Shirley and George Visit the UK, Part I

On Saturday, Noah and I walked downtown to pick up our 7-seater rental car. Although the car would be average-sized on American roads, it was a boat in Bath. So, it was not easy navigating the stick-shift behemoth through the tiny, twisty streets. On the way home, Noah and I did make a stop by the farmers market for some fresh bread, olives, veggies, and fruit before heading home.

Noah accompanied me to the train station to pick up Shirley and George. As the throng of train travels came down the passageway, we heard screeching and saw a crazy American woman waving her arms and running for us. Big hugs were shared. Once we settled at home, the 6-person crew headed for a little walk to Sham castle before dinner.

As mom and George slept in and the kids played, Rachelle and I went to a pre-Christmas party. We enjoyed mulled wine and minced meat pies with some friends. We returned home and rounded up the troops for a tour of two of the more famous pagan sites for the winter's solstice - Stonehenge and Avbury. Along with a handful of Druids, we made our pilgrimage to Stonehenge and mom and George enjoyed walking around the stone circle on the blustery day. Avebury is a small town, which sits within the large stone circle that dates back to around 2100 BC. As we walked among the huge stones, we enjoyed the Druids with their robes, beards, staffs, drums, and loud howls to nature.

The following day we walked around downtown Bath (see picture of Noah and Shirley by the Royal Crescent) and popped into the Roman Baths for a tour. We then left mom and George and their bathing suits at the modern Bath Therme Spa for their Hannukah present of an evening of jacuzzis, steam rooms, warm pools, and a light meal. They came home serene and slept well.

On Tuesday, we headed into the Cotswalds. First, we stopped for lunch and a walk around Bibury, one of the handful of towns claiming "England's Prettiest Town" honors. See video. We then drove to Upper Slaughter to do the Slaughter Ramble - a mile walk between Upper and Lower Slaughter. The walk follows a brook with stone bridges and lined with small stone homes. Although the Cohens had done these trips before, it was quite different in the winter. That said, the drop in temperature did not keep Noah and Liv out of the creek. That evening we attended Chris Tingle at St. Stephens Church. Together with a crowd of Bath folks, we sang Christmas songs and the kids held oranges with candles stuck in the middle. Noah and Liv enjoyed seeing some of their mates and we introduced the grandparents around to some of our friends. I guess that George and Rachelle did not get their Jesus fill, and they headed downtown for a midnight mass at the Bath Abbey. The place was packed, but by some divine intervention, someone plucked Rachelle and George out of the crowd and let them sit on the stage for the event. They came home late but glowing from the experience.



On Wednesday we split up. I stayed home with Liv and Noah - who had had enough of site seeing - and Rachelle took the grandparents to Wells (see picture of George and Shirley by the Wells Cathedral). Mom and George loved the ancient cathedral and medieval town. They also had a pleasant grownup, slow-paced meal without the kiddies.

Christmas morning was full of present opening and snuggling in front of the tree. We then walked around the empty downtown Bath and ended the tour with some time at the Royal Victoria park, where the kids could run wild. This was especially memorable for Shirley's trip down the big slide. We all witnessed her shoot out of the tube like a bullet and come to rest flat on her back safely in the dirt about 3 feet from the end of the slide. In the late afternoon, I set up the new badminton net (Christmas present from grandpa Mike and grandma Janina). Noah could not get enough and repeatedly challenged us to matches until bedtime. See the picture of Shirley in action.

Boxing Day (the day after Christmas when you box up things for charity) was another divide and conquer day. I took Shirley and George to Castle Combe (another town that claims to be the prettiest in England) and Rachelle stayed home with the little rascals. Mom, George, and I enjoyed walking through the gorgeous town, another grownup meal, and and then we went for a hike. We bought a guide book of walks and the woman told us that this particular walk was very well marked and we couldn't get lost (cue foreboding music). After a few miles of hiking, we did get lost. Fortunately, there was a fit Brit family of 5 who had a better map and we followed them. They were confident that we would not get lost (cue music score again). The band of 8 got lost (off the map) and ended up in a pretty and tiny town with a great church and a peacock. We followed a road, occasionally stepping into the weeds to avoid cars, and eventually found our way back to Castle Combe.

Boxing Day dinner was a great feast held in the Parkin residence shared space. Kevin, Janet, and Kaidyn joined us for the lighting of the Hannukah candles and a dinner of salmon, vegetable pie, salad, mushrooms, good wine and beer, and lots of other goodies. There were plenty of desserts including yummy chocolate oranges, minced-meat pies, chocolate pies, and pumpkin pie (Shirley smuggled in 2 cans of pumpkin from the U.S. for Rachelle). Before we were able to fully digest the wonderful meal, Noah managed to coax Kevin, George, and me outside into the cold for a 2 on 2 badminton game. We all slept well that night, and were excited about our upcoming trip to the English coast.