Now that both the Canadian and US Thanksgiving celebrations have ended - and we hope all of you enjoyed the time and have returned safely, it’s time to get serious about Christmas.
If you can think beyond the ads, the countless feel good Christmas movies, the excuse for Christmas music pumped through every store and mall, then it truly can be a wonderful season
Back some 24 years ago, in 1995 (when we were younger) we decided to celebrate the season with a special Christmas in Durham, England, and Hogmanay (New Years) in Inverness tour.
It was fun, but as usual, it was fraught with some interesting moments, especially so because it happened to be one of the coldest winters in the U.K. and one of the snowiest. So snowy and cold, in fact, that while traveling up from Durham to Inverness, Bev spent much of her time on the coach going up and down the aisle scraping the frost from the side windows with her credit cards. And when our friends Sue and John who live in a small town the far side of Manchester took the train up to Inverness to share Hogmanay, the train had to stop seven times to clear the track of snow and thaw the points points (whatever points may be).
But it was a special and wonderful time especially so since my Mother was with us. "Like a Fairy Tale" was the way she described it. The Christmas Eve service in Durham Cathedral was one of those moments. And \as we climbed the hill to the Cathedral, it started to snow. You couldn't script it. And Hogmanay in Inverness was a real Highland Ceilidh and most appropriately Scottish.
A few years later we ventured into the winter weather to explore the Christmas Markets in Vienna, Prague, and Bamberg in Germany. Again, a marvellous experience, especially the day we visited
