Monday, 27 December, 2021
There are just so many photos. This year I thought I could get into town and look at things and I suppose I did better than I thought, but not as well as I hoped. But at least I did get out a bit, worried every time about being in the bus and then encountering crowds.
In the interest of having something to look back on, I’m creating this blog. Last year we went into the west end at Christmas time and there was no one there. We had the streets mostly to ourselves, the buses were quiet, the shops were closed. This year things were quite different. I don’t think the numbers with Covid were smaller, but there was no lockdown, no real restrictions, and people were seemingly unworried as they crowded together on the buses, the trains, in the shops, and in the streets. It was all a bit mindboggling.
There was a cool light display at Guildhall. I’d never actually been there so it was a good excuse to go along. At first I saw that there were no booking slots left, but then Krish found out that they accepted walk-ins, so we decided to chance it one fine evening.
The show was called Borealis. It was inspired by the Northern Lights and achieved by laser lights and vapour over the Guildhall yard. We enjoyed the fact it was outside and something different and entertaining.
We also did a trip to Covent Garden one day We looked around Seven Dials, Neal’s Yard – which was lacklustre compared to other years – and went into the Piazza to check out the Frozen display. It promised ‘snow’ once an hour so we timed it as best we could and caught the very nice smelling scene there.
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From Covent Garden we walked along the Strand and past the Savoy, where they were queuing for Pretty Woman. We headed straight towards Somerset House to see the skating.
Although we’ve had a laugh over the rink at Somerset House, somehow it’s become a Christmas tradition to go along and take a look. I remember the years of watching the skaters slosh through the water that collected on top of the ice. We’d have a giggle wondering how they were doing that. We still had a giggle this time watching how many people simply can’t skate and thinking back to the rinks in Toronto where everybody was confident on the ice and some even managing some fancy jumps and other moves. This year people were doing a bit better and the ice was quite solid. I smiled at the people with the funny little pushy things they were using as new skaters, but then I can’t skate at all, so can’t really be too smug. All in all, Somerset House at Christmas with its colourful lights on the rink is quite pretty.
I also did manage to get to the Museum of the Home Christmas Past exhibition. The rooms were slightly different this year with some additional ones. I’m not including those here but this is their lovely atrium Christmas tree.
Thinking about last year’s peaceful Boxing Day, we went into the West End on the 27th. What a difference. See for yourself! There were people everywhere. We started on Oxford Street, headed over to Liberty to see their nice but not very Christmassy display, checked out the Lavazza store, headed down Carnaby Street, walked around and across Piccadilly Circus, back up to Shaftesbury Avenue and through Soho to our bus home on Oxford Street again.
It was a somewhat quieter day when we headed over to Leadenhall Market to see their tree. The rest of the walk was also very quiet, through to Broadgate and home on the train.
Hackney isn’t a very illuminated borough. The only decorations and light are by the Town Hall. The tree this year was very full and made a lovely sight after dark.
As for our Christmas at home, I made six little gingerbread houses and this year’s wreath wasn’t bad. On the day we had a couple of grazing plates at lunch time with a steak and mushrooms for dinner. We had a house theme in gifting, which was fun. Then on Boxing Day I made a pork tenderloin, apple and mushroom stuffing, mashed potato and cranberry sauce – not the most photogenic meal but delicious nonetheless.
There really are more photos but let’s leave it at these. Happy 2022!