Look, kids…Big Ben! Parliament!

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So here we are in London for Christmas! It’s been awhile since we went to a big city on vacation, and it was wonderful walking around today to take in the sights. After sleeping way late, we headed out on foot to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, the Thames River, the huge Ferris wheel, Trafalgar Square, and all the cool buildings and sights in between. It was even partly sunny today and we saw some blue, blue skies…something we didn’t really expect out of London in December, so such a nice treat.

The random thoughts:
I love London pubs. I love how they look – inside and out. I love to step into one and grab a quick snack and drink. I love the coziness to step out of the cold. I love how very old some of them are. I love that the English bring their kids and make a family moment in a pub. Good times.

People here are prepared for the cold. When it gets cold in Atlanta, people struggle. When it is cold here, people are serious about it. The hats, tall boots, puffy long coats, scarves, mittens, gloves, etc. I love the variety of winter gear.
Londoners say “Happy Christmas!” For some reason, I think this is better than Merry Christmas. I like it.

The holiday lights are gorgeous. Since there is only a short period of daylight hours right now, the lights really makes the darkness lovely. We walked around Oxford Street and Regents Street and were blown away by the Christmas window displays and the lights in trees, above your head, on lampposts, everywhere. A sparkly wonderland of blue and white. The window displays and lights at Harrods and around Sloane Street weren’t too shabby either!

Our cabbies have been awesome. We only took 2 cabs the whole time, and both guys were so funny, nice and memorable. One asked where we were from in the States, said how great it is that we’re here, and looked us all in the eye and said with all sincerity, “You know you are our American cousins. We welcome you to visit anytime. Please come back again and again!” How friendly for a Christmas Eve blessing. He had been two places in the US: Vegas and Memphis. I love it. The other cabbie told a story how he and his family went to an old pub for Christmas dinner last year, and took their time about eating, so drank A LOT before their meal. His memorable line: “My lady was so shnockered she didn’t remember her Christmas dinner, so I had to take her back to the pub a week later so she could enjoy the meal and remember it.” Hahaha.

They call drunk driving “drink driving” here. Subtle difference, but it caught our attention in the pubs.

We stumbled on a “Winter Wonderland” carnival on Christmas Eve in Hyde Park! How fun is that? We rode a roller coaster, tasted mulled wine, and wandered through all the people, fun houses, live singers, festival food, candy, stands selling everything under the sun. It was a great little Christmas-y detour and I don’t think we could have planned anything that was as much fun.

Christmas dinner at The Audley, a beautiful old pub that had quite the Christmas spread. They had wrapped packages on the table and each person pulls a side and little gifts fall out, including these paper crowns that we saw EVERYWHERE over the few days. It was fun to dine in our crowns.

We’ve had a great time with our Atlanta friends Chuck and Chris. It was so kind of them to invite us to crash their vacation, and spend time at the beautiful Chesterfield Hotel, cozy in our favorite lobby bar, hanging with some of our best friends. What a unique way to spend the holiday, and the most fun I’ve had for my actual birthday in awhile (no offense, parents!! but a Christmas birthday is what it is!).

Update: I added some photos here and please visit my Flickr page to see a more complete set of photos!

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Photos

the typical Dave-holds-the-camera shot of us
in front of Westminster Abbey