It's Boxing Day in England!

When I first heard of Boxing Day, I thought, gee is it like the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day – a game on the holiday? A boxing match?? Who would want to watch?

But no, apparently it's the day all good little English children would put their new Christmas gifts back in their boxes ready for storage throughout the new year. Maybe this is why antique auctions can bring in so much moola for original boxed toys.

I always feel sorry for my American compatriots who have to go back to work the day after Christmas. At least here in England, we have a day to recover. And this year we have two days! Yes, two holidays on Monday and Tuesday to make up for Christmas being on Sunday. Sadly we don't get an extra day off on January 2nd, except for this year again on Monday because New Year's is on Sunday. I see from my filofax, though, that the Scots get an extra day on Tuesday the 3rd, so it looks like Hogmanay is going to last for at least five days this year.

Well, you can imagine what these holidays do to work patterns. Almost everyone who can get away with it takes off the entire time between Christmas Eve and January 2nd. The worst Christmas I ever had, ever, anywhere, was my first in England. Alone, I was in my first house when the boiler went out about December 23rd. Absolutely no tradesperson was available to come fix it until early January. So I suffered in one room with a gas fire in snowy weather for ten days; and I couldn't even go out because zilch was open: no shops, no cinema, no library.

These days I must admit it has gotten better. The shops are open as much as possible to make a quid, and the cinemas are open if you want to see a kids' movie. But we are conversely happy to hibernate throughout the week. How about you?

Brussels sprouts tree for Christmas

Without a Christmas tree this year, we thought we'd splurge on a Brussels sprouts tree (£1.00). Yes, that's what Sainsbury's calls it. Not really a tree though, just a very hefty stalk for growing all those little sprouts (stalk more than an inch in diameter according to the ruler, ahem 'straight edge'). You didn't know they grew that way? Neither did we until Christmas in England.

Every Christmas, the supermarkets bring on their sprouts for that special turkey dinner. And of course, they have to be something special themselves, hence the stalks. The Guardian Weekend yesterday featured a UK farm that produces 210 million sprouts a year, and that's just a 250-acre farm. So we can assume a people eat a lot of them.

I like mine steamed with flaked almonds and then seasoned with balsamic vinegar dressing. Someone else suggested cooking them with leeks, or with walnuts. I didn't know you could eat them raw, too; but then, they're just little cabbages. But whatever you do, don't overcook them, says Yasmin.

Yasmin, head of quality control (or "chief sprout taster") on said farm, says they grow twelve different varieties and her favourite is Maximus. This is all well and good, but if the variety name is not on the supermarket package, then how can we choose the small & sweet ones, or the dark & nutty ones?

One comment on the name, too. Is it Brussels or Brussel? Google gives 1.64 million returns for Brussels plural, 1.47 million for Brussel singular (but this includes a lot of plural references). Both Wikipedia and the BBC have mixed entries, the BBC calling them singular in one place but plural in another, while Wikipedia entitles their entry sprout singular. Since Belgium was the hub of production for Europe in premodern times, the name Brussels is most likely correct, but I usually say Brusselsprouts (one word) myself.

Thirty years ago sprouts and winter greens were the only non-root vegetables you could get in England in the winter. How the world has changed since then...but the English still like their sprouts! Happy Christmas!

Hyde Park Christmas Fair and Market

A huge facade for a pirates' den, complete with Jaws
suspended outside at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London

Going under the title "Winter Wonderland", this is apparently the fifth year the fair and market have been held in Hyde Park. I must admit that the South Bank Christmas Market, which I wrote on last week, can't hold a candle to this one. But it depends on what you want out of your visit.

We went again in late afternoon, hoping to miss the major daytime and nighttime crowds. Successful in this and able to view the lights coming on through the waning light, it was fun to see the place grow alive. The advertising for tickets to Winter Wonderland, is misleading. The rides and horror houses for kids, ice rink and cirque need ticketing, but you can walk freely around the food stalls and market. I wonder how many people have been put off thinking they had to buy tickets to the Wonderland.

Roller Coaster in Hyde Park for Winter Wonderland

The scale dwarfs that of South Bank, mainly because of the large rides such as ferris wheel and roller coaster installed. But the architecture for the stalls is impressive, too! Compared to the tiny 'beach changing hut' nature of the South Bank stalls, these are full store size in many cases and even a two-storey Bavarian beer hall. Some effort has gone to erecting these, but since the fair lasts from November 18 to January 3rd, I guess they earn their keep.

Bavarian beer hall built just for Winter Wonderland
in Hyde Park, London

The food stalls are almost exclusively Alps products: German sausages by the metre and lots of Bavarian specialties, including buffalo and ostrich burgers (!). We were able to find my favourite: Hog Roast (pulled pork in a bap, or a bun in America speak, with sage stuffing and applesauce – the usual sweet stuff, not homemade). While eating our pork sandwich, we listened to a superb rock duo on a tiny stage playing amplified acoustic guitar and electric bass with drum foot pedal. They had a great, full sound for two people and even got the audience singing with them. Wonder who they were???

The market is an extension of the fair and goes under the name Angels Christmas Market. Again the stalls are all unified wooden structures, indicating central planning and control. But the contents were not impressive: some Christmas decorations, lots of eared animal hats and jewelry shops. I think here the South Bank had better offerings.

London's South Bank Christmas Market

South Bank's Festival Hall and Christmas Market in London

Towns around Britain are holding Christmas Markets, as I previously reported for Durham. London now has two! These are the traditional Christmas Market along the South Bank outside Festival Hall and the Angels Christmas Market in Hyde Park.

South Bank looked absolutely spectacular at dusk the other day as a canopy of lights draped over the market stalls. The stalls themselves have changed from years past: from DIY tented stalls to wooden huts there for year-round use. The huts have oodles of goods and munchies for sale, but sadly, the crowds at 4.30 in the afternoon were sparse – all the better for actually doing some shopping, and viewing the Thames at night is always a fantastic treat.

Good shopping densities at South Bank

I'm not sure whether the lack of people at the South Bank was because I visited between the daytime crowds and the nighttime crowds. But it is also possible that the Angels Christmas Market in Hyde Park is drawing off custom. We'll see when we visit on a weekday next week!

Christmas Lights and Dinner at Hotel Russell

Hotel Russell with Christmas Lights

Hotel Russell is a grand old Victorian building at the northeast corner of Russell Square in London. Every year they put on a good show of Christmas lights on the frontage. I always like the bows especially. But this year, instead of each floor having its repeated strip of decoration, only the lowest floor is so ornamented. Must be a sign of austerity.

The Russell is a 4-star hotel, but to stay in its rooms was previously a Victorian experience. Small, with paint, wallpaper and plumbing problems, it was not the lap of luxury but the lap of history that provided the ambience. After a £20 million refurbishment programme, however, it competes with the nearby 5-star St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, where all the rooms have also been completely refurbished and modernised. But then, who has £200-£350 to spend on a hotel room per night at either of these places?

To experience these grand hotels, it is fun instead to visit their public facilities. Dinner in Hotel Russell's ballroom, where we ate last night at the Japan Society Annual Dinner was a formal affair with delicious food not always achievable with 170 guests to serve. The sea bass was exquisitely flavoured; I'd like to know the recipe! And the three-chocolate dessert was heaven.

At the annual dinner, the Japan Society presents awards to one Japanese and one Brit who have made extraordinary contributions to Anglo-Japanese relations in the UK. This year, both awardees were musicians: Dr. David Hughes and Dr. Ayako Hotta-Lister. Both have worked tirelessly to promote Japanese music within Britain: Hughes, an ethnomusicologist, promoting folk music particularly of Okinawa and Tohoku but also traditional classical musics of Japan, while Hotta-Lister, a historian, is a koto player and teacher. Each was given a footed crystal bowl inscribed with their award by the Queen's engraver. Great times had by all.

Hotel Russell in the gloaming. Imagine every floor decorated
with bows and wreaths in times past.

So if you want to experience some of the grand buildings of London without staying in them, join a club or society or attend lectures that makes use of these facilities. The IoD (Institute of Directors), the Oriental Club and the Royal Society are just some of the venues where such activities are held.

British Museum Members' Christmas Party

For Friends of the British Museum, several "parties" and "member's evenings" are scheduled throughout the year. We have now been to one each, having activated membership only this year to take advantage of these offerings. I took a friend who works at a different museum to see what the "party" would offer.

First off, free coat check (saved £3); the dress code seemed to be whatever people were wearing from work. Then, a cash bar (£2 for softs, £4 for wine) and tapas (£3 per plate).  The tapas were good: olives, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, capers on a stem and roasted bell peppers – all straight out of (the oil in) the jar. You could get this vegetarian dish alone or with shrimp with lemon or thinly sliced prosciutto. Delicious: you can make up one for yourself at home.

The party was held in the Egyptian gallery off the Great Court. High pedestal tables were scattered around for drinkers to rest their glasses on while eating. A foursome could fit around one. So we took our drinks and tapas to a table and stood there the rest of the evening engrossed in our conversation. One other person at our "table" offered comments on the National Gallery Leonardo da Vinci exhibition we were talking about, and we kept our eyes out for people we knew. My friend, in the museum business, did not see a single known face, and although I did, I soon lost them in the crowd.

Actually it was not too crowded and later a jazz trio provided nice background music. So my friend and I passed good time together at what turned out to be a cocktail party without a host/hostess to make introductions. The English – like the Japanese – don't mix well without being introduced. So the lesson for the future is: be sure to go with someone you know and will enjoy talking with together for the evening (usually not your partner!). A member can take in a guest for £5.

Durham Christmas Fair

You used to have to go to the continent to enjoy Christmas Markets, but now many towns across Britain have one. Durham's has the ambience of a craft fair in a huge double marquee, though with none of the fun food stalls common to the continent (I remember eating a Hungarian cheesed sausage in a crepe cone at the Viennese fair – out of this world). This year Durham's double marquee had a café set up inside by the University caterer YUM (or not so yum).

Steve as the original Green Man, owner of the Green Man
Pottery, Brancepeth Castle, Durham

People who save their Christmas shopping for the fair must be in seventh heaven. Most anything you can think of is on sale, such as these Medieval Green Man ceramic creations. Steve, the potter, paid £250 for the privilege of marketing his wares here. That's an awfully lot of Green Man plaques and mugs needing selling just to break even with the stall fee.

Did I buy anything? You bet I did: four bars of exotic chocolates with flavours such as Aztec Spice, Hot Chilli, Lavender...not something you can find in the shops. And I sent them off immediately from the Post Office to relatives in the States for Christmas.

Hurry, you have two days left to visit Durham's Christmas fair! Mind, this year they have instituted entrance fees on the weekend for crowd control. Mark next year's Friday free opening on your calendar now!