Christmas at Forest Lodge

After spending time with my cousins outside of Manchester I was traded off to my Aunt and Uncle who live in the UK equivalent of Algonquin Park. It is absolutely gorgeous! They have three dogs: Charlie, Ollie and Stanley. Charlie is a big labrador, Ollie is a hairy collie and Stanley is a mystery.

For our festive breakfast we had black pudding, sausage, bacon, potato cakes, brown beans and buttered toast. What a way to start the day!! After each scrumptious bite I could feel my arteries clogging just a little bit more....worth it? YES! 

Our lovely Christmas dinner was started with tomato soup; it followed by turkey, ham, bacon-wrapped sausage, potatoes, stuffing, carrots and asparagus soaked in mouth-watering gravy. YUM!

The weather has been less than ideal... snow, slush and the recent addition of all-incasing fog. I didn't know that it in the middle of winter there could be fog that lasted all day... well there is. But I did manage to get a couple shots of some of the more picturesque mist!

This afternoon (Wednesday), we went to the coal merchants on the way home. Now I had always been under the impression that household coal fires were a thing of the past, just another example of my UK-life ignorance. My trip to get coal, a regular occurrence for many UK’ers, was by far the highlight of my day. It was wonderfully dirty, there were cute trucks loaded with sacks of coal for home deliveries and huge piles of coal outside the building, much like Canadian salt piles waiting to be spread on the roads. The best part was two men, completely covered in coal-dust, who were loading sacks, they had the worlds biggest smiles and were singing the entire time, so cute! Now that I have created this literary image for you add a blonde girl walking around wide-eyed, open-mouthed and camera out... yes, that was me. And yes, I looked very much like a ridiculous 12 year old child who was just let into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

In a pickle?

During dinner last night I was educated (just when I thought I knew it all!!) on the history and MANY varieties of the pickle. It is not that I have lived a ‘pickle-less’ life; I spent the better part of four years working for a in a kosher kitchen for a Rabbi, during this time I chopped, sliced and diced my weight in dill pickles many times over. Throughout my childhood I was exposed to what I would consider the regular pickles: bread and butter, dill, gherkins (my favorite), deliciously deep-fried pickles and of course the glass pickle I bought Kathy and Terry to hang on their Christmas Tree (yet another epic Christmas present in a series of epic presents). 

So last night when my Uncle Alan pulled out a jar of what he claimed to be pickles, but looked to me like a jar of mush and something diced, I was rather surprised. It turns out I am practically a pickle virgin! 

Fun pickle facts (just knowing that I think facts about pickles are fun is further proof that I am a teacher):

- Americans consume 26-billion pickles a year. That’s about nine pounds of pickles per person...explains a lot.  

- More than half the cucumbers grown in the U.S. are made into pickles.

- Amerigo Vespucci, for whom America is named, was a pickle merchant before becoming an explorer.

- This one shocked me: kosher pickles aren’t necessary ‘kosher’ (ie. prepared under rabinnical supervision) but were made in the manner of Jewish New York City pickle makers...ie they used a TON of garlic and dill!!

The history of the pickle goes all the way back to 2030/40 BC with the Mesopotamians, they came to Western Europe around 900 from Sumatra. The history is of the pickle is actually rather ‘regal’; The pickle is mentioned in the Bible in Numbers 11:5 and Isaiah 1:8, Aristotle thought they had healing qualities, Julius Caesar fed them to his troops because he believed they contained both physical and spiritual strengthening characteristics, Shakespeare using even used pickling as a metaphor in the play Hamlet. Thomas Jefferson was quoted with what I can positively say is the most beautiful way I have ever heard a pickle described: "On a hot day in Virginia, I know nothing more comforting than a fine spiced pickle, brought up trout-like from the sparkling depths of the aromatic jar below the stairs of Aunt Sally's cellar."  And to top off the list of famous pickle-eaters the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys (American football teams for my non-Canadian readers) 41-14 in September of 2000. The players claimed the win to the strength they gained from drinking pickle juice (another example of American ‘brilliance’).

Polish, Hungarian, Swedish, Danish, , brined, candied, lime, half-sour, sour and Tsukemono (done in soy brine) are the pickles that my Blessington Road upbringing did not expose me to. Oh, and apparently there are also ‘Kool-Aid Pickles’ which claim to be famous in the Southern United States...but I think this type of pickle can just be added to the list of things that Americans have tried to ‘improve’ but have ruined. (The USA apparently also has an International Pickle Day in New York City...unsurprisingly weird).       

http://www.virtuowl.com/beauty/vinegar-beauty.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickled_cucumber

http://www.rockmnation.com/2010/7/9/1560662/mizzou-links-7-9-10

http://www.nyfoodmuseum.org/_ptime.htm

Photos of Christmas...UK style!!

Christmas 2010 Adventure: Part One

These are some photos taken around Glossop and Hadfield, villages outside of Manchester where my cousins live. We went to a perfectly quaint park that had a duck pond, Victorian baths (recently renovated into a beautiful pool) and a cute little waterfall complete with stone bridge. After taking the first bunch of pictures I realized that my camera lens was horribly dirty so sadly they aren't the best. We then ventured up to the top of a hill (which I of course forget what is called) and got an amazing view of the villages and Manchester in the distance!

Both Hadfield and Glossop are the very definition of the perfect British village; stone walls, terraced houses, super tight roads, neighborhood shops and corner pubs with friendly folk who wish you a good afternoon as you pass by. I have to admit, this is a nice change from Birmingham!

Day Two: Today has been perfectly relaxed. Got another 10 hours of sleep (GLORIOUS!!!) and then continued the French family tradition of Christmas baking while watching holiday-themed movies.  So I made sugar cookies and watched Love Actually. Just wish my Mom and Anna were here to join in! 

I also spent some quality time with Lewis, teaching him to play hockey. Mom and Dad sent him a mini-stick and ball last summer so now I am making sure that he learns use it properly!! haha 

Day Three: Journey into Manchester

Today (Wednesday) Mel, Lewis and I took the train into the city to explore the Christmas markets. I didn't get a chance to visit Birmingham's so I was quite happy to go! We enjoyed mulled wine, super-fresh pork sandwiches and strudel with custard for dessert. Yum!! :)

Only slightly lost haha

Yummy mulled wine!

                                                          Totem pole of cheese!

I love how you can see the super hot coals under the

racks, can't get more real that that!

mmmmmmmeat.

This was our lunch....no joke. And it was DELICIOUS! :)

Love the little wooden spoons!

"We wish you a Merry Christmas, We Wish you a Merry Christmas..."

On the 8th of December Cailey, Lizz, Pendray and I went to the Back to Backs to do some Christmas caroling, eat minced pies and drink mulled wine. Oh, and almost freeze ourselves to death...worth it? Yes!


The back-to-backs are terraced houses which shared back walls, literally built back to back. From Wikipedia: "The Birmingham Back to Backs (also known as Court 15) at 50–54 Inge Street and 55–63Hurst Street are the last surviving court of back-to-back houses in Birmingham, England, now operated as a museum by the National Trust.

They are examples of the thousands of similar houses that were built, literally back to back, around courtyards, for the rapidly increasing population of Britain's expanding industrial towns.

Numerous back-to-back houses, two or three storeys high, were built in Birmingham during the 19th century, the majority of them were still in quite good condition in the early 20th century and also prior to their demolition. Most of these houses were concentrated in inner-city areas such asLadywood, Handsworth, Aston, Small Heath and Highgate. By the early 1970s, almost all of Birmingham's back-to-back houses had been demolished. The occupants were rehoused in new council houses and flats, some in redeveloped inner-city areas, while the majority moved to new housing estates such as Castle Vale and Chelmsley Wood."

This link has quite of good description of what they are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Back_to_Backs

For the sake of time (honestly, I should be cleaning my room right now. It may take days.) I will have to leave the description to that. But here are some photos of our night!

Snow: 1 Brits: 0

Last Saturday (I wrote this a week ago so this wasn't actually last Saturday...) a beautiful blanket of snow fell upon jolly old England. This, a regular winter occurance, has brought a county which once ruled most of the world, to its very, very cold knees.

To be fair, London did get quite the amount of this beautiful gift from the heavens, as did Manchester and further north near Alan and Jean as did Scotland etc. On the other hand, the city I happily call home received a whopping 1 cm. Whoop-de-do. Basically things just look prettier, the snow is doing a great job of hiding some uglier parts all cities have. It  is also helping to keep me in the holiday spirits when I am sadly away from home during Christmas. So while I am apprechiative of this 'makeover' Birmingham has so graciously received no one else seems to feel the same way. 'Birmingham-ites' are respondig to the light dusting of snow as If it is a plague of biblical proportions.

After the initial 5mm my students were not allowed outisde for playtime (recess) as it was clearly far too dangerous for them to be outside. The school itself cancelled extracurricular activities due to the unbearable conditions (it wasn't even snowing). When the odd flake began to slowly drift from the heavens I was told to leave immediately after school so that I wouldn't be snowed into the school. How I do not burst out laughing in response is a miracle in itself.

The school children do not wear winter boots, they just continue wearing their black dress shoes with the exception of the odd child who sports a pair of rubber boots. A note to the parents of those children: snow is not the same as rain. While rubber boots will keep your childs feet dry they also may get hypothermia.

For a county that experiences varying versions of winter annually, one would expect that at least the cities/muncipalities would be prepared to battle old man winter. But no, the English seem to believe that if they deny the existence of winter that it will go away. There are no snow-ploughs. While they sand/grit the roads I have yet to see any salt or anything useful to help eliminate the build up of ice on the road and sidewalks. This combination of ice and snow makes every step out of my house an embarassing adventure.

I will end this blog with a quote from a British teacher: "My car window wouldn't go down this morning, it was like it was glued up!" Me: "Ya, it's just frozen. Don't worry the 'glue' will melt."

Just another thing Canada does better

On Saturday the girls and I bundled up and headed into the city for the Santa Claus parade. We got coffee, bought fresh donuts (YUM) and got to the perfect viewing point nice and early. There were TONS of people, we had to fight to keep our spot...personal space does not exist here, I think that people truly believe that if they shove hard enough that extra 1 cm that they gain will improve them view tenfold, and shove they do! The woman who stood behind me was holding a toddler who she shoved into my back so that the child, who had a horrible cold, could cough right into my face making sure that I was able to enjoy each and every sneeze. But we figured that the Santa Claus parade, especially in a city as large as this, would be epic enough to completely overshadow the shoving crowds and sneezing children. Oh how wrong were we!!

The parade kicked off with some REAL reindeer, at first this seemed pretty cool but upon closer observation you could see the total and complete fear in the eyes of the clearly tortured reindeer so that kinda killed that excitement. Santa walked by (not in a sleigh?!?!) with who else by the mayor who was oddly carrying a basket with a blanket in it (don’t ask). Then came some pretty cool costumes: christmas puddings and crackers, christmas decorations on roller-skates, a snowman which was zipping around on some type of cart and an oddly placed leprechaun which was completely lit up (beard included) by mini lights! The leprechaun should have been the clue that something was off...but yet we were still grasping onto the hopes that the parade would put us in the Christmas spirits. We started to question the integrity of the parade when Chinese dragons and carnival dancers on stilts walked by. A couple of women went by on a float (note: this ended up to be the ONLY float in the parade and it wasn’t even decorated) signing.....they only sang one song. Over and over. There was then a lag in the parade, we thought, like at home, there was a holdup somewhere and more floats/oddly costumed people would be coming by shortly. We waited patiently until a street cleaner drove down the street and we then realized that the parade was over....words can not even begin to describe our disappointment. If Blessington (the blink-and-you-miss-it gathering of houses in the middle of the country that my parents live in) had a Christmas parade it would be better!!!!  

While the city of Birmingham completely failed at treating the public to an enjoyable Christmas parade their lights do help to redeem this tragic experience. They have lights everywhere, ones with falling stars which are pretty cool. I will try to take some decent photos to post in the near future!

I can’t help but be jealous knowing that my Canadian family and friends are able to experience a Christmas parade worthy of true Christmas festive spirit and excitement! 

Remember, Remember the fifth of November.

Remember, remember the fifth of November.
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot."

While Halloween was not a big deal here, Guy Fawkes (5 November) was a very different story! This evening originates in 1605, Guy Fawkes was one of thirteen who conspired to blow up the (Protestant) King James I and VI of Scotland his Lords in order to cause turmoil and raise a new monarch to hopefully return England to its Catholic past. The plot was discovered and he was arrested. The surviving conspirators were executed. In January of 1606 the ‘Thanksgiving Act’ was passed which stated that for at least 250 years the 5th of November was to be kept free as a day of thanksgiving. The actual celebration has greatly changed over the years but I think that it is pretty cool that the tradition is still kept alive!

My experience of Bonfire Night started with me busing home in the pouring rain, trying to decide what to do. After a long day at school a night watching movies sounded perfect but in the end I decided to pull up my socks, literally and quickly change for our new adventure!

We took the bus back into town and jumped on the train just as it was leaving the station. We took the train to the right spot, got off and then realized that none of us knew where we were actually going...so we randomly turned left and started walking, thankfully the right direction! 

As soon as we got off the train you could already smell the fire! It instantly reminded me of the fire at Moms and Dads back home, a perfect country smell! As we walked there were more and more people joining in the schlep to the Pride Park. I was wearing my winter coat, a million layers of clothes, my winter coat mittens and scarves, after walking at a brisk pace for what seemed like forever I wished that I had worn a few less layers of clothing! I felt like it was the 5 of July, not the 5th of November!

As we entered the park we could see the bonfire almost immediately, it was huge! 

We found our Canadian teacher friends, ate their delicious donuts and enjoyed the heat from the fire. We missed the lighting of the fire but when we got there it was still HUGE and because it was raining and everything was pretty much soaked you could see it all evaporating off the ground and the peoples coats, pretty cool. 

In Canada, the rain and general miserableness of the weather would have cancelled the event all together, not in jolly-ol England! They rise to the occasion! There were TONS of people, dressed in everything from the typical heels and short skirts found on many Birmingham women to rubber boots and rain coats. Umbrellas were everywhere, at one point I had to literally dive out of the way to avoid losing my right eye to the worlds largest umbrella being carried by the worlds shortest man. And they were all having a blast!

Along with the monstrous fire there was also a huge midway with tons of rides and games typical of all Canadian fairs and tons of little food ‘huts’. The lines for these were insane, some 50 people long! We found one with a short line and ended up having them put cheese and gravy on our fries, delicious!  While eating our fries the fireworks started, they were truly amazing! They went on forever, a great show! The fireworks made the long journey worth it! 

On the way back the train was delayed 4 times and we missed our bus back to our house by 2 minutes so it took about 2 hours to get home....2 hours too long haha. But this typically British experience was well worth it. 

London: Day 1

London Day 1: Dedicated to Cailey

To start off our epic adventure the three of us girls got up SUPER early (5:45 ish), packed (obviously that was left to the last possible second), called a cab and met Pendray at the train station. The cab ride there was super entertaining; the driver spent the entire time telling us about different steaks he has eaten over his life time while traveling in London, the side dishes which came with his steak and how his ‘misses was gobsmacked’ due to the high prices of said steak. To fully appreciate the conversation you really had to be there. 

On the train we lucked out with optimal seating, 4 seats together next to the first class section so it was nice and private. This was Caileys first train ride EVER and she got stuck with a backwards facing seat... judging by her facial expressions throughout the trip she may not have fully enjoyed it.  

We successfully made it to Clapham Junction (taking a train AND the tube with complete success!!), met Laura, Thom and Meagan and walked to our apartment share. The apartment was right on the Thames, really clean and had everything we needed. It slept up to 8 people so only having 6 there made it very comfortable. There was one bedroom upstairs with a king sized bed, a bedroom downstairs with a double bed and two pull-out couches in the main area as well as one full bath and one half. When we arrived at the apartment we dropped off our stuff and walked back to the overground station (lingo lesson for the Canadians: pretty much an above ground subway/tube station). We then spent the afternoon at the British Museum (free), amazing!

Highlights of the British Museum: the Rosetta Stone (the key for our current understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphics....a pretty big deal), the Egyptian exhibit (mummies, skeletons and sarcophagi, OH MY!)...I thought at one point that I was looking at the legit Cleopatra mummy. Turns out the name is quite common and I was quite excited for no reason, embarrassing. I also loved the Greek artifacts from the parthenon and the room FULL of jewelry, especially the pastoral themed items that focused on connecting man kind with nature etc made of coral, pearl and gold. I appreciated how the original cases for the jewelry were made with such care and attention to detail, specifically made for each piece. This exhibit basically made my desire for material possessions even stronger than it already was. 

We then bought groceries for supper, took the train home and a fantastic evening playing cards and planning our travels! 

Lessons learned today:

- Be aggressive! If you want a decent seat or standing spot then you best shove your way onto the tube or you will be stuck with the worst spot ever, if you get one at all.

-Don't stop or block the path of any true londoners. This is especially so if you are stopping to gawk at something which is relatively common place, such as a street sign, which somehow relates to a place or person at home and you obviously must immediately stop and take multiple pictures with at least 2 different cameras, 12 poses and 3 props.