A Lady in London

With Christmas just over a week away and this being the first Christmas I will spend away from my family, I feel like I should write a bit about the holiday season in London.

The first outdoor decorations I noticed were some massive lights on Regent Street. At first I mistook them for larger-than-life atomic models, but then I realized that they were supposed to be giant 3D snowflakes.

Last Monday I went ice skating at Somerset House, one of the many holiday ice skating venues in London. The rink was inside the courtyard of the beautiful 18th century Neoclassical palace (you know it’s a nice place when the rink is sponsored by Tiffany & Co.). One thing that made me laugh was that there was a warming hut by the rink that served mulled wine and other alcoholic beverages. It seemed to me like drinking and skating was a bad idea, but I had one mulled wine before donning my skates and I did just fine. Everything in moderation, I suppose.

On Sunday my boyfriend and I went down to Covent Garden to visit the Transport Museum (a surprisingly great museum) and found ourselves in the middle of the Covent Garden Christmas Deluxe Market. More specifically, we found ourselves in front of the 12 Days of Christmas Food Market (see previous post for additional details on my recent gluttony). We ate our fill of Ghanaian groundnut stew and wild & exotic mushroom risotto while admiring the giant Christmas ornament sculpture in the square.

We rounded our our holiday festivities by bringing a little of the cheer into our new home. Yesterday after a walk through Hampstead Heath we came across an outdoor market stall selling Christmas trees. Knowing we would be in Sydney for Christmas, we opted for a one-foot-tall live tree in a pot. Although a bit Charlie Brown-esque, our little tree suits our flat perfectly.

My final London Christmas experience was last night’s carol service at a friend’s church. It has been a long time since I last sang Christmas carols, let alone in a church, and it felt very Christmas-y. The service was followed by a reception with mulled wine (they really seem to love that stuff here), mince pies, and Stollen.

The coming week will surely bring more Christmas in London adventures. In the meantime I will wish everyone a Happy Christmas (they really do say ‘Happy’ Christmas here)!