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culture fueled by cooks from around the world and producefrom all of Europe gushing fromthe Chunnell has transformed thetourist’s mealtime.

We lingered over good Frenchcheese. On our walk out to thevillage highlight — Sudeley, a 15th-century castle — we felt that allwas right with the worlds, old andnew.

We spent the next two nights inthe reactor core of traditionalEnglish-major tourism, the livingElizabethan shrine of Stratfordand the incomparable vistas ofWilliam Wordsworth’s Lake Dis-trict. Here, a love of words runsdeep, but so does a love of outsidevisitors. (Another happy find inthe very center of Stratford: a room in the worthy Arden Hotelfor about $160 a night. I have paidmore.)

Sonya Gomez, who works for ahospital outside of her native Ma-drid, first came to Stratford in the1980s with her Shakespeare-lov-ing father. Now she is back withher own son, who may not adore

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Stratford-upon-Avon, our nextovernight. It seemed impossiblethat any global upheaval coulddisrupt this rolling patchwork ofsheep fields studded with tawnystone villages.

“My English countryside meteris in the red,” Isabel said withdisbelief as we emerged from thegreen woodland tunnel into thehigh street of Winchcombe, a pre-served-in-amber Anglo-Saxon vil-lage that practically chloroformsyou with Old World appeal. Andyet, everything’s up-to-date inWinchcombe Village. The tradi-tional cider we had at the Lion Innwent equally well with my fancyfoodie-grade wild mushroom ri-sotto as with Isabel’s heartybangers and mash. Both wereserved by Ula, a 20-somethingfrom Warsaw. American bluesicon John Lee Hooker growledfrom hidden speakers.

When I made my first pilgrim-age to Britain 30 years ago, it wasunderstood that eating bad foodand sleeping in cold houses wassimply the price of admission. Now, of course, a global foodie

nas, a Brazilian cantina, as well asthe global clientele she serves.

“It’s like the world comes toCardiff here,” Stanton said, justafter delivering some fishbowl-sized margaritas to a table of Man-darin speakers. “I would hate tosee that change. I don’t know any-one that voted to leave, except formy grandfather.”

The next day, we drove north-west on the A48 and, after a lastgasp of Welsh pronunciation atthe town of “Pwllmyeric,” we passed a sign: “Welcome to Eng-land.” (On the other side, it read:“Croeso I Gymru,” or “Welcome toWales.”) In my previous visits toBritain, the borders betweenWales, England and Scotland feltlike subtle historical artifacts. Butin the wake of Brexit, there is realtalk of a sovereign divorce. Scot-land, which voted heavily to stayin the E.U., looks ready to revisitthe secession vote that narrowlyfailed to pass two years ago.

We sped into the rolling velds ofEngland’s Cotswolds, choosing the narrowest, most agrarianlanes possible in the direction of

ner filled with nutmeg. At a worldfood festival in Duke of YorkSquare, a huge crowd of London-ers queued up for Jamaican beefpatties and duck sandwiches withhoisin sauce.

“It wasn’t the cities, you know,”said Harry Amir, a student/Uberdriver who was eating an empana-da. “You won’t find many here whoare enthusiastic about being lessin the whirl of things.”

We found that to be the case inCardiff, as well, when we settledinto the St. David’s Hotel on theedge of the harbor with long viewtoward the Bristol Channel. Walesoverall voted narrowly to leave theE.U., but this port city voted toremain. After our obligatory viewof Cardiff Castle, which has been adefensive keep in the heart of thecity since Roman times, we min-gled with locals at the waterfrontrestaurant row and found mostlyBrexit skeptics.

Carys Stanton is one of manyjob-seeking migrants from theWelsh countryside who remainenchanted with the foreign youngpeople she works with at Las Igua-

than previous visits. The rental carwe kept imperiled for five daysand 450 miles came in at under$25 a day.

In the metropolis, of course, thereferendum had done nothing todomesticate a city that’s been drawing outsiders since the firststowaway showed up on a schoo-

But, intoning “left-left-left” atevery turn, we set out on a week-long sea-to-sea drive across Brit-ain, crossing borders that nowseem more meaningful betweenWales, England and Scotland, re-gions of the country that allviewed the leave vote differently.In every corner of the country, wefound a post-Brexit tourist scenethat was considerably cheaper forAmericans and still wrestling withwhat kind of Britain it wants to befor its returning fans.

“We’re in God’s hands now,”said Molly Breakspear, a tourguide in one of England’s mostshamelessly backward-looking tourist sites: Highclere Castle, thestill-occupied country mansionthat is universally recognizable asthe set of “Downton Abbey.” Wemade this PBS pilgrimage on ourdrive to Cardiff, Wales, where wewould officially begin our cross-country tour.

Standing in that unmistakablered library — furnished for thereal-life Earl of Carnavon exactlyas it is for the fictional Earl ofGrantham — it is easy to imaginethe globe before globalism. Thehouse — like the show — is awindow on another age. Maybenot a simpler one, but one with nocrowds of Germans, Americansand Arabs driving the hour fromLondon and paying for the plea-sure of treading up the magnifi-cent oak staircase or putting onbad Mr. Carson accents in the din-ing room lined with oil paintings.

“It certainly hasn’t hurt us yet,”Breakspear said above the multi-national murmur. “Plenty of Euro-peans still and quite a number ofEnglish people this year.”

One early effect of Brexit hasbeen an uptick in Britons vaca-tioning in Britain.

“What we’re seeing right now isa strong staycation market,” saidPatricia Yates, director of Visit Britain, the country’s national tourism board, reporting a 10 per-cent jump in in-country tourism.

Even among continentals, thepost-Brexit fall of the poundseems to have compensated forwhatever affront they may havetaken. But officials worry that thevote may feel like a snub in thelonger term. Most respondents ina snap survey commissioned afterthe vote said that they were no lesslikely to come to Britain, but sud-denly Europeans, at 69 percent,were far less likely than Ameri-cans (84 percent) and Chinese (88percent) to say that the country is“welcoming to visitors.”

“You can see there is some scopefor improvement there,” Yatessaid. “It’s something we’re going tobe very mindful of.”

To in-bound Americans, thecost benefits of Brexit were quick-ly apparent, even in the quid-hem-orrhaging zone of London wherewe started our week. In August,with the pound two months awayfrom a 31-year low against thedollar, we had a choice of centralcity hotels for under $200 a nightand the fish and chips we hadbefore visiting the Tate Gallery felt20 percent less like pickpocketry

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A good time for timeless Britain

JOHN JAMES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

NIKLAS HALLE'N/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES

BY LESLIE HSU OH

At Blue Mountain Resort, theonly mountain in Pennsylvania tooffer family-sized tubes, I finallyfind a thrilling activity that myentire family can enjoy. With aneight-year age span among my children, we can’t even watch something on TV together that’ssuitable or enjoyable for our re-spective ages, so this is a big deal.

Whipping down a 1,000-footsnowtubing park lane, my hus-band seems to have a hand on eachof us, making sure no one getsthrown out of the tube. I can seereflected in my children’s eyeswhat every father wants his familyto believe: Dad has superhero powers that can protect us any-time, anywhere. Riley, 2, can’t de-cide whether to scream or laugh asshe curls into a ball around mylegs. I manage to cling to the safetyline and try not to lose my iPhonewhile filming all of this. Ethan, 7,attempts to break the laws of gravi-ty, his face screwed tight againstthe wind. Kyra, 10, lets her limbsflail wildly about to her delight. In

slow motion, I see the rush ofspeed she has always craved takeher breath away.

It’s the grand finale to an action--packed day that began with snow-boarding at the top of the resort.Because we had enrolled Kyra andEthan in the resort’s renownedyouth competition program, BlueMountain Racing, we spent about10 weekends getting to know thisfamily-owned retreat a little morethan 200 miles from the District.Located along the Kittatinny Ridge, it features the most variedterrain and the highest verticaldrop (1,082 feet) in Pennsylvania.

Another attraction: On Feb. 4,during the Winter Festival, anyoneage 10 and older can take a rundown a luge track complete withcurves and timing equipment. Par-ticipants can win prizes and learnthe basics of accelerating, steeringand stopping. Coaches and formerluge Olympians will scout for youth who show potential on a natural luge track open to the pub-lic. (Sochi Olympian SummerBritcher was discovered at one of these USA Luge Challenges.)

Because Blue Mountain Resorthas facilities located on both thepeak and the bottom, we kickedthings off that day snowboardingas a family. It was not the first timeour 2-year-old had snowboardedbut the first time we would takesome runs with her.

Riley told her siblings to be qui-et. She had no emotion on herchubby face, just a quiet determi-nation to prove she was coolenough to hang with big sister andbig brother. Adjusting her helmet,she pointed her 70mm snowboardrental straight down the slope andpumped with her legs. Earlier thatmorning, in her first-ever privatelesson, her instructor asked, “Didyou notice that she does that topick up speed? I did not teach herthat.” Neither did we.

Utilizing terrain-based learn-ing, in which shaped snow con-trols speed, Blue Mountain Re-sort’s snow features allowed Rileyto feel as though she could dotricks just like Kyra and Ethan. Bythe end of the 1 1/2-hour lesson,Riley’s instructor had her doing

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PENNSYLVANIA

In the Poconos, Blue Mountain Resort keeps a snow family at peak performance

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BLUE MOUNTAIN RESORT

KATHY DEWITT/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The main street winds through the Cotswolds town of Winchcombe in Gloucestershire, England; a healthy helping of fish and chips at Lloyd’s in Lampeter, Wales; Highclere Castle in Southern England, the iconic setting for the PBS series “Downton Abbey,” delivers a strong sense of déjà vu.

London

Cardi�

Stratford-upon-Avon

Winchcombe

HighclereCastle

Edinburgh

Windermere

150 MILES

AtlanticOcean

North Sea

BRITAIN

ENGLANDIRELAND

WALES

N. IRE

SCOTLAND

THE WASHINGTON POST

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TOP: Blue Mountain Resort, nestled in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, is known for the 1,000-foot lanes at its snowtubing park.LEFT: Snowboarders also have a home at the resort, with built-in stunt spots along the highest vertical drop (1,082 feet) in the state.

SUNDAY,  DECEMBER  18 ,  2016   .  THE WASHINGTON POST EZ EE F5

the Bard like his grandfather, butwas willing to endure a produc-tion of “King Lear” for his moth-er’s sake.

“He preferred London,” Gomezsaid as her son took a smartphonepicture of the canal boats tiedalong the banks of the Avon out-side the Royal Shakespeare Com-pany complex.

The made-for-tourists townlooked very much the same, shesaid, although the buses that de-posited so many Japanese visitors25 years ago are now filled withChinese ones.

“I was upset with the vote, yes,”she said. “I love the idea of greaterEurope. But I do not feel any lesswelcome here than I did when Ifirst came. The vote was about fearand politics. Being a visitor is about people.”

We were on our way to our ownRSC play, a gritty modern take onimmigration and culture clashcalled “Fall of the Kingdom, Riseof the Foot Soldier.” It was part ofthe theater’s intentionally provoc-ative “Making Mischief” seriesand it splashed acetate on the

polite veneer of the English for asearing look at themes of racism,fanaticism and fear of the otherthat have echoes all over the globe.

“Wow,” Isabel said as weemerged from black-box theaterboth sobered and grateful for anexperience of language that is al-ways one of the joys of visitingBritain. “At least we’re not the onlycountry so messed up.”

If we wound ourselves up inStratford, we uncoiled delightfullyat Linthwaite House, a superbcountry hotel in Windermere thathas been a favorite of mine formany years. It sits on the brow of ahillside, and the view from theterrace extends over Lake Wind-ermere and a sky full of the puffywhites that inspired Wordsworth’swandering “lonely as a cloud.”

Here we divided our time be-tween the hotel’s excellent diningroom, cribbage amid the grove ofoverstuffed chairs in the loungeand long rambles in the country-side. That is a Lake District touristroutine perfected by the Victori-ans and only improved on with theinternational influence that hasdescended on local pubs and res-taurants.

Yet, in an age of churning influ-ence, it can be hard to rememberwhat comes from where. I wasfoolishly marveling that good IPAshad reached the remote and an-cient Cuckoo Brow Inn during ourlongest hike when Isabel remind-ed me the Brits had invented thebeer that is now the darling ofAmerican microbrews.

At dinner, the Cumbrian lambwas served by a nurse from Kra-kow who is working at the hotel inorder to sharpen her Englishenough for a medical job.

“To be honest, some of our staffwere a bit unnerved by the [Brex-it] vote,” said Andrew Nicholson,the general manager. “The Roma-nians and the Poles were asking,‘What’s going to happen to usnow?’ But no one has asked them

BREXIT FROM F4

to leave so far. Our bookings areholding up.”

Our last frontier was at GretnaGreen on our drive to Edinburgh.Here the sign that reads “ScotlandWelcomes You” sits near a colossalpile of small stones that has be-come a monument to unity. Ner-vous Brits from both sides of theRiver Sark began depositing therocks in 2014 as a way of beseech-ing Scottish nationals to voteagainst breaking away from theUnited Kingdom.

The results of that referendumnarrowly saved the relationshipthat goes back three centuries, butthe Brexit result led many to pre-dict that the separatists could yetprevail. Scotland’s overwhelming“remain” vote this summer re-vealed it to be the most Eurocen-tric part of the country. Ratherthan be pulled unwillingly fromthe E.U., Scots could well choose toleave Britain.

Truly, it’s hard to imagine ascene more worldly than the teem-ing streets of Edinburgh. At theheight of the city’s infamous an-nual Fringe Festival, the RoyalMile was chockablock with revel-ers, free thinkers and good timersfrom several continents. Hawkersthrust bills into our hands at everycorner, flogging some of the per-formances going on in pubs, thea-ters and pop-up party spaces upand down the city center.

The next morning, before head-ing to our flights home, we wouldmake our way to the waterfrontand a book-end glimpse of theNorth Sea to complete our pell-mell dash across Britain. But thatlast night we would spend withCanadian comics, English trans-vestites, South African play-wrights and, even, a friendly bandof Scottish Quakers.

It was an unabashed, anduniquely British, celebration ofcreativity without borders. Forthis lifelong lover of all-things British, it felt like a vibe bothfamiliar and unlikely to end anytime soon.

steve.hendrix@washpost.com

kind and respectful.On days when I want to ride

with my husband or goof off in thesix terrain parks, I don’t feel like aselfish mom because I know Rileyis having a ball at Blue MountainResort’s Kids Cabin (child care forkids ages 6 weeks and older) whileKyra and Ethan are learning howto be better riders and humanbeings from their coaches. Onetime, Kyra forgot to load her brandnew Marvel X Burton board intoour car and left it in the parkinglot. We didn’t realize the board wasmissing until a month later, whenwe found it in Blue Mountain Re-sort’s lost and found.

After my husband and the olderkids disappeared from view, Rileyand I warmed up inside SummitLodge. As a band played the kindof music you’d find yourself hum-ming all day, I tried a glass of Bird Dog Bourbon infused with cinna-mon, nutmeg and apples, and or-dered a Texas Twist Party Pretzel.

At the end of the day, we all metup at Slopeside Pub & Grill to warmour toes at the indoor fireplace andfill our bellies with head chef Ryan Zellner’s concoctions. Our favorite is his bacon aioli fries, which you’ll still be licking off your fingers longafter you’ve inhaled them.

travel@washpost.com

Oh is a freelance writer in Delaware. Her website is lesliehsuoh.com and she is @lesliehsuoh on Twitter.

just about to remind Ethan that Ihave been snowboarding for near-ly 20 years when my husband whipped by, saying, “Wait untilyou have to ride a lift with him.”Both kids have matured in ridingskills and confidence under thetutelage of coaches such as headsnowboard coach Mike Clark, whopreaches: “Give some respect togain some respect.” (Programalumni are often on the podium atUSASA Nationals. Coach BenClark, Mike’s son, won gold thisyear in BoarderCross.)

Because she didn’t bother withturns and all she did was pump,Riley gained so much speed thatshe was cruising ahead of Kyra andEthan. Fortunately, the terrain atthe bottom of School Hill naturallyslowed her down. In the mean-time, my husband, along with Kyra and Ethan, skirted the court-yard and deck of Summit Lodge,and continued on down severalblack diamonds. Riley was left be-hind with me.

She wasn’t happy about it: Sheripped off a glove in disgust andslammed it onto the snow. Before Icould reach her, a skier from BlueMountain Racing stopped tocheck on her. He picked up herglove and took the time to tightenit onto her slippery fingers. Themajority of the riders and skiersyou encounter on the slopes are inthe Blue Mountain Racing pro-gram, which trains them to be

straight glides on a box and heel-side, toe-side turns. Joe Forte, di-rector of Blue Mountain Snow-sports and the reason that manyparents are so loyal to the resort,trains 350 to 400 instructors peryear. On a busy Saturday, BlueMountain can easily teach morethan 1,200 students in more than adozen languages; many instruc-tors are bilingual.

Forte asks his instructors to findout why people come to the resort;that’s to give them the experiencethey paid for.

“We want them to leave feelinglike they have become a skier orsnowboarder regardless of whatskills they’ve mastered at the endof a session. We have one opportu-nity to wow them and get it right. Show them why we love skiing andsnowboarding.”

“Let go!” Riley demanded, untilEthan released her riglet reel, a retractable cord attached to her board. As Riley started to pick up speed down the slope, I could feel other parents tense up. They were judging me for shooting photos of my husband and the kids shreddin’against the bluest sky I had ever seen above the Pocono Mountains.

Kyra landed a 180. Ethan ma-neuvered around me and poppedan ollie. “Mommy, you’re not doingyour turns right. Let me show youhow.” Clearing my throat, I was

SKIING FROM F4

BY ANDREA SACHS

The year started with such small digits — one rental car, no confiscated goods, a few thousand air miles. But over 12 months of travel, the numbers turned into a real math equation that required a calculator when I ran out of fingers and toes. For this end-of-the-year review, I am letting the digits tell the story. I will reset the odometer in 2017 and watch the adventures grow from zero.

58,256 Air miles flown. The largest mileage count for one trip: 21,623 around the world. The shortest: 213 miles to New York.

15 Different airlines. There were some old standards (American, JetBlue, United), some new additions (Air Seychelles, Air India) and a few paper airplanes (Emetebe, FIGAS, InterCaribbean).

19Longest number of nights away. I couldn’t rush seven countries on three continents, could I?

12 Countries visited, plus 13 states. Unfortunately, flyovers don’t count, but if they did . . .

13Islands explored. I don’t play favorites, but (in a stage whisper) I really hope to see you again, Madagascar, Falklands, and Turks and Caicos.

6 Rental cars used, including a Jucy camper van and a Maserati Quattroporte GTS.

3,602 Greatest number of miles I put on a rental car. Eight states on Route 66, plus a lot of U-turns and detours.

15 Number of penguins I slept with at a California museum slumber party, plus nearly half a million in the wild in the Falkland Islands.

2Items confiscated by security: face wash at the Reykjavik airport and a banana in the Galapagos, which I saved from destruction by quickly eating it.

0Missed flights. I learned my lesson from the last incident: Don’t deliberate over bagel flavors at the airport deli when your plane is boarding.

10Number of new Facebook/WhatsApp/Twitter/Instagram friends made while traveling. May our paths cross again. I’d like that.

How 2016 added up for our top traveler

If you goWHERE TO STAYSayre Mansion

250 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem (For GPS, use 431 West 3rd St., Bethlehem, Pa. 18015)

877-345-9019

https://sayremansion.com

This boutique bed-and-breakfast is 30 minutes from Blue Mountain Resort. While we stayed in one of three Carriage House suites, there are also 19 mansion rooms. Rooms start at $139.

Staybridge Suites

1787a Airport Rd. Allentown

610-443-5000

bit.ly/StaybridgeSuitesAllentown

Located about 20 minutes from Blue Mountain Resort, the hotel features a heated outdoor pool and an indoor whirlpool. Suites start at $95.

WHERE TO EATSlopeside Pub and Grill

1660 Blue Mountain Dr., Palmerton

610-824-1557

skibluemt.com/dining-lodging/on-mountain-dining/slopeside-pub-and-grill

Open year-round, enjoy indoor and

outdoor lunch, après and dinner at this award-winning American pub-style restaurant. Entrees start at $11.

Cornerstone

1660 Blue Mountain Dr., Palmerton

610-824-1557

skibluemt.com/dining-lodging/on-mountain-dining/cornerstone

Cornerstone offers a quick pit stop for anyone who’s in a hurry and enjoys eating outdoors. Entrees start at $9.50.

WHAT TO DOBlue Mountain Resort

1660 Blue Mountain Dr., Palmerton

610-826-7700

skibluemt.com

Open Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, Sunday, and holidays, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eight-hour lift tickets cost $55 to $70 for adults and $45 to $55 for children ages 6 to 12.

INFORMATIONskipa.com

— L.O.

ROBERT HARDING/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

If you goWHERE TO STAYThe Arden Hotel

44 The Waterside

Stratford-upon-Avon

011-44-17-8929-8682

theardenhotelstratford.com

A comfortable, luxurious maze of a place, steps from most of what you want to do in the Bard’s abode. Rooms from about $163.

Linthwaite House

Crook Road

Bowness-on-Windermere

011-44-15-3948-8600

linthwaitehouse.com

A superb country inn, built and staffed by lovers of the hotelier’s art. Rooms from about $152.

WHAT TO DOHighclere Castle (The “Downton Abbey” house)

Highclere Park,

Highclere, Newbury

011-44-16-3525-3210

highclerecastle.co.uk

Any fan of National Trust-type great houses would love Highclere. But its star turn is what has led to an explosion of visitors. Open seasonally. Castle and garden admission begins at $19 for adults.

INFORMATIONvisitbritain.com/us/en

— S.H.

INCAMERASTOCK /ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

TOP: As night falls on Waterloo Place, the Scottish city of Edinburgh is set in silhouette.ABOVE: A shop on the Royal Mile offers a selection of kilts — for kids and ladies, too.

For the author’s full list of recommendations for a trip toBlue Mountain Resort, visit washingtonpost.com/travel

“It certainly hasn’t hurt us yet.

Plenty of Europeans still and quite

a number of English people this year.”

Molly Breakspear, a tour guide at Highclere Castle

WASHINGTON POST STAFFILLUSTRATION AND ISTOCKPHOTO