Somerset County, England
England was a delightful first trip out of Madrid. Kate, Duncan, and Isla (and Bernice the Praying Mantis) welcomed me into their home with such candor and warmth that made it really hard to leave and go back to work. Some of the quintissential food I tried while in England: fish pie with minty peas, Cornish pasties, fish and chips, parsnip and carrot casserole.
The second day Kate, and Duncan both had to work so I took the train to Bath. Bath is central to Jane Austen novels, the home of some incredible Roman ruins, and a ritzy old neighboorhood. A great place for a day trip alone. I had about a half hour until the train came to the Bridgewater Station that morning, so I had some breakfast at Dave's Diner. Bridgewater is a semi-depressed city known for its sketchy schools and fall from grace. Dave's Diner is a little trailer with a grill and a cheerful Dave to serve you. The regulars teased me for my American Accent, made fun of themselves for their own brogue, and smiled their slightly suffering teeth at me. They gave me all kinds of advice for when I arrived in Bath and were genuinely sweet men. Dave gave me a diner mug as a token of my lovely morning.
Bath itself was brilliant. The people were friendly, there was a Christmas Fair full of yummy sweets and delightful smells, I ate two mind-blowingly satsifying Cornish pasties, the architecture was quintessential England, and the Roman Baths fascinating.
Cider Farm
I didn't see a single Donkey.
Duncan drinks a little Cider...
Kate and Isla at the Cider Farm. Isla is ridiculously cute. Kate is ridiculously beautiful. Duncan is just ridiculous. ;)
Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday
Before dinner we paused long enough for George to snap this picture. It was a painful pause for Duncan, as you can see, and for Baby Bump (located below Kate's plate and sqirming with excitement).
Duncan's dad, George, surprised us on Saturday by showing up for our Thanksgiving celebration. George is such a bright and shining personality--even if he kicked my butt at Bananagrams. It was great to see Duncan with a part of his family. I even got to talk to Sheila, Duncan's mum, over the internet and phone after we'd talked to the Stolmeiers on Orcas and my family in Bellingham. I felt so at home with Kate and Duncan, George and Isla, that I didn't even realize that it was my first Thanksgiving without mom and dad. How amazing is that? To be surrounded by loving family when nearly halfway around the world is an incredible feeling. And to be able to see and hear my dear family made the distance just a little shorter this holiday. I am a very lucky girl.
George and Sheila are so generous that they even brought gifts for me! This wine is from Bellingham, Scotland and very tasty. Sheila sent me some lovely almond lotion and an incredibly soft pink scarf. How did she guess my fondness for scarves? It came in handy later when Duncan brought out the fireworks and gave us a show out in the bitter cold.
Turkey notes are a wonderful tradition in my family, dating back to the years the Stolmeier family lived in Davenport, IA. This year Duncan and George brightened my holiday with these Turkey Notes:
By George
Turkey Jamie knows a lot
But I'm beginning to suspect she's lost the plot;
A walking dictionary of all things Obama,
She suffered a heavy defeat when she played George Bananas!
By Duncan
Turkey Jamie,
You've got a boy's name.
They forced you out of America,
and they hate you in Spain.
My family sent me the turkey notes they wrote to me at the Forslund Thanksgiving:
By Shelley
Turkey one, turkey two, Turkey three, turkey four,
We are sending mucho amor. Turkey five, Turkey six, on your blog are lots of pics. Turkey seven, Turkey eight, to skype you today was truly great! Turkey nine, Turkey ten, you won't believe the size of Ben! Turkey eleven, Turkey twelve, deeper into email
... Read Morewe will delve. Turkey thirteen, Turkey fourteen, you are our splendid Spanish queen! Turkey fifteen, Turkey sixteen, though for us an ocean is in between....
Turkey seventeen, Turkey eighteen, contact from us is sometimes lean. Turkey nineteen, Turkey twenty, we love you, love you, love you plenty!
By Mark and Sarah
Hola neccesito por favor escargo
Adios gracias aqui E Spain.... E
Pez turquia delicia largo
This Thanksgiving we're thinking of you... JamieBy Greta
There is only one you, and only one me
and there's nothing better than a turkey feast!
Duncan is known for his formidable skills in the kitchen. This turkey was very fresh--probably killed just days before. And your eyes are not deceiving you, that's bacon and butter protecting the white meat from drying out. Before the butter was topped on, Duncan had poured a special concoction over the turkey and bacon. On top of the butter, he layered baking paper and then foil. Let me tell you, it was an ordeal. My stuffing was incredible, Duncan snuck in a few sausages and the juicy meat, fresh bakery bread, and fresh picked herbs from the MacRae garden (not to mention the half bottle of white wine) made it out of this world good. I think next Thanksgiving, wherever I am, I'll be dreaming of that juicy turkey, perfect pumpkin pie, cheesy parsnips, savory brussel sprouts, and delightful stuffing. Go Team!
Bath
This pasty contained chicken and leek and other unidentifiable deliciousness. Mmmmmm...
This kind of architecture makes me swoon.
Me, on the Crescent lawn, pretending to be a Jane Austen heroine.
This is the Crescent. It's the site of many a Jane Austen heroine's walk.
The door on the far right is Nicolas Cage's front door, according to Martin. Unfortunately I forgot to ask Martin where Johnny Depp's house is in Bath. Kate nearly killed me when she found out I'd missed Johnny altogether. I know, right? Johnny Depp vs. Cage? No question. I'll never make it as a celebrity stalker.
Martin, my new friend.
The Jane Austen Center was fairly lame. It did boast this mannequin and a great Georgian impersonator, which at least made for some good pictures. And isn't that the point of traveling? But it was good to be given a review of events in her novels that took place in Bath since I haven't read an Austen novel in a few years. My favorite Jane Austen is Persuasion which has the most plot in Bath. I walked down the same streets as my favorite characters!
Christmas Fair
This is the Pump Room, a restaurant and tea room where you can still drink the waters of the hot spring that Jane Austen's characters drank for health, the Romans found holy, and the early Celtic people revered. I hear it's disgusting.
If I remember correctly, this is a pool in the Tepidarium. The bottom sparkles from the Sterling tourists toss into the bath. I'd have tossed Sterling too if it wasn't so strong against the Euro....
This is the main pool. It was hard to photograph because the pool is now in the open air (roofs being the first thing to go in ruins) and the heat of the water caused quite a bit of fog in the cold air.
Some of the artifacts were fairly beaten up and others very well preserved. Most of them were in the open air. I couldn't help but finger the mysterious signature of a stone mason made nearly two thousand years ago and imagine the emotions, the sweat, the chaos that surrounded that day when the marks were made. I touched something crafted so long ago that we have no knowledge of its meaning or purpose.
Almost right across the street from the train station in Bath is an antiquarian bookshop. The upper floor houses ridiculously expensive first editions of Austen, Dickens, Hemmingway, and other greats. Nothing on the first floor is less than one thousand pounds. Downstairs is a "normal" used book area full of really old lovely tomes of every subject imaginable. There are also some more modern books. I purchased
The Girls for Kate (one of my favorites) as well as two antiques for myself,
Selected English Short Stories (ca. 1916) and
The "New Guide" Histories (ca. 1940). It was lovely to breathe in the dry air of old books and leaf through the silence of a bookstore full of English Language books.
Train ride sun rise. It was a melancholy misty day with patches of bright sunlight, rolling hills, sheep, and hedgerows. The farmland swept by in a patchwork of low stone walls, craggly trees, and blackberry bushes. Commuters sat morosely by; I imagined that they could see the tourist in me even before I brought out my camera.
Wells
The first day in Somerset County Kate and Isla took me to Wells. Wells is a quaint little town with a large cathedral and the Bishop's Palace Ruins. It was very cold but fun.
The streets of Wells were filled with retirees and townsfolk. There was no sign of the hooded hooligans from "Hot Fuzz," the absolutely fabulous cop movie that was filmed here. Kate and Duncan made me watch the movie while I was there and I laughed pretty hard. Cop comedies have become some of my favorites thanks to my friends Booker (yes, there is a cop named Booker in this crazy world) and Todd. The movie was even better having been to the city just the day before.
The oldest longest inhabited street in Europe. The building have been continually inhabited since 1130 AD (I think) without much rennovation. The doors are small. Were the people smaller too?
The Wells Cathedral was pretty cool. I haven't been hitting up many churches (Madrid isn't excatly known for its religious convictions) and so I'm not "cathedraled out" yet.
The Bishop's Palace wall as the sun came out. Sigh... fairytale beauty...
Wells Cathedral with the actual wells (natural spring) in the foreground. The wells just look like ponds at first but all that water feeds the moat and the can be streaming off into various directions.
The Moat.
The little tower off in the distance atop that hill is the Toer something-something that marks the grave of King Arthur. Supposedly.
The Bishop's Garden hosts sculpture as one of it's attractions. When we came they were dismantling a display. Most of the animal sculptures were these crazy boars. This one was particularly friendly.
A really old ceiling in the ruins of the Bishop's Palace. Probably built in the Middle Ages. I love the complexity of the design.
Entrance to the Bishop's Gardens. I couldn't help but think of my brother Mark and how obsessed he and I were with castles, moats, and knights. Remember the Lego castle and watching Sword in the Stone with Spaghetti-os?
The view from my window at Sunnyside Cottage, Somerset. Kate and Duncan had just bought a new bed for Isla and it was ridiculously comfortable. Off to the left I could see sheep!
It was amazing to spend time in a country that speaks my language. There are a lot of signs in English in Madrid, but to have all signs and labels in English (though some phrases were very different) and to be able to eavesdrop again was really exciting in a strange way. The best part was being able to have long conversations with strangers. My Spanish is improving, but I'm still at the level of a toddler as far as conversational skill. I had so many warm little interactions through the day that I hardly realized I was traveling alone.
