Walking in a Wetter Wonderland

Saturday, December 13 2008

We had plans today to go around and sample the Christmas activities around London, meeting up with some friends along the way. However, when we woke up, we quickly found that the theme for the day was going to be water. Rain.... and lots of it. However, we did not let this dampen our Christmas spirit and decided to proceed with our plans.

We got up and went to Borough Market. On the way, we ran into the other theme for the day, that London transport can suck. We took the tube down and had to change trains at Baker Street. We waited and waited, and when the train came in, they decided to take it out of service. Which meant that we had to wait for the next train, and when we did, it was packed since all of the people on the canceled train were on there with us. However, we eventually made it and went to buy a hot apple cider with cinnamon for Tami. We then ran into another problem, I didn't have my money clip with all of our money. My first thought was that I had been pick-pocketed, which I found strange since I'm normally very paranoid and careful. However, I soon figured I must have just forgotten to grab it in the rush to leave in the morning. Fortunately, our bank accounts weren't quite empty so we could get enough cash to still have a good day.

After that, we picked up a coffee from Monmouth for me (which has the best coffee in the world) and then a couple of sausage rolls from the Boston Sausage Company. We munched on them as we walked around a bit and picked up some mistletoe to decorate the house with. Then, we made our way down to the Frost Fair that was going on at Bankside (close to the Thames).

Greg at Borough Market with the Christmas Trees....all short and stout:


The rain was pouring down and the wind could be vicious, as we found out when it snapped the handle off of my (admittedly cheap) umbrella (brolly for you English blokes). However, I put it back together as best I could and we soldiered on. We stopped at one of the vendors that they had setup and Tami bought a little Russian nesting doll and another doll decoration for the tree. We then went into the Tate Modern museum to see if they had a replacement umbrella for me. There were a few interesting statues on the turbine level, so we went and saw them as well (it gave us a chance to dry out a bit). It was about this time that our friends texted us and cancelled getting together. I think we're the only ones that can stand to go out in bad weather! There were no umbrellas to be found, so we went back in to the wet and cold.

Inside the Tate Modern Museum:


The Pimm's Booth:


Some of the vendors at the Markets along the Thames:


We wanted to have our pictures taken with the Huskies, but they weren't going to be open for another 20 minutes, so we decided to just continue our trek up the Thames, going up to the festival at Southbank which was inspired by the markets in Cologne. It was a cold, wet trip that involved dodging a lot of puddles, but we enventually made it. However, we were a bit disappointed because it was just a few vendors and most were the same as you see at other markets such as Camden and Covent Garden. We did find one that had some nice German stuff, so Tami got a small nutcracker and a cute ornament that looked like a German windmill. We also bought a cute gingerbread cookie similar to the one we bought in Munch. We bought those and decided it was time for lunch. Only one thing would do when we had been in the cold for so long...... Chili Chicken Ramen from Wagamama's!

Our German Christmas Cookie (says "Nice Christmas")


The London Eye, decorated for Christmas (or at least it's base):


We ended up heading to the Wagamama's in Leicester Square, but while we were on the bus, we noticed that the horse guard was out at the Horse Guard parade. We quickly hopped off the bus to get pictures, and then made our way on foot via Trafalger Square which had a huge Christmas tree. It could have stood a few more decorations though. After that, we finally made it to Wagamama's for lunch. I had the Chili Chicken Ramen, which is a spicy soup filled with lots of good stuff. Tami opted for the Cha Han instead, which is basically fried rice (mine was better...no it's not). Afterwards, I had a craving for a Beamish stout, and I knew a pub close by that had it. So we headed up only to find out that they had quit serving it (even though they still had signs all over the place.) So we abandoned that plan and headed for the Tube to go down to Harrods. While enroute to Harrods, something was going on because the train did not stop at Knightsbridge, which is where Harrods is located. We had to get off at the next exit, and take a train back up. We actually missed the first train that came in because it was so packed!

Tami with a Horse Guard:


One of the Queen's Guards


We finally made it to Harrods to pick up some ornaments by request for people back home. That took awhile because Harrods was having a big sale and the place was shoulder to shoulder. We finally got what we were coming for and headed out to Hyde Park, for the Winter Wonderland. We had gone last year and enjoyed it so thought we would go again. This year it was over twice as big and had much more to offer. We stopped first thing at a German pub and got some hot mulled wine to take the chill off. I wished that I had more room because the beer looked really good, but we had plans to do afternoon tea later that afternoon, so didn't want to fill up. Afterwards, we walked around the market which was really nice. There were tons of rides which we didn't try, but they looked fun. We did pick up some hot roasted chestnuts from a vendor since neither of us had ever tried them before. When we took our first bite, it reminded us of roast pork for some reason. Not bad, but a squirrel almost attacked me to steal one from me.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland from across the pond


Our mulled wine.....it was good:


One of the vendors at Winter Wonderland....one of Tami's favorite German X-mas things:


Santa on his sleigh, in front of the Paulaner sign. I expected him to have a stein in his hand......


the killer squirel:


The chestnuts that he was after:


After the Squirrel encounter, we caught a bus over to Selfridges on Oxford Street to see about getting some afternoon tea. We did get tea, but the tea and food just couldn't compare to the Orangery which is still our favorite. I couldn't recommend the place we went to, but it wasn't horrible. Afterwards, we looked around the Christmas department in Selfridges which was much more impressive, then headed out to Oxford street to see the window displays for the big department stores. Selfridges and Debenhams were the best by far. They both actually put some thought into it and made it fun, rather than just putting out bland manequins. We walked up Oxford street looking at all of the lights, but about this time we were starting to get tired (finally). We ended up going over to Marks and Spencers to grab some food for supper to take back with us, and headed home to watch the X Factor finals. We did all of this and made it home by 8:00 PM.... we're that good.

Santa delivering presents by Tube.... one of the window display in front of Selfridges:


One of the window displays for Debenhams:


The Christmas lights on Oxford Steet