The first weekend in December was a busy one here in London! On Saturday morning, I took E ice skating at Somerset House. She enjoyed it so much last year in Vienna, I wanted to take her again this Christmas season.
As I previously mentioned, with Christmas activities in London, you need to book well ahead, or else things sell out. But that means you run the risk of it pouring down rain the morning of your ice skating time slot, as it was this Saturday.
(I was going to title this “Kicking off Christmas,” but I realised that is a very American thing to say, as here “kicking off” means starting to throw a fit. So I revised to something that sounds a lot more British.)
This is our third Christmas season in London. Yes, Christmas, not holiday season; the holiday season here means summer vacation; and even though in general I find this a very tolerant melting pot of a city, Brits don’t seem to be concerned about religious political correctness surrounding Christmas the way Americans are, hence every public school child performs in a nativity play, and no one seems bothered by it. Continue reading
The fireworks last year were so spectacular, we decided to go back to Battersea Park for the Bonfire Night celebration again this year (on the Saturday before actual Guy Fawkes Day).
When we moved to London, I was six months pregnant, and in major nesting mode. The baby’s room in our new house was already painted a light blue, and even though I knew I was having a girl, I decided to go with it. I was so excited to be giving birth in the fabulous city of London, that I chose to go full London theme-ahead for the baby’s room.
London’s look is so iconic with its red buses, phone booths, and post boxes; black cabs; and famous buildings. I also worked in everyone’s favourite London bear, Paddington, who fit right into the colour scheme, which I took from the Union Jack.
I’m listing below the sources for my London nursery decor, in case anyone out there wants to do a London-themed nursery and is looking for ideas. I purchased some things in the U.S., and some things in the U.K. Continue reading
For the first May bank holiday weekend of 2018, we rented a car and drove southwest to Dorset, on the Jurassic Coast. The drive took us 4 hours, thanks to all the traffic of everyone else who wanted to get out of the city for the long weekend, and we arrived right at the girls’ bedtime on Friday night.
(Side note: The signs along the way made for interesting reading. Actual names of places in Dorset: Tincleton, Puddletown, Tolpuddle, Grimstone, Puncknowle, and Durdle Door.)
