Guy Fawkes Night & Cadbury World

This weekend was our first time "touristing" both days.  Saturday was a visit to Tutbury Castle where we met the Lheureaus and Sunday was Cadbury World where we met the Freys.  We would have met the Freys Saturday also but they ditched us (thanks Steve).

Saturday was 5 Nov which is Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night in England -ever hear of Bonfire Night in Canada Dana?  (For a link explaining the tradition go to http://www.bonfirenight.net/.)  If you read the history in the link it kind of makes you wonder if that is where the term "fall guy" originated.  Probably just a coincidence though.  Anyway, to celebrate the tradition we  were going to meet the Lheureaus and Freys at a local castle (http://www.tutburycastle.com/) to watch Vikings and fire works.  Steve ended up waiting to long to get tickets so it was just us and the Lheureaus celebrating the failed attempt to blow up parliament and the king.  The night was fun for a few reasons - celebrating with friends, our first castle adventure, and fire works.  The gate opened at 6 PM so everything was dark which made taking pictures a little tough.  The castle has some interesting history, it was first recorded in 1071 AD and was a frequent prison for Mary Queen of Scots.  Unfortunately for her it was also the place where she became involved in a plot that led to her execution.  The castle was neat although there wasn't much exploring since it is mostly ruins now.  Even still it was our first castle!  The Vikings were a little disappointing, more on them below.

A few pictures of the event.  Taking photos was a bit of a challenge since visibility was poor so I ended up using the flash to lighten the picture area before I snapped it.  Some of my successful pictures:

One of the Vikings pre-battle.

A block Fleur-de-lis window.  An example of the Norman influence in the construction of the castle.

Waiting for the battle to begin.

The Viking "battle".  It was basically 10 Vikings per side skirmishing until one side is vanquished.  We also had a Viking narrator to describe the battle as it unfolded.  Unfortunately he sounded more like Charlie Brown's teacher than a narrator.  The battle itself was less than real, Karl quit watching when one of the warriors lowered his shield and his opponent didn't split open his skull.  Plus their weapons were dulled (another Karl observation).  Probably geared more towards the wee folk than teenagers.

The chief died in battle so the remaining warriors and family are marching off to his funeral pyre.  The lady in brown in the middle was his wife and from her screaming protestations she was joining hubby on the floating fire boat.

The body of the slain chief.

Funerals were always a family affair.

Still screaming her protests.  She was quite believable.

Paying their final respects.

A couple fire work pics.  Nice fire works but not as nice as 4th of July at home.  Maybe the Brits would match us if Guy had been successful.

The Lheureaus - another RR family over here. 

Sunday - On to Cadbury World!  Kalle was SO excited.  Her teacher had been talking about visiting it all week so Kal was ready to rock.  Her teacher has been there 9 times.

But before we arrived we stopped for brunch at Frankie & Benny's.  Pretty good but I don't recognize some of their dishes, maybe because I'm not from NY? 

Dana Johnson pic of the day.  Triple stack pancakes, three fried eggs and three rashers of bacon.  US bacon since it is an American joint I guess but rashers is a Brit word, or is it a NY word?  The layered presentation surprised us, but Karl and I thought it tasted very good and looked great. 

And finally onto Cadbury World!  Talk about disappointing.  Chocoholic Kalle's teacher had been talking it up most of the week so she was quite excited to go.  We have heard a lot of people talk about it actually but we all ended up being disappointed.  You do get some free samples and some of the history was interesting - the Cadbury's were Quakers so their vice was chocolate instead of alcohol or tobacco.  The chocolate itself was great, smooth and creamy - probably from the one and a half glasses of real dairy milk they kept mentioning.  But the tour itself was not very interactive and the kids weren't that interested in the history of the company.  The website is http://www.cadbury.co.uk for those interested in learning more about the company or history.  Needless to say this will not be a tour stop for any Yanks coming over for a visit.  A "check in the box" as Steve said afterwards.  

The group on our way into Cadbury World.

Map of the site - very large.  The Bournville history was very interesting. 

I made Kalle come back from the ticket line to stand by the poster.  And she did for about 2 seconds, I was probably lucky she stayed that long.  The one and a half glasses of milk is some kind of well known logo for Cadbury's.

Karl standing next to Hernan Cortes, the Spaniard who wiped out the Aztecs and brought the cocoa bean to Europe.

Her favorite part of the tour was signing her name in chocolate.

I think I may add a new topic also - the Dan Stine complaint of the week.  For those who don't know Dan he has the patience of a saint (I am sure living with Christy tests him but he still maintains his cool - love ya Christy!) but I remember him complaining about something on one of our excursions.  I asked him what was wrong and he said nothing, I just like to complain.  So now its my turn.  I collect shot glasses on my travels as reminders of places and I have yet to find a shot glass over here.  None at Ye Olde Trip or Cadbury's.  I may have to switch to coffee cups or pint glasses.  Decisions, decisions. 

Kevin Coleman pic of the day.  Badger beer has been brewed since 1777 per the label.  I bought a sample pack at Costco and the First Gold on the right is one of my favourite beers so far.  The single hop adds body to the beer but doesn't have a strong hop flavor.  Um um good!  Tangle Foot is good as well.  I also enjoy Marston's Smooth on occasion.

Overall I have not found a bad beer yet but don't worry, I will keep looking.  There are a lot of ciders and bitter beers here but I have been trying to avoid them.  I am also looking for some good stouts but they are proving to be elusive so far.

A final note from a previous post - on the last petrol fill up we averaged 29.25 miles per US gallon.  Not as good as I expected.

Thanks for listening,

Jay

Moving in

We finally moved into the house last weekend which feels great.  The house is starting to feel like our home, sans furniture.  Furniture delivery is the 24th so until then...

Dining room table is two end tables pushed together.  Seating is on folding chairs.

Lori and the kids watch TV laying on the rug.  Usually I move one of the dining chairs to sit in.  Karl has not been complaining about playing his Xbox on the 46" TV.

View looking up the central staircase.  It is rather annoying forgetting something on a different floor.  I will be able to work as a Sherpa after two years of this house.

Overall it is very nice being in the house.  We have the basic appliances so meals can be cooked here plus Lori and I have our bed.  The kids beds are coming Thursday, right now they are sharing a blow up mattress.  Not settled but getting closer.

The kids uniform pics as promised.  Kalle LOVES wearing hers, I asked her to take it off before supper last night and she pouted the rest of the night.  Then she complained about it again this morning.  Karl doesn't like his, particularly the dress shoes.  Uncomfortable but necessary.  At least he doesn't have to wear a tie.  Maybe next year as their school uniform is in transition this year.  They both like school so far.

Weather has been great, sunny and 60's every day.  Down to 40's at night so the weather is changing.  I mowed the garden in shorts and t-shirt yesterday so the daytime is very nice.  The days are getting shorter tho - the shadows are getting long after 3 PM and darkness starts around 5.

Not all of the food has been good.  We tried Crispy Slices with blueberry and sultana (a type of grape) which are thin wafers with the fruit between the layers.  Kal is not a fan.

Kal's trick or treating loot.  Candy is similar to US but Halloween is a little different.  It is not as popular here plus the costumes are witch and wizard themed.  We only had 4 kids, not sure if it because of our location or because it was on a Monday.  We did go with our neighbors so I received a small tour of the neighborhood.  Kalle went as Dorothy again this year.  She outgrew the red shoes so Karl suggested she goes as black shoe Dorothy which she did.

A final note on vehicles over here.  There are a lot of Ford, Renault, Vauxhall, Peugeot and BMW's on the roads.  Less common is VW, Citroen, Audi, Fiat, Nissan, Mazda, Mini and Toyota's.  There a few minivans, SUV's and small pickups but not common.  I have seen two full size pickups and only one Chevy, no GM at all.  Most vehicles also have the car manufacturer logo on the center of the wheel which is different then US.

Lori is settling in at work but struggling with the lack of urgency culture here.  Different culture but she is adapting.

Thanks for listening,

Jay

New house pics

Some pics of the new house.

They use skeleton keys for entry doors.  Note the mail slot in the front door.

Kalle on the 1st floor (2nd floor to us Americans) over looking the garden.

It took us awhile to figure out how to get the french doors unlocked.

After looking through the LARGE bag of keys the realtor gave us, we realized that the key to unlock the right side door is not the same as the key for the left side door.  You can imagine how many keys we have....there are 4 sets of french doors (8 keys), a front door (1 key), a back door (1 key), a garage door (1 key -- MIA), 4 window locks (4 keys -- MIA), and a master bedroom window (1 key MIA).  Really? Why would the locks be different? 

Back garden patio.

Coat and shoe closet on the ground floor.

We refer to it as the 1st floor, but the 1st floor to the Brits is the 2nd floor to us.  Can be quite confusing for Lori at work.  They tell her to go to the conference room on the 1st floor and she has to stop think which floor that really is.

 Ground floor toilet

 Sink and mirror in the ground floor toilet

 Standing in the ground floor laundry room, looking towards the front door.  Entrance to the garage is the door on the left by the front door.  The door on the right (near the front door) is the ground floor toilet, and the stairs to the right lead to the upper levels.

A little present from the homeowners.  They're kind enough to let us use their moldy washing machine.  Lori refused to use it and whined until I bought her a new one.  That will be delivered on Friday.

 Ground floor bedroom. Window looks out into the back yard.

 Jay and Karl mowing the backyard.  Kalle standing in the dining room looking out the french doors.  Window to the right of Kalle is the kitchen window (over the sink).  3rd floor is the roof level.

Kalle's view of the back yard from the dining room.

 Karl working hard mowing the lawn with the electric mower.  A LOT more work than the gas powered push mowers we have in the States.

 The yard was soooo long, Karl had to keep stopping and emptying the catcher into the brown recycling bin (below).

Jay and Karl admiring their accomplishment.  Not quite done, but definitely making progress.

 

1st Floor (2nd Floor to we Americans) standing in the hall looking towards the kitchen.  The door way to the right leads into the living room.

Standing in the dining room looking at the kitchen.  Doorway to the left leads into the hallway.  Patio doors to the right is where Kalle is standing in the second picture.

Standing in the living room looking into the dining room.

Living room looking towards the front of the house.

1st floor spare bedroom/den.

We asked for the desk to be removed 2-3 times now.  I guess we have to move it out ourselves.  We have been warned if we put it in the garage and it gets damaged, we will be liable for it. 

2nd floor bathroom #1.  This bathroom is just outside of Kalle's bedroom.  There are 2 bathrooms on the 2nd floor (where the kids will sleep).

Kalle's bedroom facing the back of the house. 

Another view of Kalle's bedroom.

Karl's rooms facing the front of the house.

Another view of Karl's bedroom looking out towards the front of the house.

Bathroom in Karl's room.

He's already been warned that he will be moving out of his room when company comes.

Small loft at the top of the stairs (3rd floor to the Brits, 4th floor to us).

Master Bedroom on the 3rd floor with our new Ikea lamps.  The bed will be delivered on Wednesday.

Dressing room next to the master bedroom.  This is where Lori will have to get dressed and do her hair in the mornings.  There are no outlets allowed in the bathrooms except those needed for shavers, so we'll have to set up a table and mirror in here for her.

Master Bathroom on the 3rd floor.

Another view of the master bedroom looking towards the master bedroom.  The towel rack as shown on the right are all plugged in and are supposed to be heated.

Standing on the 3rd floor looking down the staircase.

View looking at the driveway.  Garage is in front of car and front door is in front on sand colored tiles.

Spare room with free couch.  I am sure the couch will look much better in the GAY-raj as they say over here.  Now that I type this I realize that I didn't take a garage pic.  It is your basic less than one car English garage, not used for a car just to collect junk.

Garden view pre-Karl's mowing.

Front view of house.  We are on a hill so the driveway is sloped a little.

Thanks for listening,

Jay