MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY LUNCHEONS

                    Broughton Castle

      I visited several castles, a couple really memorable ones, before I ever had lunch in one. I’ve also eaten in a several castles since that first one but two are memorable birthday lunches.

      It was after a hoof and mouth disease outbreak that I found myself in England on my birthday. Because we were a small group of 6-7—as many others had canceled the trip—we had a lot of latitude regarding time and venues. It was a complete surprise that we would be at Broughton Castle on that special day.

     A wide 6-foot deep moat surrounded the stately 1300s castle. (Many castle moats have been filled in and grassed over.) We arrived late morning—just in time for lunch. We were served a typical ploughman’s’ lunch, which was a first for me. Traditionally such a lunch consisted of cheese and hard bread. The drink was most probably ale. The ploughmen would take their lunch to the fields, just like the miners took theirs into the mine. Today restaurants add a small green salad and sliced tomato to such a lunch and in parts of England it is a popular lunch item. Tea and cake followed our lunch.

      The large castle has oversized rooms and I particularly remember 6-foot long logs ready for the immense fireplace. Many movies have been filmed at the castle, especially in its lovely interior rooms. The gardens here are large manicured Victorian ones.

                  Caffe Nazionale 

      Fast forward 12 years, after more castles, palaces and lunches, when at 81 I found myself hiking the Alps in Italy. We spent the morning touring the massive Roman ruins in Aosta, Italy. The local docent finished the two and half hour tour at lunch time.

      With a little research beforehand I figured we’d be in Aosta (the a is silent  and the o long) on my birthday. I read about the Caffe Nazionale having been in service since 1886. It was a long ago private sanctuary with a chapel for the Dukes of Savoy. We had no problem finding the Caffe inside the Roman gate and located on the large main square.

     We passed on the sidewalk café and opted to eat in the 10-vaulted chapel, each with a lovely fresco. English is a bit scarce in this part of the world, but our pleasant waiter spoke enough to answer our questions, help with the menu and make some conversation. My daughter and I each ordered a salad; hers was a side salad, but remembering how salads often come in Europe I ordered a mixed salad. My eyes got big when I saw the size of my salad that could have been a whole meal in itself! I managed to eat half of it. My daughter ordered roast beef which was thinly sliced, cold and spread on the plate under frilly greens and thin slices of cheese. Potatoes were served on the side. I’m not big on cold beef, so I ordered lasagna which was excellent, and again the serving was large. By the time we finished our meal, neither of us had any room for dessert. The service was good, the food excellent to say nothing of the ambience. What a treat!

     We could have lollygagged over coffee, but the restaurant was busy and we wanted the waiter to be able to turn our table plus we still had lots more to see.

     That evening the lights dimmed after dinner at our Cogne, Italy hotel and in came the waitress with a lovely birthday cake while everyone sang Happy Birthday.  It truly had been a great day for a little old lady who doesn’t know enough to stay home in her rocking chair and watch the grass grow!

                       

FUN ENGLISH FACTS

                              Some English Trivia

            Stadle stones, not  saddle, are mushroom shaped stones placed under a barn. They provide a sort of air circulation/ conditioning for the barn and  also keeps out water as well as any varmints that might want to get into the barn. Although the barn sits on them they are not the total support for the barn.

           

            In the 1700s windows were open wooden framed spaces in the walls that tended to be small and few in number. Being open left the home exposed in bad weather. When it rained a cloth covered the wooden frame over the window opening. The cloth was smeared with cooking fat, and perhaps this was the original storm window.

            The canal locks on the River Avon are only seven feet wide. All of the locks are manual, no mechanized ones. All  locks are operated by the same winch which is given to you when you rent the boat. It is rather strenuous work to open and close the locks.

   We boarded a manual winch ferry to cross the river. The ferry was different than any I’ve ever seen. A fellow stood and turned a wheel, which moved a chain, and somehow that propelled us the short distance across the river.

Not all churches had sanctuary knockers, but if they did and you reached it, you were automatically granted 37 days of sanctuary. After that you were on your own

          The Saxons were farmers, who developed fleece, laying the groundwork for the prosperity of medieval merchants, who in turn built the churches and alms houses, many of which are still occupied even though centuries old!

          A ceiling boss is an ornament, often of carved wood, but can be plaster, that overlays the joints of wood or plaster beams on decorative ceilings. They are most unique.

            Slaughter, in England refers to nothing bloody, but is a Saxon word meaning place of many pools.

      Ploughman’s lunch: traditionally the ploughman (plow) took his lunch to the field with him in the morning. It consisted of cheese and hard bread or roll. I’m not sure what the drink of the day was, probably ale. Ploughman sandwiches are still popular in many areas of England.

No place is Cornwall, England is more than 20 miles from the coast and the ocean.

Cornwall, England is the land of legendary shipwrecks, with over 3000 recorded along the rugged coastline.