Now we continue with our regularly scheduled program.
For those of you in Queensland who haven't lived elsewhere very much, Queensland does not have winter. Queensland has a mild autumn compared to London. Yes, I know, I can hear you saying that London only has a mild autumn compared to the north pole, but we're Brisbanites and that gives us the right to complain about the cold :-)
Nevertheless, "Cold" is not the only thing that happens in winter. Today, being the first day of it, all the Wintery/Christmasy-type things have started. today we walked allong the high street of Balham and found rows apon rows of christmas trees (real living ones) lined up with their branches tied up with string! Christmas lights are draped arround every street lamp. Christmas decorations are in the shops everywhere and everyone is rugged up like eskimos, just like you see in the movies. We're of course are also rugged up just as warmly, but we're still cold when we go out for long periods.... perhaps we're assuming no one else is cold but they really are, perhaps it's just that we're australians and by nature are cold-intollerant.
So today we got up at 10:00, went to the shops and bought some wrapping paper, came home and wrapped frantically in order to get to the post office by 1:00pm. I'm happy to say, although we didn't get a chance to write on any cards, your presents are on their way :-) hopefully they'll arrive on time.
As Debbie said in the last post, we had intended to go to Kew palace today, but when we went to the website to look up directions, it said that it was closed until next march. so instead we went to Hyde Park.
Every year, Hyde park sets up a fair ground which they call the "Winter Wonderland" it's got an outdoor ice skating rink, christmasy craft and food stalls, merry-go-rounds, ferris wheels and other cool stuff. so we decided to go. it's funny, because after midday, you start subconciously counting the hours of daylight left. when we left home to go to hyde park at 1:30, we had 3hrs of "sunshine" (if you can call clouds "sunshine") left in the day :-) We're not complaining of course though, as winter approaches we're loving London more and more :-D
First things first: We needed coffee!! this is Debbie all rugged up in the coffee line.
while drinking the coffee, we got to watch people on the outdoor ice rink:
After wandering around for a bit, we came across a stall that was giving out free "Pimms Winter" Pimms is a very popular gin-based drink that you mix in with things like lemonade. the Pimms Winter that we had a sample of was served mixed in with hot apple juice. it was absolutely perfect for a winters afternoon. I don't think either of us have had a warm fruity drink before - it just doesn't make all that much sense in Australia, but here, it's so nice!
Debbie and Pimms Winter:
public service announcement from debbie: "I'm not pregnant in this photo, I've just got a few things in my pockets that make me look fat."
Next we went to all the little Christmasy huts selling bits and pieces. there was one that had Baubles made out of glass to hang up on Christmas trees, another that had deer skin rugs (these were amazing - their fur is so thick!), one sold wooden carved ornaments, another lollies and ginger bread treats, another had an assortment of hats.... where I bought my first proper hat ever (apart from the acubra I got when I was little):
It's a nice vinyl one (I'm too cheap for a proper leather one at the moment)
In the middle of the semi-circle of huts were three food huts. one with dutch waffles and pancakes, one with German sausages and the other serving German BBQ rissoles and mulled wine. we passed them by because the line up was like this:
however, we later decided that we were hungry enough and waited in line for probably 15 minutes. it was worth it for a yummy red German sausage hot dog each ( no photos for this because we ate them too fast) :-D however, we did take a photo of the ferris wheel while we were lining up:
With our stomachs filled and our bodies warmed, we thought we'd take a ride on the ferris wheel:
it took only about 10 mins lining up, but unfortunately during that time the sun set. no photos from the wheel then due to the light, but the cityscape was beautiful. We could see big ben and the London eye and lots of other churches and pretty lights in the city.
This is what the wheel looked like when we got off a few minutes later. this is only about 4:30 in the afternoon:
Of course, a whole 30 minutes or so of waiting in line and then on the ferris wheel and then wandering about the fair grounds made us want something warm to drink ;-) so we found another cafe. Debbie bought a tea and I bought a mulled wine. Mulled wine is red wine with spices in it that's served hot. just like the Pimms, it was perfect for a cold evening in London. it's fruity and tangy and although it seems a bit strong flavoured to start with (not alchohol flavour but fruit and spice flavour) , it's certainly very yummy. the closest thing I've tasted to it is port, but that doesn't really compare. even Debbie liked it very much, and she doesn't normally go for wine at all.
Me with my mulled wine cup:
We went up to the serpentine lake and the temperature dropped significantly. it was very uncomfortable, I don't know what it is that makes near the water particularly cold, but dispite the beautiful view of the lights on the water, we got out of there fast, so fast we forgot to take a photo :-(
anyway, for the rest of our evening, we just wandered about the place taking in the sites, snapping pictures and generally enjoying each others company... walking in the Winter Wonderland!
here are the other photos we took.
a Haunted Mansion ride for the kids:
a iced up tube slide:
a cool slipery slide tower:
merry-go-round:
ice rink at night:
bungee jumpy ball-type-thing. the "bungee dome"
Debbie outside a chrismasy hut:
more stalls:
and a mugshot of us together.
brrrrrr... we're getting out of here!!!!
XOXOXOXOXOXO
(debbie made me put those in :-) )
1 comment:
Dapper hat, my friend.
I'll see you in Feb.
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