Southbank Christmas Market & a Day in Kent

Many of the plans I made for the moms' two week trip were dependent on open hours during the holidays. This meant that some days were packed full of activities, and others were completed devoid of plans. The first two days were the former, a little shock to the system for these two jet-lagged ladies.

Saturday, December 21
I knew that Joe would have to work, so I planned a few things he wouldn't mind missing. First up was a quick visit to the UCL campus, just so my mom could see where I'm going to school. Then it was on to T. K. Maxx in Charing Cross. Both moms are fans of American T. J. Maxx and find it very funny that the same store exists here just with one letter difference in the name.

The real goal for the day, though, was the Christmas and Real Food markets at the Southbank Centre across the river. The real food market was only on 20 - 22 December, so I didn't have a lot of choice if I wanted to get them there. My mom and I are foodies and will plan every part of our free time around finding, making, and enjoying good food. Since Janis is so flexible and up for anything, she got to experience my foodie version of London, too.

large, fresh, warm bruschetta

hot mulled wine with brandy... and later with amaretto!

Just beyond the market, two sites that are super London-y:
the London Eye & Big Ben/Parliament

cold, wet, and crowded but still fun

After the market, we headed back north. There was a trip to Marks & Spencer for Christmas meal ingredients and then we all collapsed at Strada for a light dinner, a few drinks, and lots of sitting. I think I may have scared both moms (but especially Janis, who asked Joe if I was trying to kill her) by pushing on through such a long day in the cold and rain. We were exhausted!

Sunday, December 22

Despite being completely spent by the end of the day previous, we already had a tour booked for Sunday that would take us out of London into County Kent. This journey required an early wake-up and (because I'm actually not as good at planning this stuff as I pretend to be) I'd completely forgotten that the busses don't really get going until after 9 on Sunday mornings. Oops! When I left my flat to meet the moms it was still dark and the busses were running 15 or 20 minutes in between...

The tour was run by Globe Trips and I would recommend it overall. We headed first to Leeds Castle, which (strangely) is not actually in Leeds. I picked this tour and tour date mostly because this particular castle was to be decorated for Christmas and this was the last day that the decorations were guaranteed. Plus there was a small Christmas market on the grounds this weekend as well. For my purpose of showing the moms a British Christmas (to the best of my American abilities), this seemed ideal. I also found out later that both Leeds Castle and Canterbury Cathedral on the list of 1000 Places to See Before You Die, so check, check!

drinking mead in the library

me and mom with the three story peacock tree

The castle was interesting and we learned a bit about Henry VIII, who spent a considerable amount of time here. Janis was excited because she recognized a lot of the history from The Tudors (a show I'm planning to start watching when Joe is home in California for a week later this month).

From there we travelled to Canterbury for the famous cathedral. I fell asleep on the bus ride and missed the background lecture, but I figure I've read and taught Canterbury Tales enough to have the gist of this particular monument's significance.

the characters on these windows looked like they were animated by Disney

a little Christmas cheer happening here, too

The last stop in Kent was on the coast at the "white cliffs of Dover." I was particularly excited about this stop because it is the setting for one of my favorite poems, "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold. I'll admit that I was sorely disappointed to find, not the 1850s Dover of my imaginings, but a seaside tourist trap with run down hotels and shops all along the bottom of the cliffs. We didn't get very close the to cliff-base at all, and from the distance they weren't as imposing as I'd expecting.

the rocky beaches here gave Arnold his chance for onomatopoeia in the poem

We headed back to London as the sun was setting. We were all exhausted and decided to skip the tour's last stop, a catamaran ride down the Thames, because it was far too cold to be on an open boat on a river in the dark. Instead we stopped in Greenwich and had a tea and then met Joe for dinner at Wahaca, the closest we've found to good Mexican food in London.

"Dover Beach"
by Matthew Arnold
c. 1851

The sea is calm to-night.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits;--on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanch'd land,
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.

Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the {AE}gean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.

The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.

Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.