Will we, won't we? – 24 December 2009

The airports around London were all affected by the heavy snowfalls so, with great concern, we followed the daily reports in the days leading up to Christmas.

Even the train service to Gatwick (the airport from which we flew to Crete) was suffering severe delays. So we set out extra early on Christmas Eve, to reach Gatwick airport. The trains by then were behaving perfectly, so we hoped the same was true of the airport.

After checking in, we watched the departures board with increasing anxiety, as all the flights before and after ours were delayed. The flight prior to ours was delayed by over 5 hours, and as ours just said 'Please wait', we were not sure what might happen. We had booked a flight with a 3-hour stopover in Athens (no direct flights in winter), but unfortunately, the airline had changed our outward flight, so we only had a 1-hour stopover. As our expected boarding time passed, we still only had 'Please wait' on the board. Finally a gate number appeared, and as we reached it, the PA system announced the sad saga of delays for another flight. We weren't assured of our connection though, as the departure time came and went, and we finally left 40 minutes late.

The flight landed 25 minutes late, but a hostess told us we could make it. She had obviously never tried herself, as we found we had to go through passport control and leave international and enter the domestic terminal. Then after finding our gate number and walking VERY briskly down seemingly never-ending corridors, we finally found ourselves at a security queue. A bit of creative queue jumping was called for, and we took off down more long corridors to find our gate, where the plane was just boarding, and it actually left a few minutes early.

As we waited hopefully for our luggage, we talked to another traveller we recognised from the London flight, to see it we had come the long way round, as we wondered if we had been misdirected, and there was actually a direct route to be taken for a transfer. He assured us he had done this trip many times before, and the only way was to go out and back in through security, just as we had done, which made us wonder how many on the London flight had failed to make the connection. We were extremely delighted to find our bags had also made it through to Heraklion, found our rental car, and made our way to Zorbas Beach, our accommodation for the 10 nights ahead.

Enjoying what was left of the snow - 20 December 2009

There was more snow overnight, so we did a 'countryside' walk at Osterley, which is a few train stops short of Heathrow. We had previously done the same walk in the summer of 2001, so it looked rather different today.

The fields were still covered in snow, and part of the walk was along the Grand Union Canal towpath, which was lined with snow, and sections of the canal were frozen. On such a lovely day, it was a perfect way to enjoy what was left of the snow.


The walk ended at Osterley Park, where the grand house was open, decorated for Christmas.

Dickens' Christmas - 19 December 2009

It really feels like the Christmas (brainwashed by the Christmas cards of my childhood), with a heavy snow fall two nights ago, and the snow still lying on the ground and our car. So it seemed a good time to do a Dickens Christmas walk, with a City of London guide. Starting at St Paul's, we were taken around parts of central London which were used by Dickens in his books, and especially A Christmas Carol. This interesting walk on a glorious crisp winter's morning was a good lead in to spending the afternoon in a warm theatre to watch the latest film adaption of of this enduring story.

Deck The Halls – 13 December 2009

After spending the night in Sheffield, we started the day in the very attractive city centre. The Winter Garden is the largest city centre glasshouse in Europe, and a really lovely place to enjoy.

There seemed to be a large percentage of New Zealand plants, and in fact we saw our first kauri outside New Zealand. (It is going to be a real problem to them in a few hundred years.) The Millennium Gallery can be entered from the gardens. This has an interesting history of the Sheffield Steel and Silver manufacturing history. Behind the Winter Garden is the Peace Square, another pleasant place on such a nice day, with the chateau-like backdrop of the town hall.

Leaving Sheffield, we headed for the Peak District again., this time to visit Haddon Hall. En-route we stopped in Bakewell to visit their markets and treat ourselves to a selection of Bakewell pies and puddings. The original Bakwell pudding was made by accident (as things so often are) and the derivative, the Bakewell tart, has become a UK-wide favourite.

Haddon Hall is an amazing place to visit at any time, but it really suited the Christmas treatment. The house was abandoned at the end of the 18th century, so totally avoided being 'improved and modernised'. The old hall was decked out with holly and other greenery. The Long Gallery had an excellent group of singers, giving new and old versions of Christmas carols, then there was a chance to listen to 'Charles Dickens' read from 'A Christmas Carol'. Christmas fare was on offer too and we tried a turkey cob with mulled wine, both of which were delicious.

No trip to the Peak District is complete without a stop in Hartington at the cheese factory, and after stocking up, we set off for London via Milldale, one of the Peak Districts best kept secrets.

Filling Every Hour with 63 Minutes – 12 December 2009

Christmas in Peak District country homes was the theme of our weekend out of London. An easy 3 hour drive from London took us to Hardwick Hall, one of three mansions built by Bess of Hardwick.

This remarkable 16th century women was married 6 times, but kept control of her fortune, and began the building of this Hall aged 63, after she got bored with renovating her former home. Hardwick Hall seems grim by today's standards, but was a formidable project in its day, and a home of luxury; as the abundance of large glazed windows show. Her building project were helped by her interest in architecture and the fact that this very astute business women owned lead mines, quarries and forests. Glazed windows were the new status symbol, so she set up her own glassworks.

The ruined shell of her former home, Hardwick Old Hall, next door to the 'new' one, is also open to the public, as is the nearby water mill.

From here, we did a circular drive, which took in Old Brampton, on the way to Chatsworth, which is another of the homes Bess built. Old Brampton reminded us of the Kipling poem: 'fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run' (the motto of our time over here!), as it was included on the circular route because the clock-maker painted 63 minute markers on the dial of the church clock, and that's the way it stays!

From here, the drive took us to Chatsworth, where we enjoyed a circular walk along the stream to Edensor, the fascinating support village for the big house. The 6th Duke had it built with one of each style of house available in the pattern book of the day. After a delicious & huge afternoon tea at the tea rooms, we found there was a floral festival on at the church. This was stunning and delayed us so long, there was only just enough daylight left to finish our walk.

Tower of London – 6 December 2009

Our annual Historic Palaces Pass is due to expire at the end of the year, so we decided to use it one last time and visit the Tower of London again. Since we visited last December, they have opened a new exhibition celebrating 500 years since Henry VIII was crowned at the Tower at the age of 17. The exhibition is excellent.

Unlike last year, the crowds were out in force, and we decided to skip the very long queue for the Crown Jewels, and finished of the areas we missed on our previous visit with the wall walk and a visit to the Bloody Tower where Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned for 10 years. His room is set out as it could have looked in his day.

After starting the weekend at Anne Boelyn's childhood home, we finished the weekend at her final address.

A tale of Three Christmas Houses – 5 December 2009

Christmas in mid-winter is still a novelty and to visit a country home decorated for the season is a delight. Today we visited three very different houses.

The first was Hever Castle, a historical castle and childhood home of Anne Boelyn, elaborately restored in Victorian times. The castle is magical, and the stunning modern Christmas decorations made it even more magical. Most rooms had elaborately decorated Christmas trees, with a fire burning brightly on the hall. Children enjoyed the fake snow in the entrance courtyard.

From here we went south to Standen House. This was built in the arts and crafts era, and decorated in traditional Victorian style. We were welcomed at the door by the 'house-maid' in costume of the era, as were all the other 'staff'. The trees here were covered in home-made treats and decorations particular we loved the dried apple and orange slices used as decorations.

Further west is Polesden Lacy. This was the home of Mrs Grenville, a prominent heiress and hostess in Edwardian times. After paying our admission, we were given an invitation from Mrs Grenville to attend her house party this weekend. The house was glowing with lights, red floral decorations and a huge Christmas tree, traditionally, cut from off the estate. The many 'staff' and 'guests' were all dressed to fit the part, and we really felt welcomed and could imagine what a thrill it would have been to attend one of her parties. The saloon is stunning. The room was transported from an Italian Palace, with large mirrors and gold leaf embellishing every vertical surface.