Kelly and I have been watching this final season of Downton Abbey. I have to say, I have warmed to the show a bit, especially since they have developed some of the characters a little more fully. I am particularly pleased that they have made Thomas Barrow out to be more sympathetic and less of a villain.
Now, I will also admit that I find a lot of the storylines a bit too dramatic for my taste, although it does seem that things have calmed down at least a little bit. I don’t know whether or not that is actually true or if it is just my perception. Frankly the soap opera-esque level of drama I can do without. But what I really love about the show are the recreated details of daily life in another period. Daily life is one of those aspects of history that I love the most. It’s fascinating. The efforts to recreate the past in such a way that you can show these intimate details of daily life the way that they do on Downton Abbey is my favorite part of the show. I wonder if anyone has put together any cookbooks based on the food from the show (I know there are some unofficial ones).
And I love the relationship between Lord Grantham and his dog. It made me very happy to see that he finally got another one after losing Isis.
We hear a lot about the trains, and oh how I love those old steam locomotives, but sadly we don’t see them very often. However, we do see the cars. And oh, what a glorious sight they are. Lord Grantham has some beautiful cars – a 1911 Renault that we see early in the show’s run and then later on a 1924 Sunbeam limousine. What I would really like to see is some old planes, or maybe even some old ships. I imagine that is a lot tougher to put together. But it would be pretty cool.
And speaking of ships and cookbooks, I do have a copy of Last Dinner on the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner. Of course all of those recipes are from that period, and some of them really sound pretty mouth-watering.
-Geoff
