while not quite enjoyable, provided for some dramatic sky views. The low tide was so low, all of the boats in the harbor were literally resting on a thin film of water in the sand. 

Scarborough marina

After an hour or so of walking around we were pretty cold, wet, and miserable, so we decided to make our way up to Scarborough castle. The castle is perched on the cliff behind where these photos were taken, but not accessible from the seaside - all the better to protect your castle from the invading hoards!

Scarborough lighthouse

I drove from the seaside up to the castle, and per usual in this country, we took a wrong turn and got lost in a maze of confusing, small, one-way downtown English streets. We ended up seeing a sign to Whitby (our next destination) and decided to just head straight for Whitby as the rain was coming down in sheets again (and, truth be told, the driver [me] was a bit flustered).

We will definitely to go back to Scarborough on a dryer day and spend all of our time exploring their castle ruins. It looked pretty magnificent from afar! 

Scarborough Castle (NOT my photo - it's from the English Heritage website)

Our First Thanksgiving Overseas

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!

We celebrated Thanksgiving twice this year. Bill took Thursday off, and we puttered around the house & walked downtown to visit the Christmas Market (140 craft & food booths set up to sell Christmas presents and tasty food). On our way home, we stopped at the local butcher's shop to pick up something to make for the two of us as a Thanksgiving treat. We knew we were having turkey with all of the trimmings on Saturday, so instead of the usual fare, we picked up and roasted a Yorkshire pheasant. 

The pheasant was pleasant (ha!), but pheasant is all dark meat, so not my favorite. But it was okay and we will probably make it again sometime while we're here. At one point I noticed Bill working on a piece of meat, and I figured he had gotten a small bone along with his bite of meat. He spat out the offending bit, and low and behold - it was buckshot! A friend here tells us that it's good luck to find buckshot on your plate, so let's hope it's true!

Pheasant buckshot

On to the communal Thanksgiving Feast on Saturday...

Some friends of ours rent a gorgeous house that is owned by an official Lord & Lady. Their house is wonderful  for entertaining, which they love to do.  The dining room came with a long table that seats 20 or so people - and they had it decorated beautifully. The Thanksgiving group included Americans, Aussies, and Brits; I think there was a total of 36 hungry mouths in attendance. 

Dinning room

Bill and I brought four loaves of homemade bread, his Mom's scalloped oysters (but we couldn't find oysters, so he used live muscles and it mostly worked), and roast veg (carrots, parsnips, and cauliflower). Others brought all the other fixin's - two turkeys, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, two types of stuffing, many types of veg, several variations on cranberry sauce, and so on. 

Kitchen prep pre-feast

Minutes before we ate EVERYTHING IN SIGHT

And if we weren't stuffed enough, there were also plenty of items for dessert. One couple made seven pies (!!) and we also had fudge, three pans of sticky toffee pudding, toppings (ice cream, whipping cream, pouring cream, and toffee sauce), and various after dinner drinks.

And they shall eat pie (and fudge, custard, sticky toffee pudding...)

The sunset (at 4:15, as we get less than eight hours of sunlight this time of year) from their backyard was spectacular! It reminds me that, although times may be challenging, we still have a lot to be thankful for.  

"Thanksgiving" sunset