Editor's note: CL food critic Jon Palmer Claridge is in England for the holidays. This is part of an ongoing series sharing his culinary adventures.
The year is waning, but the inexorable orbit of our planet whizzing around the sun continues, unaware of human concerns this holiday season as the unchanging cycle of life pokes itself into our days. As the new year approaches, a brother mourns the unexpected loss of his wife while a nephew awaits the birth of his daughter; a friend is on pins and needles facing tests that indicate a health crossroads.
We all plan holiday celebrations that elicit swirling emotions from stress to joy. It's a reminder that my "peak experiences now" mantra is more apropos than ever.
It's surprisingly lush and rural, especially when compared to our Florida landscape. Rising from the ground in this idyllic setting is Coombe Abbey, the one-of-a-kind country house hotel nestled within the historical heartland of Warwickshire. The 12th-century abbey was expanded in Shakespeare's time, and served as the home of Princess Elizabeth when the the infamous Guy Fawkes planned to kidnap her as part of his gunpowder plot.
In 1966, the 150-acre estate opened as a breathtaking regional park and, for the past two decades, the renovated four-star hotel has served the Midlands. It's the perfect place to enjoy the honored tradition of afternoon tea that pairs itself so beautifully with the communal singing of Christmas carols. Families or groups of friends pull their "crackers" and everyone unselfconsciously dons their colorful paper crowns in the spirit of the season.
Gratitude is a fitting watchword for the season, and after having tea and singing carols at Coombe Abbey, even the most wizened, secular curmudgeon can't dodge the emotion elicited by the ubiquitous Dickensian exhortation through the mouth of Tiny Tim, "God bless us, everyone."
This article appears in Dec 24-30, 2015.