A Visit to Hampton Court Palace

With our family pass good for one year to the Historic Royal Palaces, we decided to check out Christmas at Hampton Court Palace.  This was Henry VIII's favorite palace and to celebrate the holiday, the palace was decorated as it might have been for the first Christmas that he spent there with his third wife, Jane Seymour.  To help us really appreciate it more, there were costumed interpreters throughout engaging us in conversation.  Lord Thomas Howard was there helping me convince Jacob to join the King's army.  Jacob didn't seem very interested.  He also doesn't think I'm serious when I tell him he better get into an Academy if he wants to go to college!  There were some frantic ladies who heard the king was returning early from his morning hunt and we all had to get outside to welcome the king.  Oh, we did! 

In front of the Palace

They have some decorations throughout.

Thomas Howard in a Privy Council meeting just after trying to recruit Jacob

Loved this Hall!

We all kneeled for the King!

After welcoming the king back to the palace we were in just the right spot to catch the jester's show in the courtyard.  He told us of how he had only just been hired for the holiday season to come to court.  He was then overwhelmed to look across the crowd of people and notice his long lost uncle in the courtyard!  He asked us to part for his uncle to run to him and show him how much he was missed!  When we turned around the kids and I were particularly amused to see his "uncle" coming through the crowd!

They then skipped through the crowds to find their way to the "king" to show him their special trick.  Steve was so good at keeping in character. 

After doing the handstand, the Jester had to properly "thank" his uncle with a HUGE KISS!  Katie was taking pictures here because the kids were all near the front of the group and she would get a better shot, but she was in such SHOCK at the sight that she didn't think to take a picture of it!  I am certain that Steve is grateful for that!  Dag nab it...that picture would have been perfect right here in a blog on the internet!

Thoroughly amused for the afternoon, we got a quick bite at a cafe in the gardens and took a walk through the hedge maze and around the grounds.  Although overcast, the weather was fairly warm for the time of year and we were happy to spend the day at the palace.

Really...flowers in bloom on 27 December!

Can we find our way through the maze?!

The kids "Tebowing" as they had managed to get to the center of the maze!

Christmas Holidays in England

Once I was home from Germany, all eyes were focused on Sunday...Christmas day!  Steve actually had to go out of town for business from the 21st to the 22nd, so that gave the kids and I some time to get shopping for Daddy completed.  I even was able to get wrapping done.  But as it is the school "hols" (short for holidays in UK speak), I felt compelled to get out of the house and "do" something.  The kids voted on going to the Tower of London.  Never one to shy away from a sightseeing adventure, I said sure and we grabbed our things (camera, snacks, backpack and internet confirmation of prepurchased tickets) and headed for the train.

We took the train into London Waterloo and two tubes to Tower Hill.  It was surprisingly not crowded.  We were able to move easily through the tower and hear costumed interpreters.  We were soon ready for some lunch and since I had purchased a membership to the royal palaces, we were able to freely leave the Tower and look outside for lunch.  We stumbled on a hole in the wall of a pizza place and managed to get pizza and drinks for the four of us for 13 pounds!  A bargain in London...or anywhere in the UK and almost a fourth of the cost of the train tickets into the city.  On our way back into the Tower we saw a sign for a free iphone app called Escape from the Tower and they even had a wi-fi hotspot right there for downloading.  A few moments later and we were armed with technology to make this visit more interactive and exciting (and don't tell the kids...educational).  Other than having to turn up the volume on my iphone to the highest level and worrying that we might be disturbing the other visitors, it's a great app.  Truth be told, the other visitors are all holding those audio wands up to their ears and listening to some tour guide and for the groups around Wardens giving tours, we would move away to be considerate.  The App has you choose one of four characters to save from the tower.  It then takes you to different places in the tower to tell you the story of the escapee as you find the tools to help him escape.  As you go, you earn coins and can go on to free the other characters.  We freed two and know we will end up going back so will vow to aid the other two on our future visit!  Two prisoners that could not be saved were the two little princes and their story is highlighted in the app and then in one part of the tower.  Katie seemed particularly disturbed by this story.  After a fun day in London, we were home in time to make dinner.

Friday and Saturday were spent baking cookies and cleaning the house.  I am always fearful that Santa won't leave me any presents if the house isn't picked up and it will look bad in the morning photos too.  We had dinner reservations for 5pm at a chain restaurant called Frankie and Benny's: New York Italian Bar and Restuarant.  We knew the kids would all find something that they liked to eat here!  After dinner we walked over to the chuch we have been visited a few times for their 6:30 carol service.  This was the latest service of the evening at this church.

Opening the traditional Christmas Crackers!

When we got to church people were gathering in the fellowship area and drinking mulled wine!  After wine at dinner, I was thinking I might fall asleep during the service if I had too much mulled wine before.  The service was nice although the kids didn't like having to keep getting up and down to sing another song.  What I found interesting was that we sang 8 carols before we got to one that I had heard before!  The 9th hymn was a Charles Wesley Hymn, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and since it is a Methodist church, you would expect that at least that would be sung.  (For those of you who are not Methodist, John Wesley is the founder of Methodism and his brother, Charles, wrote many hymns that are common to all Christians.)  Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful followed.   We were home with plenty of time to relax over brownie sundaes for dessert and watch The Muppets Christmas Carol before saying good bye to our Elf on the Shelf, putting out cookies for Santa, and sprinkling reindeer food on the driveway. 

Christmas morning was the traditional craziness of presents.  Santa did in fact find us at our new address in England.  Our tradition the past several years has been to go to the movies on Christmas day, but I had investigated a few weeks earlier and learned that the theater would be closed.  Oh, well, it's a good thing the family got some new games for the entertainment systems for Christmas.  It was just the five of us until we managed to Skype family back home. 

Santa Was Here!

No opening presents until Mom gets the obligatory snapshot.

Monday was Boxing Day in the UK.  Besides being the crazy shopping day it is in the US, it is a holiday for most companies.  We decided to partake in another one of the British holiday traditions by going to a "Panto."  A Panto is short for Christmas Pantomime and has nothing to do with "mimes!"  It is when the Brits take a traditional story and spoof it up a bit and get the audience involved in the truly British comedy way.  We saw a Peter Pan Panto.  We "booed" whenever Captain Hook appeared.  We got up and sang along to the crazy 12 gifts of Christmas (you should see what the captain gave his crew!).  We had fun keeping up with the Brits and plan to keep Panto in our plans for next year.  After the show we were treated to an all American dinner of Skyline Chili at the home of friends who live around the corner from the theater.  It actually made a great end to the holiday celebrating!

Getting ready for the Panto!

We hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and know that our house is open if you feel like celebrating the holidays next year in a British way!

Christkindlmarkt in Munchen (Munich)

Last weekend, I had a chance to escape the day to day of mommyhood and meet up with Allison Bergstrom for a Girls Only weekend.  We met in Munich to spend a few days scouring the Christmas markets of the city and take advantage of the numerous beer houses.  The proliferation of gluehwein stalls kept us going between the beer.

I arrived in Munich an hour later than planned due to Friday evening delays, so we started our weekend with a very late night dinner at about 11pm.  Allison had been waiting patiently in the hotel lobby for me, nursing a glass of wine or two and enjoying the facetime.  We were in the center of the city, just around the block from the main Christmas market.  In addition, we were around the corner the other way from the Hofbrauhaus, another Munich tradition.  We actually headed across the street from the Hofbrauhaus to the Hard Rock Cafe which was actually one of the very few places with a grill still going that late.  If you know the de Waards, then you know our quirky affinity toward HRC.  It started when we lived in Holland and needed a good fix of American food every once in a while.  It also is one place that has something on the menu that all three kids will want for dinner, making it a good stop for at least one meal in all the major European cities.  So, weinerschnitzel would have to wait a day, and we indulged in American fare for our first evening. 

Our second day started late, because we could!  We found a continental breakfast in a coffee shop off of the Town Hall square.  With a caffeine injection we were able to start our prowl of the city.  The first market we hit was the main one at the Town Hall.  We even caught the Glockenspiel play at noon!  (sometimes it pays to get up late...)

Munich Christmas Market

Glockenspiel at Town Hall

We perused the stalls and wandered down streets in just about every direction.  We had a map, but we weren't really using it, rather opting to follow the crowds.  Before one o'clock we had our first mug of gluhwein: spicy and warm to get us in the spirit of the markets.

We found our way to the Manger Market and then on to an ice rink at Karlsplatz.  From there we continued checking out the multitude of gift ideas by wandering over to the market at Sendlinger Tor.  Where the market at the town hall (Marienplatz) was mostly Christmas decorations and the nativity market mostly creches and the figures to fill the creche, this market actually had a wonderful selection of gift items.  Still not ready to buy, we mostly looked, but as we had not yet hit the beer houses, we remembered where we found the things we liked most!

Viktualienmarkt in Munich...yet another one!

With more and more lights coming on and the sun setting, our feet were getting a bit weary.  Fortunately, the Hackerhaus appeared before us and a plate of frites and two pints of beer (actually half liters) gave us the needed respite from the markets.  After an evening tour of the market at Marienplatz, we were ready to find a place for dinner.  Our first idea was to attempt diving for a table at the Hofbrauhaus; this is the most famous beer house in Munich and apparently in the 1001 places to see before you die.  Surprising as this may be for many of you, Alli and I were unable to commandeer a table!

We decided to try our luck across the street at the Augustiner am Platzl.  We were able to slide into a table as a couple got up to leave but now the difficult part came.  We had to get the attention of a waitress!  The waitresses here and it seems everywhere in the center of Munich wear the traditional Bavarian dress, which I guess leads to the cantankerous looks on their faces.  When we did catch her to order beer she was not all smiles and helpfullness.  Actually two gentlemen at a talbe near us who has also just sat down stepped in to make sure we actually ordered a beer that would agree with our American palettes. She brought us the beers but then seemed to ignore our desperate glares imploring her to take our food orders.  We had ordered Liters of beer, so I guess she figured she had plenty of time to get back to us, but I needed to get food in my stomach if I was going to be able to walk out of the restaurant with a liter of beer in it!  Apparently, the tables around us were having a similar problem, yet every time she walked by our area, she kept her scowl firmly pasted and her head down.  Uggh.  Finally we did get to place an order for two schnitzels.  She asked us something about the order, I have no idea what, buy I said "sure" and she actually smiled!  Alli saw it!  After a liter of beer, I was very tempted to ask her if I could get my picture taken with her, but was still sober enough to think better of it!

After dinner, it still seemed early at 9:45, so we headed back to the Hofbrauhaus and had much better luck at landing a table.  When in Germany do as the Germans do, so we ordered another liter each!  A younger Italian couple sat down next to us and the fun of the beer house commenced.  We learned that Francesca and Sergio were also on vacation for the weekend and that Sergio could not speak any English, or German!  Francesca was doing all the translating, which we found amusing as we could talk about Sergio right in front of him!  He was a really good sport and even bought us each another half liter!  (Have you been keeping track and doing the math.  I'll help you out, the total for the day was 3 liters!) Thankfully the Hofbrauhaus closes at 11:30 so we could still walk home.

Sunday was another late start.  Not surprising, I'm sure.  We actually found a really nice cafe across the street from the hotel where we had brunch the next three mornings.  The waitress was particularly cheery and helpful and told us of another market to check out.  With no specific plan for the day, we took her advice and wandered deep into the Englischer Garten to a market at the pagoda where in the summer a lively beer garden is waiting.  The brisk air made for a great walk.  We even saw the river where people actually surf!  There were about half a dozen crazy people in wet suits attempting the waves in the frosty afternoon.  A light snow had blanketed the area and kids were even managing to find small slopes for sledding and enough snow to make mini snowmen.  After our trip to that market we found the Medieval market at the Odeonsplatz and the snow started falling!  It was big, heavy flakes that soak your hair and wool coats.  Not able to enjoy the market we found shelter in a Starbucks. One thing nice is that you can pretty much order in English and it's all the same so you don't feel guilty not trying a few words of German beyond "Danke." 

Sunday evening we made our way back to the Marienplatz market for the 500 year-old tradition of the Krampus Run.  This is an obscure  tradition where members of the Sparifankerl Pass dress up in archaic costumes and run through the crowded market.  With only a photo on the website to go by, we were interested to see what this was all about.  We made our way over to a gluhwein stall and found warm beverages to spin us in the Christmas market mood.  Suddenly, we heard crazy cow bell type clanging from across the square and these crazy figures appeared.  They characters would come around with switches and snap at your legs with them and get right in your face.  Oh, the little boy who was not so happy to have a Krampus in his face!  If you think Santa is scary, you cannot even imagine the level of fear leveled by these guys!  Below is a picture of Alli with one of them.

After completing most of our shopping on Sunday, Alli and I took the time to actually do some sightseeing on Monday.  We visited the Residenz in Munich which had been the political and cultural center of dukes, electors and lastly kings of Bavaria.  Amazingly it has been mostly rebuilt after being more than 90% leveled during WWII.  The grotto courtyard, the antiquarium and the church of All Saints were the highlights.  We then climbed the 306 steps to the top of St. Peter's church for great views of the city.

We had a great time in Munich and I would actually go back again.  I bet it would be lots of fun in the summer!  Below are a few photos from the market.  Many thanks to Allison for being my drinking buddy and guide for the weekend.  Merry Christmas everyone!



Lebkuken and other treats




Ornaments



Nutcrackers!