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Published: December 31st 2016
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Christmas is truly a magical time of year, no matter where it's being celebrated. Christmas in London however, is more magical than I've ever experienced back home. The whole city comes alive with festivities! The streets are lined with Christmas light displays, Christmas markets and ice skating rinks pop up all over the city and and mulled wine becomes the drink of choice over the colder months.
Kicking off the season in mid-November was Oxford Street, closing off the entire street for a day and providing free entertainment all in the lead up to their Christmas lights being turned on. And doing the honours this year was Craig David, who sang not one of his songs from 16 years ago but merely, spoke of his career revival and push the button. Following on was Hyde Park, celebrating their 10th year of Winter Wonderland, which I'd been most excited for as I've heard so many good things about the Christmas markets here and in Europe. And disappointed I was not. London can Christmas and it seemed everywhere I went was getting right into the Christmas spirit.
After seeing the Christmas markets around London and hearing of the one's in Europe,
I had planned to pop over the ocean to Brussels to check it out, as I've also never been there. Unfortunately, I spent too much time thinking about and therefore, left it too late to take leave off work in November and December. Thankfully, I was given a day in lieu at the end of November since weekend work was starting so I went to Brussels on my day off. Even now, it still hasn't sunk in that I was able to visit another country whilst on a single day off. After work on the 30th, I went straight to Kings Cross St Pancras station with nothing but a backpack to catch the last Eurostar of the night to Brussels. After just over 2 hours, I arrived in Brussels late in the evening and got a bit lost getting to my hostel but we finally managed to get there. Went to sleep, woke up and showered, checked out and went to explore the city.
The Christmas markets are spread all around the city centre so I spent the majority of the day wandering and exploring the city, seeing the big sights. Such as Mannekin Pis, a small statue of
a little boy happily urinating into a fountain, that tourists flock to. However, on this occasion, he was dressed up in one of his many outfits, which made the poor lad look even funnier. Nearby, is Jeanneke Pis, the girl version who's barred up due to vandalism and Zinneke Pis. After wandering around Brussels, they are quite big on their statues around the city but Mannekin Pis is the most well known. The other main sight is the Grand Place, the central square of Brussels surrounded by the Town Hall and Museum of the City of Brussels. Once the sun set and one of the last things I watched before having to go back to the Midi station to catch the Eurostar back home, the Grand Place put on a magnificent light show that most would have seen the video up on my Facebook page. It truly was spectacular! After a day of aimlessly wandering the city, eating frites and drinking Belgian beer, it was time to head home but not before stocking up on chocolates. There's so many chocolate shops everywhere selling truffles and hand made chocolate, that it's incredibly hard to choose. Heading back to London on the
last train of the evening, I was still in shock of where I'd spent the day - I can honestly say it's been one of my best day off work days that I've ever had.
Christmas has now been and gone. And although I didn't get my White Christmas - I am feeling quite lied to by every single Christmas movie that's set in London -it was still an incredible time of year and one I'm very glad to have experienced. As I sit here writing this on New Year's Eve, I find myself reflecting over the year that was. Some days, I still can't believe where I'm living and how quick it's going as the 6th of January marks 6 months since I left my life as I knew it in Australia to take the leap of faith and move to the other side of the world. Looking back on my photos, I've seen and done so much in such a short amount of time. So as I bid adieu to 2016, I raise a glass to 2017 (or my coffee cup in this case as it's only mid-morning here in London). Here's to the year ahead and
many, many more adventures along the way.
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Sandra Morrissey
non-member comment
Exciting
Really enjoying your blog Haylee.