December 25, 2010 - Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas All,

We had a nice lie in as it was well after 1:00 a.m. when we went to bed.  Breakfast this morning was a muffin and coffee for Fred and tea and a whole wheat croissant for me from the hotel's coffee shop.
We walked to the flat enjoying the lack of traffic and relative quiet.  Surprisingly there were a number of people with suitcases around Victoria Station looking to get on the tube.  Everything was locked up tight as all services had shut down for Christmas.  No trains or buses unlike in Toronto and surrounding area that work on a limited service.  Once at the flat we see John and Adrienne had already been hard at work . The table was gorgeous and the turkey was being placed in the oven.

Supper will be around 3:00 p.m.  We had a very relaxing afternoon as we had no duties. While I enjoyed relaxing, I really missed the craziness of preparing Christmas dinner.  Adrienne prepared and served smoked salmon canapes and they were delicious and were all devoured very quickly.  These were accompanied by a very nice Prosecco.

Supper was turkey, roast potatoes, pureed brussell sprouts, fried parsnips, sausage stuffing, port cranberries and gravy.  John spoilt us with four different wines during dinner.  In order, we have a Arnoldo Caprai 25, Anni Montefalco Sagrantini, Montepulciano D'Abruzzo and last but not least a Kurni.  Dessert seems to go on forever.  After a short break, first we have cookies and chocolate while John makes mincemeat filo turnovers that are served with a marscapone/sherry cheese topping.  We took a short break from eating to clean up the kitchen.  With Tracey washing, Fred and Geoff drying and me stacking dishes for Adrienne to put away.  After cleanup duty was done we decided to walk off our meal and to get ready for the last of the desserts.

Geoff, Tracey, Fred and myself headed out walking along the Embankment to Lambeth Bridge for a view of the London Eye and Parliament Buildings at night.  John and Adrienne joined us on our walk near Vauxhall Bridge.  We stopped and took photos while John and Adrienne headed back to the flat.  Once the photo op was done we then walked along Horseferry Road to John Islip Street and back to the flat.  With the lack of foot/car traffic it is again very quiet and peaceful.

Once back at the flat we tucked in again too yet more food.  A nice selection of cheese and crackers with a lovely dessert wine to finish off the evening.  We have had a very relaxing Christmas and said our goodbyes to everybody.  Geoff and Tracey were heading back to Canada early on Boxing day and Fred and I were heading back home to Liverpool.

We hope every one had a very Merry Christmas and wish you all a healthy and prosperous New Year!  See you in the New Year once we have some trips sorted out.

Ta Ra for Now,

Sandy & Fred




  

December 24, 2010 - Christmas Eve

Seasons Greetings All,

In the morning we went for a bit of a walk along Oxford Street after breakfast.  We were pleasantly surprised as the stores were not busy at all, unlike on the 22nd when the street and stores were wall to wall people.  Now this was either because we were there before 11:00 a.m. or people were winding down.  We picked up a few small necessities from the drug store and then headed back to the hotel.  After watching a movie The Santa Clause 2 we changed for tonight's event then walked to the flat to meet up with the rest of the family.  We spent the balance of the afternoon catching up on e-mails and Facebook plus downloading pictures.

Tonight we took the car to The Royal Alberta Hall for the Christmas Eve Concert.  The concert this year was even better the last years and even Fred participated in the carol singing.  Unfortunately, I was not a very supportive wife at the concert.  When we sang Once in Royal Davids City which as you may or may not know is sang at a fairly high octave. Poor Fred sang his heart out and his voice actually warbled.  I went into a fit of giggles and tried not to laugh too hard.  You guessed it the harder I tried the worse I got and the tears were streaming down my face.  Fred was a great sport about it though and on the drive back we had a very good laugh about his great ability to make his voice warble.

After the concert we had a late supper.  Once again Adrienne out did her self. Duck lasagna with homemade pasta, garlic flat bread and a fantastic barolo. Dessert was a homemade raspberry roll.  After supper we enjoyed liqueurs.  The limoncello that I made was passable but to me something was lacking.  Adrienne thought that the liquor taste came through rather than the lemon and I also thought it was not lemony enough.

Now its presents time for everyone.  Even the dogs get into the act. Portia has always opened her gifts but Casper the newest addition has caught on quickly.  Unfortunately for him we had to try and keep him from getting too excited as he had just undergone heart surgery prior to Christmas, not an easy task for a 5 month old puppy.  As we opened our gifts Adrienne discovers a wrapping error.  Fred opened our joint gift and we both said thank you and how nice it was.  It was a cookbook that we already have, in fact John and Adrienne gave it to us last Christmas. We are of course to polite to say anything until Adrienne corrects the mistake as it was meant for Geoff and Tracey. We all have a good laugh about it.  We have been spoilt once again this Christmas and after a few more drinks we headed back to the hotel.  As the tube/bus system are now closed down until the 26th of December we started walking back to the hotel and had only gone a short distance when Fred spotted a cab.  So we made it back in under 10 minutes rather than a 50 - 60 minute early morning walk.

Cheers,

Sandy & Fred

December 23, 2010 - Sake Tasting at Zuma

Seasons Greetings All,

This morning after breakfast at Micky D's we got out and walked through Hyde Park visiting  the Christmas Wonderland. As with last year it contained rides for the kiddies, a beer garden, various food stalls and a German type market with clothes, jewelery and other small gift items.  This year we came across a talking tree by the Serpentine Lake which was frozen this year.  From here we then took the tube to Westminster to walk along the Southbank and checked out the German style market there.  It was much the same as the one in Liverpool and the one in Hyde Park.  The south bank was bustling with people but it was a pleasant walk and one that always makes me feel that I have arrived in London.  We then walked back along the Embankment to John and Adrienne's falt to meet up with everybody.  We stopped for a quick snack at The White Swan before heading to the flat.  We have the best wings we have had since we have left Canada.  Fred wonders if they went over for lessons as other times we have had wings they have been just horrid.  We spent some time at the flat catching up on e-mails and for me posting on Facebook as the fees for Internet access at the hotel are excessive to say the least 20 pounds for twenty four hours.  You guessed it we were not paying that!!!

We headed out as a group to Somerset House to see the Skating rink and Christmas Decorations.  It is a crisp evening and the walk is very invigorating.  A lot of the skaters are skating from board to board but some are very good.  We had a good laugh at one little guy that goes like a bat out of hell along the length or width of the rink but does not know how to turn so crashes into the boards to stop.  I think at some point in time it has got to hurt but he seems to be having a great time.  Oh to be young again at times.  We continued along to Covent Gardens to check out what is happening there. Once again it is bustling with shoppers.  The lights here are amazing and I loved the huge reindeer.  You can see it in the attached picture below.

We then hopped on the tube heading to Knightsbridge and Zuma for our Sake tasting.  Our first Sake is a warm one, Mitani Fujio Yamahai Ginjo.  The second a cold one, Kikiuizumi Ginjo.  While both were good, I liked warm Saki but I think cold is the preferred way to drink it.  John and Adrienne prefer it that way but I must ask Christopher how it is preferred in Japan.  While at Zuma we were entertained by guys hitting on girls in the bar area, it seems tonight that blondes do have more fun. There is a brunette that is fairly attractive who is all by herself and is totally ignored. Finally heard from Christopher Good Saki is preferred cold as it  brings out the delicate flavour or taste, so now we all know.

Our last stop for the night was the Queens Arms for a pub supper.  Three of us choose the burgers, Geoff and Fred have Bangers and Mash and Tracey picks Thai shrimp.  Her dish was one of the choices that I am glad I did not pick, as the shrimp were the full shrimp with heads on.  Very messy to eat.  Tracey and I also picked the Christmas Cider which was a big disappointment.  It was basically spiced apple juice so we drank it quickly and order proper ciders.  We then walked back to the flat for dessert and  a night cap before Fred and I headed back to the Hotel by tube.  We have had a very enjoyable night together and covered a lot in five hours.

Cheers,

Sandy & Fred                       

December 21 - 22, 2010 - Christmas in London

Greetings All and the best of the season to you.

It has been some time since our last post.  We have been staying close to home as the weather has turned very cold with snow in mid December.  We headed out to London on the 21st as John and Adrienne once again invited us for Christmas. Geoff, Fred's brother, and his wife Tracey arrived in London on the 18th from North Bay and are staying at John's for the holiday.  We drove down on the 21st and booked into Grosvenor House a J.W. Marriott hotel on Park Lane using some of our Marriott points that we have been collecting for a number of years.  The hotel is located across from Hyde Park and makes for a nice walk to John and Adrienne's flat.  After settling in, we drove to the flat to park our car in the visitor parking  as parking at the hotel is crazy expensive.  Forty-two pounds a day I think not.

Once we have greeted everyone and enjoyed some refreshment we headed out to view the lights in the shopping district.  It started to rain while we are doing our tour and hopped into a pub for a quick pick me up before continuing on.  Back at the flat Adrienne and John prepared an amazing sausage pasta for supper with flat bread.  I decided that we could walk back to the hotel but we only made it to Victoria Station as the walking was cold and damp.  We hopped onto the tube, getting off at Hyde Park Corner and ended up doing a bit of extra walking involving stairs and I was somewhat of a unhappy camper.

December 22 - Fred and I meet John, Adrienne, Geoff and Tracey at Borough Market.  Fred and I visit the market every time we are in London as the produce is amazing and there is always some interesting and unusual new things to be found there.  Neals Yard a cheese store, is also at the market and sells Montgomery Cheddar a rich strong cheddar which is one of our favorites.  The picture to the right was taken at a stall selling fresh turkey, pheasant, goose and duck.  It was not until I got home that I noticed the poor bunny hanging in there as well.  We all had lunch at the market at the Fish restaurant.  Fish and chips for four of us, fish rarebit for Adrienne and fish and salad for Tracey.  Cod, Halibut and Haddock were the fish we all consumed and was delish.  After lunch John and Adrienne headed back with their purchases and we headed off to Oxford Street to check out the stores.  Geoff had some last minute shopping to do so he headed off on his own.  Tracey, Fred and I window shopped together and dropped into Selfridges.  We did not last very long as the stores and streets are jammed with people.  Not my idea of a fun experience at all.  Fred and I made sure Tracey got on the right bus to get back to the flat and Fred and I walked back to the hotel to get changed for our night out.  John took us to his golf club Brocket Hall to the Michelin Star Restaurant, Auberge du Lac.  The menu was amazing.  The chef sent out little tastes of food before each course.  Appetizers were tiny smoked salmon rolls, cheddar crackers and a veg on a tiny spoon with creme fresh.  The bread was to die for with four different choices.  Fred's starter was Teal, a type of water fowl, and I had Foie Gras.  Next came another chef special a tiny Jerusalem artichoke soup with white truffle oil.  OMG this was amazing and for me who is not a soup lover, a large bowl of this could have been the whole meal.  The main course for me was Venison and for Fred Duck.  Then another chef taster,  a raspberry lemon foam, followed by dessert.  It was the most decadent chocolate sampler, warm bitter chocolate fondant, milk chocolate and olive oil mousse and vanilla salt and pistachio.  Fred completed his but I actually left some though small it was extremely rich and over the top. To accompany all of this John picked a lovely red wine which neither of us can remember the name of.  Needless to say we all had a fantastic time and this certainly was a very special treat from John to all of us.

Seasons greetings,

Sandy & Fred

October 14, 2010 - What we have been up to.

Hi Ya All,

A typical scouser  greeting as I am sure some of you know.  With the arrival of October I decided that we had to get out and do more.  I was getting bored after having such a great trip in September and afraid we were getting into a rut of playing computer games, watching TV and generally being lazy.  So on good weather days we are getting out to walk and visit local sites.                                                        

Our first trip was to Formby, where there is a National Trust forest and beach by the Irish Sea, about a hours drive away.  The tide was out as you can see from the picture on the right and we had a good walk along the beach. You can walk on up to 21 miles of trails here or as little as a 1/3 of a mile.  We walked about a mile in total covering the beach, dunes and a small forest trail.  The forest in Formby is an important refuge of the Red Squirrel which is an endangered species in the UK.

Our next little trip was to Rufford Old Hall about a hours drive from home and it is another National Trust site.  This is a 16th century Tudor building were it is believed a young William Shakespeare performed with his company for the owner Thomas Hesketh.  We had lunch here before touring the buildings and grounds.  While at lunch a bus load of wrinklies arrived.  In the Great Hall we were informed that the estate is basically a farm.  The screen  as seen in the picture is made of Iron wood and is supposedly movable.  Fred and I were standing in front of it and were asked to push it back by the commentator.  Needless to say it was an impossible task as it weighs well over a ton but it did give all the old folk a good laugh.  The home and land has been in the Hesketh family right up to 1936 when the family could not sell it so they handed it over to the National Trust.  It is called Rufford Old Hall as the family built a new hall a little further down the road.

Our next walk was right along our own promenade.  Indian Summer had finally arrived  and we were continuing to enjoy the great weather.  The breeze off the river was good and we saw cows flying. LOL
Actually there were a number of kites out ranging from bees, horses and just ordinary large ones.

For our next walk we took a 20 minute drive to Crosby and visited Antony Gormley's Another Place.  The Crosby Promenade has been transformed into an art gallery of sorts.  Iron Men formed in the likeness of the artist  Antony Gormley have been embedded in the sand along  a 3 kilometer stretch of the beach and out into the bay.  The tide was out so I was able to walk along the sand and get up close and personal to one of the men.  As you can see he is for the most part anatomically correct . We enjoyed a nice ice-cream cone with a flake while walking the promenade and get in 6 kms with this walk.

Our last outing on October 13th was further afield.  We headed off to Wales and Holyhead on Anglesey for a full day outing.  We had lunch in Holyhead, but it is basically a little port town (car ferries to Ireland).  We traveled back along the coast of Anglesey, but unfortunately, we missed some of the more scenic sites according to Fred's cousin Mark who just loves this area.  We will have to return to this area but in warmer weather to see if it is as good as Mark suggests.     

We have also been to a couple of concerts.  Well one already The John Lennon Songbook a celebration of Johns life on the anniversary of his 70th Birthday on the 9th.  The man portraying John had a uncanny resemblance to him  and the Philharmonic Orchestra was amazing.  This Saturday we return again to the Philharmonic Hall for the Japanese Kodo Drummers.                                     

Well that updates us for now.  If you have access to my Facebook page there are additional pictures posted there.

Ta Ra,

Sandy & Fred

September 15, 2010 - Hampton Court

Greetings All,

Today we headed off to Hampton Court, a Royal Palace, one of only two surviving Palaces of Henry VIII.  The day started out as a real adventure as we got onto the wrong train.  Fred decided we needed to get off at Hampton and thankfully we were only a short bus ride away from the palace.  The palace is located in South West London in the Borough of Richmond on the Thames.

Thomas Wolsey, the Archbishop of York, took over the site in 1514 and over the next seven years spent lavishly to build the finest palace in England.  Wolsey used the existing manor house to form the nucleus of the present day palace.  Much of his design remains today, the same as when he built it.  The Base Court which is the outer court yard contains forty four rooms for guests.  The inner court now known as the Clock Court housed the state apartments reserved for the King and his family.  King Henry stayed here in 1525 as Wolsey's first guest after completing the palace.  Wolsey only enjoyed his palace for three years ,when knowing that his enemies and the king were planing his downfall gave the palace as a gift to Henry in 1528 with Wolsey dieing the following year.

Henry set out with his own rebuilding and expansion program within six months of owning the palace.  The palace was too small for his court which comprised over one thousand people.  The kitchens were the first to be worked on and they were quadrupled in size in 1529.  He then added the Great Hall. Construction took place between 1532 and 1535 and was the most important room of the palace in Henry's time as it was where state dinners were held.

The Copernican Astrological Clock as seen in the picture was installed in 1540.
The clock still functions and tells the time of day, the phases of the moon, the month, the quarter of the year, the date, the sun and star sign, and high water at London Bridge.  The latter information was of great importance to those visiting this Thames-side palace from London, as the preferred method of transport at the time was by barge, and at low water London Bridge created dangerous rapids.

During the Tudor period the palace was the site of many historical events.  In 1537 Henry's son Edward VI was born here and his mother Jane Seymour died two weeks later.  Four years later Henry was informed of his fifth wife's adultery

at mass.  Catherine Howard is said to haunt the gallery leading away from the Chapel.  The chapel is absolutely beautiful.  Pictures are not allowed so we did the next best thing and purchased a post card and scanned it so that we could share it with you on our Flickr site.

On the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, the Tudor reign came to a end.  It was during the reign of the joint monarchs William of Orange and Queen Mary II (1689) that the next major rebuilding of the palace took place.  It was their intention to demolish the Tudor Palace a section at a time replacing it with a modern palace in the Baroque style, keeping only the Great Hall.  Only half of the palace was changed during this time and Henry's state rooms were lost.

The new part of the palace is very different in form to the Tudor style as it is very ornate with huge painted murals covering walls and ceilings.  One would think that these two different styles would seriously clash with each other but they seem to blend together nicely.

Our last stop in the palace was the grounds.  They must look spectacular when everything is in full bloom.  Most of the flower beds have been cleaned for fall or what is left, was on its last legs.  We did head to the maze which was planted in 1690 for William of Orange and covers one third of a acre. We successfully reached the centre of the maze, only making two wrong turns.  As always we did seem to spend alot of time exploring the inside of the palace so we did not cover all the gardens as it is now late in the day and threatening to rain.  A return visit would be in order in the summer when the gardens  would be at their finest.

Before ending the blog I must share that at the Palace today they are celebrating Henry VIII's marriage to his sixth wife, Katherine Parr.  We were given an Order of Service when we entered the grounds.  We were met by guards, greeted and were asked questions pertaining to the wedding. Throughout the day actors toured the grounds in period custom and chat with the guests (tourists).  A rather nice way to bring to life a bit of history.

Well this ends this portion of our travels as we headed back home to Liverpool the next day.  We have had a fantastic three weeks away.





Ta Ra till our next adventure,


Sandy & Fred

September 11-13, 2010 - The Proms & Show

Greetings All,

We are now back in Merry Old England.  The ferry ride back was a bit rougher than the trip over but still rather boring.  Having tried the ferry, which is quite a bit cheaper and slower than the Channel Tunnel, the tunnel is a better choice.  Half a hour and you are in France.

We had tickets for the last night of the BBC Proms (a BBC summer concert program) in Hyde Park. John kindly provided us with cooler bags, folding chairs and a huge umbrella.  We had brought a blanket to sit on and I was happy to have the chairs.  Before we headed off to the park Fred took a final look at the tickets and instructions.  It clearly says no chairs unless you are incapacitated.  We figure my knees can be a good excuse, but being good obeying Canadians we did not take the chairs.  We are no longer going to be nice agreeing Canadians.  There were  literally thousands of folding chairs.  We met a lady who it turns out was from Birkenhead ,which is across the river from us and she said her and her son did the same thing last year, their first time at the proms.  It was one big picnic party on the grass.  The Proms started off with the cast of the Jersey Boys, Serpentine Fire, Nell Bryden and Bjorn Again along with the BBC Orchestra. After this introduction the main start of the prom begins.  While we are waiting a couple of women and I use the term loosely drops their stuff in front off us in what little space there was and started moving other peoples stuff around.  I am standing and Fred is sitting so he moved forward to be sitting on the edge of the blanket thinking she may get the idea that there is not enough room.  After wondering around a bit she came back, sits and asked Fred if he would move back. Unbelievable, Fred said no, that he was quite comfortable were he was.  The lady from Birkenhead asked me if Fred gave her a proper scouse answer.  I laughed and said no he still had too much polite Canadian in him unlike me.  She said she'd tell her in a proper scouse way to bugger off.  Her son chimed in with a "Now Mum".  We had a laugh and ignored the loony tune.  And a loony tune she turns out to be big time.  She started swinging her umbrella around and everyone around us comments and shook their head.  Anyway back to the Proms.  We were entertained by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa a soprano, Jose Carreras, a children's choir, the Royal Choral Society, the BBC Concert Orchestra and last but not least Neil Sedaka .  A great time was had by all and we will certainly do this again.  The video is of the fireworks finale, which we were unaware of so it was caught through the trees.

 

On September 13 we headed to Leicester Square to see what theatre tickets we could get for a show.  We managed to get half price tickets for We Will Rock You.  We dined at a quaint little pub called The Pillars of Hercules.  For those of you who do not know We Will Rock You is a Rock Musical based on Queens Music.  A two hour and forty five minute show that was just fabulous.

Cheers All,


Sandy & Fred