Beamish and Christmas

We had good fun at Beamish.   Carousel rides, brass band playing in the town square, hot roasting chesnuts, a carriage ride, lantern making, fish and chips cooked in beef dripping, writing our name with a nib and ink pot and gingerbread cookies...   all good fun.

Madeleine is warming up to the idea of Santa, who she previously declared "scary".  However, when we went to look at the queue it was over an hour long...  we will have to see him another day.

Castles and Christmas...

 Frightened by the pricing in Edinburgh Christmas, we decided to head south for a little look at how they do Christmas Northern style.  The day we left was the first time that Madeleine started using her own name to talk about herself.  First of all we headed south to Langley Castle, where Madeleine was initially quite frightened that she'd come across the Beast.  As soon as she worked out the coast was clear, she chilled out and got into the Castle Hotel swing of things... dressing up and eating gourmet style...

If you're going to say in a castle, even if you're only 2 years old, eating a 4 course gourmet meal is an absolute must.   Madeleine was a bit unimpressed with the portion size of the pre-appetiser, and was quite convinced the palate refreshing sorbet was dessert - she is only 2 years old though... sure she will get the hang of it.

The following day we went to Durham to look at the shops and visit the beautiful Cathedral.   Madeleine looked up at the ceiling and declared "I like it!".

In the evening, we went to the Enchanted Park - part performance, part light show, part spectacle...  some of it was really scary.  Madeleine's favourite part was the mechanical birds. You sing at them and they dance for you.  How charming is that? 

Then we went for Pizza - considerably less sophisticated than a 4 course menu in a castle... but just as nice...Madeleine is looking so intense here because she is concentrating on spearing an olive with a cocktail stick...