On About Christmas

We went to York to meet Father Christmas at the top of Clifford’s Tower. The closer we got to York the thicker the fog became. Upon arrival, we climbed the steps up to Clifford’s Tower and then up the narrow, twisting staircase to where Father Christmas had finished telling stories to the boys, girls, and Asian tourists. Isaac and Luke were a little nervous, but managed to say hello. We walked with St. Nick along to top of the tower waving to all the people arriving for the St Nicholas Fayre Market.



I was able to take two days off of work for Dionne and I to travel down to Stratford-upon-Avon to attend Romeo and Juliet by the Royal Shakespeare Company. We visited the Anne Hathaway Cottage--the childhood home of Shakespeare's wife. The home was picture perfect as a quintessential old English cottage. Our tour guide had us sit on the settle seat next to the fireplace which tradition holds that William and Anne also sat while courting. This is suspect based on the piece being dated from a later time period and the fact that Anne was twenty-six years old and pregnant, while William was only eighteen when they rushed to marry. There was probably not an open courtship as William was a “boy toy,” our guide explained. Afterwards, we strolled in and out of the shops in Stratford on our way to the Courtyard Theatre.


Finally, we've had our first real snow since arriving in England. Five or more inches before Christmas. We built a snowman and used Hersheys Kisses for the eyes, biscuit for the nose, and pretzels for the mouth. As I was shoveling the walkway, I hear Isaac yell, "Daaaad, Luke ate the snowman's face!" Dionne made us hot soup and sandwiches for lunch with a few snowman eyes and noses for dessert.