Category Archives: England

Downton Abbey: Team Batanna

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Just in case you’re living under a costume drama rock, there’s some mighty fine television happening on Sunday nights on PBS.

Which team are you on? Are you for Branson and Sybil? Matthew and Mary? Bates and Anna?

Image credit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/index.html

I’m Team Batanna, although tonight’s episode puts some possible changes in the wind…

There has been a wonderful series on the Jane Austen’s World blog about Highclere Castle where Downton Abbey is filmed. I encourage you to check it out!

Image credit: skewenhistoricalsociety.org.uk

Travel Lust: Doing the Laundry While On the Road

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It’s still kind of hard for me to wrap my arms around the fact that I’m actually giving European travel advice — just call me Rickie Steves! I waited for many years for my European shot and it has been everything I hoped it would be. Both of my kids went to Europe twice before I got my chance — and I don’t regret sending them — but I’ve been taking advantage of being an empty nester for the last few years. Viva England and France (to mix my languages)!

I just had to show you why one doesn’t want to throw one’s laundry on the floor when one is staying in a ritzy London flat. We managed to score this fabulous apartment at the Sloane Club (wait for it to load; it’s worth it) because the studio we actually booked was being renovated and we got the duplexed one bedroom (that’s an understatement) for the same price.

This was our closet, the home of our dirty laundry. And yes, that’s a trouser press in the right corner. Gosh darn it, I love England — all I need is Jeeves.

After having been to England three times and France once in the last three years, my advice is to pack some laundry equipment.

One of the things I hate when I’m going to stay more than one night in one place is throwing my dirty clothes on the closet floor (I’m pretty sure the person before me in that room still has cooties in the carpet) or crunching them into plastic bags. I now pack a pop-up laundry basket. Genius. It works for the dirty clothes and it works when we have to do some laundry outside the hotel room or in our rental apartment. It also works if we take a picnic blanket and stuff to the beach. The pop-up mechanism means that it folds flat in my suitcase and takes up practically no room or weight. Combined with two plastic pants hangers, two plastic shirt hangers (with the hooks for camisoles), and our trusty stretch clothesline and plastic clothespins, we are able to do laundry in our hotel rooms and also hang not-quite-dry laundry from the European washer/dryer combo.

Life was all good until I found THIS. I’m tempted to give my boring hamper to someone else, and buy this hamper for myself and every other girlie I know. Who doesn’t want a little black brocade in her closet, even while on vacation?

Image via victoriantradingco.com

P.S. I would have linked up Wikipedia for the Jeeves reference, but I support the blackout. Tell your Congresspeople that SOPA isn’t the way to suppress internet crime.

P.P.S. E-mail me if you want me to hook you up with my travel agent; she may be the only full-service agent left in the United States!

P.P.P.S.  It’s amazing what WordPress doesn’t know how to spell. I’m just sayin”…

24 Days of Christmas 2011: British Christmas

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Having enjoyed many Christmases with our English friends over the years, we have begun to include some British customs and food into our Christmas celebrations. Mince pies, Christmas pudding with brandy butters, the Queen’s Christmas Message, and Christmas crackers are all fun ways to shake up your family’s customs. Crackers can be found at most home goods stores, such as Crate and Barrel, and good groceries carry Christmas pudding, mince pies, and brandy butters during the Christmas season. We have a wonderful British store near us in Long Grove called British Accents which carries many British foodstuffs and gifts all year long.

I might even try to make the mince pies myself from this supposedly easy recipe, and this recipe for Christmas pudding is made without the traditional suet. If you’re going to try Christmas pudding, it’s time to make it so that it can age. Here’s a quick version if you don’t get around to making it until the last minute. Don’t forget to buy the brandy so that you can set it on fire when you serve it!

While you’re cooking or driving around in your car buying all of your British Christmas items, I suggest listening to some traditional British music. These were all available at my library.

Adeste Fidelis! Christmas Down the Ages was recorded in 1996 and features the English soprano Emma Kirkby, who specializes in early music. I was surprised to find that Amazon actually has a Westminster Abbey Choir “Store” where you can purchase both compact discs and MP3 recordings by the choir.

Although it is not strictly a British box set of Christmas music, The Baroque Christmas Album is a compilation of recordings from important early music performance groups. This album is also available in MP3 versions from Amazon.

Musicians from the Academy of St. Martins in the Fields under the baton of Neville Mariner – what’s not to like? Christmas with the Academy is a listener’s delight and is also available in CD and MP3 formats. If you’re in London by Trafalgar Square, stop in to see what’s going on at St. Martins in the Fields. There’s a nice cafe downstairs in the old crypt and you might catch a concert or a rehearsal as we did the day we visited.

All on a Christmas Day is a collection of Irish Christmas music performed by Jimmy Keane and Robbie O’Connell, so I suppose for the Irish purists out there, this album doesn’t belong with a post entitled British Christmas.

If you are a history buff, I encourage you to watch this video of Queen Elizabeth’s first Christmas Message in 1957. It’s fascinating. The Anglophiles among you may also be interested in the videos at The Royal Channel. Who knew?

Just in case you haven’t had enough, here’s last year’s 24 Days of Christmas post.

31 Days in Europe: In Honor of Elizabeth

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Today is my niece’s third birthday and she is named after my mother, Elizabeth. I couldn’t resist posting the Globe Theater’s costume for Elizabeth I in their honor.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Although Elizabeth I didn’t start out very happily and didn’t actually have much of a happy life either, I have always respected her. She held strong in the face of the challenges to her reign and didn’t cave in and marry someone she didn’t love in order to provide a Tudor heir. Granted, as a result a clear chain of Tudor rulers died with her and plunged England into a chaotic power struggle.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

I’m not sure where my grandmother got the name Elizabeth — I don’t think it was a family name — but her heirs have certainly used it. We named our daughter after her grandmother Elizabeth for her middle name and her first name came from her great-grandmother on my husband’s side. My brother’s daughter and her husband also named their daughter Elizabeth, and she is known by her nickname, Libbie, as my mother was by her family and close friends. Libbie is a very common topic at my niece’s blog, Vanderbilt Wife, so I’ll let you go there on your own to meet little Libbie. Sadly, you won’t get to meet my mom, as she passed away in June. I wrote about her here and here, if you would like to know more about my valiant heroine.

Happy birthday, sweet Libbie. And Mom, I still miss you every day.

31 Days in Europe: Brighton (another juicy story)

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Image credit: Got My Reservations

It’s kind of overwhelming to visit Brighton. The combination of royal excess and beachy tourist excess live in what appears to be comfortable collusion. Which draws more people? Georgy and his morgianic wife’s homage to crass cultural allusion or the pier’s obvious allure to those less historically oriented? I don’t know the answer to that, but I loved them both.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

We couldn’t take photos inside the palace, but please, take the time to go to the Royal Pavilion’s website. George, son of George III, spent a fortune turning a simple summer-house into a palace of almost unbelievable excess. Gold leaf everywhere. Oriental and Moorish decorative arts commissioned by a man who had never visited the Far East. Truly a king’s ransom spent on a pleasure palace.

The story of George and George is an amazing piece of history that people in the United States don’t seem to really know about.  We only see George III as the villain in the Declaration of Independence. The short version (in my lens) is that George III was busy dealing with revolutions across his realm, including the American colonies in 1776. Unfortunately, historians now believe that he suffered from a liver disorder that affected his nervous system, resulting in, among other symptoms, mental disturbances. By 1810, his deteriorated and inconsistent mental condition was such that his son, the former playboy who had already married a commoner in an illegal ceremony, became Regent for his father. This is the “Regency” period in which Jane Austen wrote her books. My Austen fans will remember Brighton as an important setting for Jane and her characters.

Image via janeaustensworld.wordpress.com

Since that time, Brighton and its beach have emerged as the Atlantic City of England, complete with a boardwalk, merry-go-round, and seafood restaurants. It’s an old school beach resort that transcends the test of time; people still spend their vacations on the English Channel, basking in the summer sun.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Image credit: Got My Reservations

One of the things I love about England is that, unlike their American counterparts, people seem totally comfortable living with the human blemishes on their rulers’ legacies. You won’t find books about Marilyn Monroe in the White House (or even Monica Lewinsky, who, in my opinion, desecrated the White House Dish Room with her darn thong), and the royal palaces don’t seem to have any problem with having all of their dirty laundry for sale in the gift shops accompanying them.

The story of Georgy and Caroline was told in a BBC docudrama in 1996.

Despite his relationship and children with Maria Fitzherbert, in 1795 George was forced to marry a royal cousin, Caroline of Brunswick, in order to bring in new revenue with her dowry to pay his debts. The Prince of Wales claimed to only have consummated their marriage twice on the wedding night and once the night after. Apparently Caroline met her end of the bargain at that point, because she immediately became pregnant. Unfortunately, after the birth of their only child Charlotte in 1796, the pair separated and never again lived together as husband and wife. He continued his quasi-marital relationship with Maria Fitzherbert as well as other mistresses.

When Georgy finally became king in 1820, his reign was clouded with controversy. Both he and Caroline were having affairs. Caroline had not lived in England since 1814, but she chose to return for her husband’s coronation, and to publicly assert her rights as Queen Consort. However, George IV refused to recognise Caroline as Queen, and commanded British ambassadors to ensure that monarchs in foreign courts did the same. She was actually barred from entering the coronation at Westminster Abbey on July 19, 1821, even though she tried. The King sought a divorce, but his advisers suggested that any divorce proceedings might involve the publication of details relating to the King’s own adulterous relationships. Caroline fell ill on the coronation day and died on August 7; during her final illness she often stated that she thought she had been poisoned. Historians now say that she may have had cancer.

Despite the sordid history of their relationship, excerpts from Caroline’s diary where she openly discussed her relationship with George and her affairs with other men are still sold in the gift shop at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. I wish I would have bought a copy!

Looking back on our day in Brighton, I can only revel in its awkwardness. Everything about Brighton as tourists see it is over the top, and that’s okay. Its beauty and allure lie in its lack of conventionality; it’s a city of many facets. We loved it.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

31 Days in Europe: Stuff for Sale

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Although I know that jumble sales and boot sales are common in England, I don’t think that Europeans ever got into the American romance with stuff. As I packed not one, but two full size refrigerators with food and drink today, I remembered the small fridges I have had in various apartments we have rented while in England, France, and Austria. Buying daily and buying fresh is a time-honored tradition in Europe; there are no trips to Costco that I know of.

Image via buyingandsellingantiques.org

I made three different drop-offs at Goodwill today as I went to the four supermarkets that provided the bounty for my refrigerators. I really wish that I could stick to the one in=one out rule, but I’m still a reluctant purger.

I would list the ridiculousness that is my current state of storage, but it would be too embarrassing. Let’s just say that there are six coolers in my garage. I could be perfectly happy with the folding one on wheels and the mammoth one on wheels that serves as both picnic basket and cooler when we go to Ravinia. Our group does have coordinated tablecloths and candleholders, by the way. We just never have gotten ourselves together to enter the contest.

Image via upchicago.com

Despite the pictures of stately homes and castles full of priceless stuff, many Europeans live well with very little excess. I’d like to emulate that.

31 Days in Europe: Notting Hill

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When we go on vacation, I always want to visit the locations of books and movies that I love. This year’s trip to London was no exception; all roads led to the shrine of Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, Notting Hill. We spent time walking around the cute neighborhood, but frankly, I was mostly on the lookout for the very recognizable blue facade of The Travel Bookshop.

Image via nottinghillproperties.com

Even though I was surreptitiously taking photos and being not-too-touristy, I don’t think it mattered. There are hundreds of photos online of the interior and exterior of this famous movie location.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Every time I see this movie, I am blown away by Julia Roberts’s elegant portrayal of the actress who finds true love. It’s cheesy, but gets me every time.

Image via whatculture.com

If you’re a fan, it’s worth the extra time it will take you to find the Holy Grail of Notting Hill. It’s a wonderful bookstore all on its own, besides.

31 Days in Europe: Food!

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Image credit: Got My Reservations

One of the many things I have learned over the past three years of visits to England is that the day of bad food is over (if that was actually ever true or just a tourist stereotype). Travelers can find healthy, fabulous cuisine in every largish town and city, and within close driving distance of every small town. While there’s nothing bad about the occasional pub visit, don’t give in to the stereotype. Search out the great restaurants using tour guide books. Even better, ask the locals.

The famous fish and chips meal can be a gastronomic treat if you know where to find it. Although I ate this beautifully prepared piece of fish at the Tate Modern art museum, local fish and chip take-away places can offer sublime versions of a British favorite. Once again, don’t be afraid to ask the locals.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Say you can’t find a gastro-pub or are not in a position to ask someone who lives there. If you don’t want to blow your whole travel budget on a fancy restaurant, you generally can’t go wrong with Indian food in England. After all, one and half million Indian Britons have to find somewhere to eat their native cuisine.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

And then there’s always the breakfast of champions. British ale makes Miller Light pale in comparison, both figuratively and literally.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

31 Days in Europe: Battle

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I’m pretty much a pacifist. I am married to a pacifist. Although I don’t judge those who choose the military as a career or as a way to gain an education, I wish we didn’t have to make that choice at all. I wish that our global community could learn to get along by using our words.

That being said, visits to two very important battlefields in France and England have been meaningful and spiritual. This photo is the closest I can get to my father’s experience when he landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy in 1944. As a part of our river cruise on the Seine last year, we spent a day roaming around the Normandy beaches.

Image via gunandgame.com

The day that we were docked near Normandy, we had a choice of visiting the Normandy battlefields or going to Mont St. Michel or going to see the Bayeux Tapestry. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events of the Battle of Hastings, and was most likely created in about 1070. Since my dad landed at Normandy, it was really important for me to see that, but I didn’t really understand that seeing the Tapestry would set me up for understanding this year’s visit to the site of  the Battle of Hastings.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

When I look at these pastoral scenes, it’s hard to visualize the enormity of an army composed of mostly foot soldiers under the command of King Harold II being ambushed by a far superior Norman-French army of archers, cavalry, and infantry working cooperatively together and led by Duke William II of Normandy. The Battle of Hastings occurred on October 14, 1066, during the Norman conquest of England, and marked the last successful foreign invasion of the British Isles. Harold II was killed in the battle—legend has it that he was shot through the eye with an arrow. Harold II became the last English king to die in battle on English soil until Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field.  Although there was further English resistance, this battle is seen as the point at which William gained control of England, becoming its first Norman ruler as King William I and is known as William the Conqueror. (Don’t judge me, but I got a lot of this from Wikipedia and I have to give credit.)

These two battlefields remind me of how I feel when I visit the Gettysburg Battlefield — horrified and sickened at the loss of life. Apparently,  so was Pope Alexander II, because he ordered the Normans to do penance for killing so many people during their conquest of England.  William the Conqueror vowed to build an abbey where the Battle of Hastings had taken place, with the high altar of its church on the supposed spot where King Harold fell in that battle. He did start building it but died before its completion; it was finished in about 1094 and consecrated during the reign of his son William Rufus. William the Conqueror had ruled that the Church of St. Martin of Battle was to be exempted from all episcopal jurisdiction, putting it on the level of Canterbury. It was remodelled in the late 13th century but virtually destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII. That’s the Battle Abbey we visited — another reminder of how powerful and ruthless Henry VIII was — and we were able to walk freely through the ruins.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

These buildings were used as dormitories and workrooms; the actual church only exists where there has been excavation of the crypt, and a plaque marks the site of the high altar that was placed where King Harold was killed. Some of the Abbey buildings are used as a school.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

As with most of the other places we have visited in Europe, really ancient and important relics and buildings are often side by side with evidence of normal people living normal lives. The same applies to Battle; the town square right outside of the gatehouse to the Abbey was decorated with garish figures advertising an upcoming theater presentation. That’s probably why I love history so much — it’s just a bunch of stories about people living their lives — and at Battle, the living coexist with the dead in perfect harmony.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

31 Days in Europe: Thoughts on Vacation Photos

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Since it’s Saturday and we’re midway through the 31-Day Challenge, I thought it was time for a little reflection about all those photos that we take on vacation.

There are good ones…

Image credit: Got My Reservations

and there are bad ones.

I'm not claiming any credit for this image.

There are the ones that I should have erased from my digital camera as soon as they were taken …

War memorial at Dover Castle

and there are the funny photos that it’s quite probable only you and a few select friends would even laugh at.

There are the ones that you collect…

We collect photos of stupid and ironic signs

and the ubiquitous photos of flowers that when separated from their context, look just like the other flower photos I took.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

So — what do you do with all of those photographs? In my house, we have a relatively healthy competition over whose photos are the best. We each keep photo files on our computers and historically haven’t been very good about sharing. This year was a breakthrough, though. As soon as we got home from England, we created a Snapfish hard cover scrapbook of our vacation photos. Husband went through all of the photos and pared them down to about 250 out of about 2,000 photos we took. Then we imported them into the Snapfish program and created our book. The fact that we had a 50% off coupon that was expiring provided motivation and created momentum to get the job done, and I’m glad we did this. It’s a lot easier to take a photo book to a party than to take my computer and hook it all up for people to view on a small screen.

Snapfish Photo Book

I think I may be addicted to these photo books. I used to try to scrapbook my vacations and events, and even though I have friends who regularly have scrapbooking parties and encourage me to share their scrapbooking habit, I just bought materials and never used them. I also think that in the long term goal of getting rid of things, these relatively small mementos of vacations are more likely to be cherished and revisited over the years.

What do you do with your photos? Do you still have hard copy prints in the envelopes from twenty years ago? What will your children do with your photos? I hope that the fate of your vacation and family stories won’t lie on the floor of a closet in a deserted home, as my next door neighbors’ are. When both parents passed away, the kids left all the slides and photos in the house they let go to foreclosure. It breaks my heart.

Although not a vacation photo, I thought I’d share a precious personal photo with you. My cousin and her mom (my mother’s sister) recently broke up their scrapbooks and sent me the photos that were of me and my family. I’ve never seen this photo before, but my forehead still bears the scar that resulted from the injury that is pictured in the photo. Thanks to the thoughtfulness of my cousin, I now have a totally cute picture of me with my band-aid.

Image via Got My Reservations

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