Larson's In London: winter activities in London

Winter Wonderland 2015!

11:52 PM

Taylor has been talking to anyone who would listen about Winter Wonderland since we went last Christmas.

And it's definitely bigger and better than last year!

It's free to get in and open from 10-10 but we definitely went at a good time. 2pm on a Saturday and stayed until 5:30 when the masses really started rolling in.

We made a beeline direct to our favourite ride from last year. WILDE MAUS

Tokens are steep but worth it.

The smell of German bratwurst is everywhere. We grabbed some sweet potato fries and watched a long line of men try their hands at one of those impossible carnival games: 'Hang on a bar for 2 minutes to win £20.' It was so entertaining to watch the big, burly men try to hang on and the crowd groaning with them when they fell short of the 2 minute mark.

Every kind of Haribo! Extremely fitting in a German market and sure made Taylor a happy guy.

Bratwurst served with soooo much sauerkraut. But smells oh so good.

Creepy, creepy man in Bavaria Town.

Walking away from the park toward the Knightsbridge underground station. London is such a gloriously beautiful place.

Harrods Christmas Lights.

London Black Cabs.

Tourists clogging up the sidewalk.

(I added to the chaos by taking some photos myself and I don't feel that badly about it)

We ended the night with some hot chocolate at Le Pain Quotidien.

I've written about our favourite hot chocolates around London but here's the quick recap: steamed bowl of milk and a small jug of Belgian chocolate to stir in for your chocolatey delight.

I love Christmas in London.

Covent Garden

Catching up in the new year...now that it's February...

2:32 AM

I am really behind on the blog updates of our lives here. One of my goals when we moved here was to NOT let 'normal' life dissolve into a 'no big deal, we live in London' attitude. I'm getting lazy about sharing stuff that is starting to be normal for me.

It's a big deal to say that I now look to the right FIRST when crossing the road. I'm actually nervous about an upcoming visit to America (that's how the Brits/Europeans say it, I'm from America. Not 'The States' or 'the U.S.') where I may not automatically revert to the roads. It's probably fine but I am overly worried about it.

Red letter day: 26 January 2015 I used 'cheers' as a true reaction to the man who came to read our meter. I was giddy that it came out of my mouth naturally and not ironically at all. Cheers usually means thank you but with a sort of soft, informal tone. Almost a parting 'ok, bye, thanks' but sounds so much better. I love this word. It can also be used with insane amounts of sarcasm but I'm nowhere near that yet. It is fascinating that Brits can insult/judge and it can take hours to realise it. Yowza.

Anyway, here's what we've been up to. These pictures are from back when Taylor could hang out with me. Mid-December meant his office basically cleared out. A lull in the regular, crazy hours he usually works meant I could drag him all around town to the many Christmas activities.

St Paul's cathedral

I really like Portobello Road/market for random finds. Here's a Harry Potter nerd moment among the 'antique' jewelry section of the market. It's a little dark but you fellow nerds will get me.

Sunset view from Blackfriars pier. The river Thames has a national foot path 180 miles long... This iconic section I'm most familiar with is about 4 miles. I have loads more exploring to do!

We enjoyed the lights at Covent Garden, which was once a real fruit and vegetable garden that monks kept but now is a big shopping hub where you can find everything from handmade, UK goods to the good old touristy Big Ben's. Also a good spot to find discount theatre tickets. A big Apple Store and the only Shake Shake first brought us here.

All of Santa's reindeer, the sleight and Santa made of Legos hung out at Covent Garden.

Giant decor, a Covent Garden signature.

We walked across the Waterloo bridge to the south bank just to check it out. This is from the middle of bridge.

It was our first time on the south bank so we took our time to check out the bookstores and make notes of any restaurants we might want to come back and try someday.