The White House, St. Helen's

August 11, 2010

The four of us, Catherine, Donal, Joshua, and I, have just returned from dinner at The Bottle and Glass, a local pub in St. Helen's. Our table was in the corner of a warmly lit room, and our table was crammed with all sorts of good food. To share, we had warm brie with toasted baguette and savory chutney, as well as an assortment of grilled salmon, pickled herring, shrimp, and roe. Joshua revisited bangers and mash, while Catherine and I enjoyed fish with new potatoes and green beans. Donal ate Barbecue with sweet potato chips, but eschewed the coleslaw. We all agreed that mayonnaise is overrated. For drinks, I ordered a ginger beer as a treat. This is no Canadian Ale; ginger beer in England is spicy and startling to the sinuses. I love it.

This morning, we woke up and had breakfast with Catherine at the kitchen table. While we ate fruit and drank tea, we chatted continuously. Catherine is another woman with the great gift of gab, and I can just imagine Mandy and Catherine talking up a storm. I think they must have very fit vocal chords :)

Once we finished breakfast, we hopped in the car and drove to Old Rufford Hall, a National Trust Property that was built in 1530. This beautiful Tudor building was painted black and white during the Victorian period, and the result is striking. To begin, we walked around the gardens which have been perfectly manicured. Little children ran around with clipboards the size of their torsos, searching for garden gnomes. Once they found one of these brightly painted gnomes, they would write down their names, carefully forming the letters of gnomes called Dave, Ken, and Niles. They were singularly focused, and it was fun to see a historical setting enlivened by children running around on a treasure hunt.

Inside the building, we followed a tour, and we listened to the family saga of the Haskeths, the family who had originally owned this property. It's actually pretty fun to explore of the rooms fully done up in their period regalia: in the dining room, the table is set with fine china and seashell shaped spoon warmers, and in the sitting room, large oil paintings framed ornate and ancient settees, lounges, and even a spinning wheel. The wardrobe in the bedroom is left open, and inside, we could see all of the old dresses and dainty shoes. On the first floor, the great hall is the original and oldest part of the house, and Shakespeare is said to have acted in the compass window for the Man and Lady of the house. Adjacent to the lead paned compass window, an enormous fireplace takes up most of the wall, and above, the heavy timber beams are decorated with large wooden angels and beautiful carving.

All over England, there are dozens (maybe hundreds?) of properties that are owned by the National Trust. These properties have either been donated or purchased, and as a result, there are many well preserved domiciles of the fabulously wealthy. Perhaps more interesting than the opulence of each home is the very, very old structures and pieces that have been collected and kept over the years. It seems like each lord and lady had their favorite item to the collect, and now, the homes double as museums of craft, furniture, and family history.

After our tour, we stopped in the Tearoom for lunch. Joshua ordered the traditional Ploughman's Lunch with a salad made from locally grown vegetables, homemade bread, cheeses, and chutney. Catherine's lunch looked similarly farm fresh with a vegetable tart and a fresh garden salad. Feeling cold from the damp outside, I ordered a vegetable soup with crusty bread. With enough tea to go around, it felt like a proper English meal.

Done with lunch, we walked back through the home to catch the rooms we had missed, and when we finished, we drove back to St. Helen's. Before Donal got home, Catherine went out to mow the lawn (she makes the most perfect lines) while Joshua talked to his mom and his grandpa on Skype. I finished my next book, The Lost Recipe for Happiness, and when Catherine finished with the lawn, she fixed us tea and snacks to tide us over until Donal got home.

Although the weather had been a bit gloomy all day, the weak light filtered into the living room where we sat, reading and drinking tea. It was perfectly cozy, and with Catherine and Donal, the most friendly and generous hosts, we felt at home away from home.

August 10, 2010

After a breakfast of fruit and tea, Catherine, Joshua, and I left for a day in Liverpool. Historically, the city has experienced many economic ups and downs, but more recently, the gritty city was a capital of culture. As a result, Liverpool has really experienced a revival, and there are a series of new restaurants, shops, hotels, and cultural centers that are very lively. Whereas the city never used to attract tourists, it's now pretty typical to hear dozens of languages and hundreds of Beatles fans on pilgrimage.

To start our tour of the old port city, we went to the Tate to see the Picasso exhibition. Although I've always been a bit dubious about art museums, I'm starting to really, really like them. Whereas I always used to find them stuffy and highbrow, the museums that I've been to more recently have made a huge effort to attract a broader audience and engage in community education. I prefer advant garde exhibits and displays, and while Picasso's exhibit wasn't terribly edgy, it was very interesting, and the curators had set his work against a backdrop of his political activism and pacifism. It was a new angle, and it shed a lot of light on his body of work. Picasso was one of those rare artists who experienced a great deal of recognition and success while he was alive, and he leveraged this fame to promote his political philosophies.

After a quick glance at a few other exhibits, we walked up to one of the new restaurants at Level One. Selecting the Red Hot World Buffet, we treated ourselves to a self-serve line of every dish imaginable. I selected a rare combo of beet root salad, Thai green vegetable curry, pasta salad, and dhal. Catherine and Joshua's plates were similar fusions of East, West, South, and North cuisines, and when we had finished our first plates, we went up for more. The room was decorated in black fur, sparkly wall paper, red walls, and silver light fixtures, and the whole experience was a lot of fun. For dessert, we chose from six different cheese cakes, gelatto, mousse, fruit, and cakes, and Joshua admirably restrained himself from sampling every single thing.

After lunch, we walked back through the old port and along the river to see the three graces, three buildings central to Liverpuddlian history. Liverpool used to be a slave port, and it formed one of the corners of the slave triangle from Africa to the U.S. to England. As a result, the city used to be a huge center of economic wealth and commerce, and after slavery was outlawed, it began its economic decline.

To complete our tour of the city, we took a duck boat tour. Driving through the streets, we saw sights made famous by John, Paul, George, and Ringo, as well as the fifth largest cathedral, China Town, and again, the three graces. At the port, we threw up our arms and plunged into the canal, and from there, we toured the port by water. With a thick Liverpuddlian accent, the guide told drool jokes and gave us a brief history of each site, and we enjoyed our inventive tour of the city.

Around six, we decided to call it a day, and we drove back to the White House in St. Helen's. Donal had already made it back from work, and Catherine fixed a meal of fish and vegetables. For the evening, we sat, eating and talking, and I think the four of us really enjoyed each other's company. Conversation moved from travels to family to politics, and we found each other laughing a lot of the time. Moving into the living room, we finished the evening with a cup of tea, and Joshua and I, weary from a full day, turned in around 11.

August 9, 2010

We woke up late in Delamere, and instead of packing everything away immediately, we sat and read for a little while. After a breakfast of flapjacks and yogurt (in the past twelve hours, Joshua's had 28 flapjacks which is no small feat), we filled up our water bottles and hopped back on the road.

Yesterday, Joshua purchased a Road Atlas, and while he ate dinner, he ripped out the pages that we would need for the rest of our journey and diligently planned the next leg of our journey. Determined to stay found (and not lost), we headed off in the direction of the roads that had confounded us the night before. Luckily, we were able to navigate better on a belly full of flapjacks and a night's full rest, and we found our way back onto the E2E cycle route. For the first fifteen miles, the journey was very pretty and we worked our way through the rolling hills near Northwich. At one point, we ran into a friendly gentleman on his bike, and he stopped to ask us from where we were coming and where we were going. He asked us if everyone we had met had been friendly, and we confessed that although people had warned us about various regions and their unfriendliness, we hadn't found these regional stereotypes to be true. Pretty much everyone has been very friendly.

The next 15 miles around Warrington were a bit more urban, and in Culcheth, we stopped for a quick lunch in the park. I've resolved to become a vegetarian (for real, this time), and when Joshua came out with sliced ham, I jokingly refused to carry it. Joshua picked up my little bag of nuts and read off its various origins - Italy, Brazil, Bolivia, and Moldova - and rightfully put me in my place. The irony, of course, is that it's Joshua's books and his summaries of them that have convinced me that I can no longer eat meat; he continues to stuff his face with the sad flesh of once creatures. (To be fair, I'm specist. I've decided that I will eat fish because I'm pretty sure I could catch and kill my own fish. When I look at the sheep and cows that we cycle by, I know that there is no way I could ever hurt any of them.). I also have to admit that I'm a little sad to leave my Omnivorous diet behind: I hate looking through a menu and knowing that a whole sections are closed to me, and I dislike imposing my vegetarianism on hosts. Bacon, in particular, has a smell like a siren's call, and there are so many meals starring meat that I love. In the end though, I can't eat animals that I know have personalities and feelings of their own, especially when the vast proportions of the them have been treated to abominably during their lifetimes before their slaughter. I know this is a sensitive subject, and I don't intend to proselytize, but I thought I'd explain why. There are other reasons: the vast amount of resources needed to raise meat, the environmental repercussions, and the health and quality of industrially produced meat, etc., but really, I'm an animal lover. I love my cat and my dog, and really, other species that we've traditionally kept as livestock are just as deserving of that love. I think some people are very respectful in the way that they keep and then eventually kill and eat livestock, but I can't get over that word: kill. It's fact, and as long as it makes me uncomfortable, I don't think I should be eating it. So don't worry. Although I may tease Josh, I can promise I won't tease the rest of you for your food decisions. I do think it's important to educate ourselves on the origins and systems that produce our food, but please stop me if I ever get too self-righteous :)

The last 10 miles from Culcheth were also pretty busy, and just outside of St. Helen's, we called Catherine and Donal's for directions. A little boy approached us, and after pausing to decipher his thick Northern accent, we figured he wanted to use our bike pump. While Joshua helped him pump up his tire, I tried to work out the payphone, and after a couple of tries we got through. Catherine's bright and cheery voice came in on the other line, and we promised we would be there within the half hour.

A half mile later, Joshua got a flat, and feeling very grumpy, we sat on the side of the road to change the tire. Finally, after pedaling through the busy streets of St. Helen's (and nearly getting run over on a round about), we found Walton Road and turned into the White House (the name of Catherine and Donal's home). On the covered porch, a life-size cardboard cut out of Barack Obama had a printed sign that read: Welcome to the White House Ellie and Josh.

As you can tell, Catherine and Donal have a great sense of humor, and when Catherine opened the door, we were still laughing. It was so good to see our close family friend, and after stowing our bikes and a couple quick showers, we caught up over a table loaded with snacks and tea. Catherine tells a story about coming home to her Irish mother and hearing immediately, unfailingly, upon entry, "child! You look like skin and bones. You look like you've never been fed a proper meal!" Catherine shakes her head, laughing, but truthfully, she does the same thing. When I offered to help clean up after our snacks, she shooed us off into the dining room and admitted, "You know, I'm not a very good team player in the kitchen."

When Donal came home from work, there were more happy greetings, and we spent our first night sitting around the table, eating fish and vegetables, and talking until late. The two of them are probably the happiest, most optimistic couple I have ever met in my life, and it's so much fun to sit around the table and talk and laugh with them. Catherine has this outrageous laugh, and you can't help but find everything just as hilarious as she does. Donal, of course, has an unexpected, deadpan humor, and he keeps all of us smiling. When I asked Catherine what gave them so much optimism, she said she had learned it from her dad, and as far as their relationship was concerned, they just never took each other for granted. "Do you know," she said, "I'm just always quite happy to see that he's arrived home." She stops to laugh, "I tell him, 'you know, I think I might keep you!'"

Beyond a sunny disposition, Catherine is the headmistress of a very large high school and she has been for over 20 years. I mention this, because you'll never find anyone better suited to leading an educational institution in your whole life. Catherine is the hardest worker, and the beautiful part is that she loves it. She loves the kids and her staff, and she loves in education. One of Catherine and Donal's most oft used words is 'sensible,' and the reason is because they are, and they really believe in teaching others to be sensible. It's not complex or confusing; it's just giving children the tools to make good decisions and ascertain the difference between right and wrong. In some ways, it should be so easy, but so few people do it well. Do you remember when I said that I need to apprentice with Ruth? I think I need to apprentice with Catherine and Donal as well :)

Thank you so much to Catherine and Donal for a lovely stay. You were wonderful hosts, and we so much enjoyed your company!