Now bring us some figgy pudding!

London at Christmastime is just wonderful. I’m so glad to be here right as the city’s getting all dressed up for the holidays. As a disclaimer, I will note that with the lack of Thanksgiving to mark an appropriate time to begin celebrating Christmas, London jumps the gun a bit with the Christmas decorating. But, now that it’s well into December, I feel alright about partaking in the general Christmasyness of the city.

Carolers at Trafalgar Square

So how does London do Christmas? I’m glad you asked. First, you need lots, and I mean lots, of Christmas trees. You find them in all of the normal suspects- Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s, but they also pop up in just about every nook and cranny of my school and even in my dorm. Next, you need lots of tasty Christmas drinks in festive settings. For example, I had a glass of mulled wine at the Renaissance bit of a Christmas fair I went to in Lincoln. Or, my personal favorite: hot spiced cider from my one of my favorite pubs, The Eagle. Another wonderful thing about Christmas in London is all the outdoor ice rinks that pop up around the city. There were ones all over including ones at the Natural History Museum, Sommerset House, and my personal favorite- the Tower of London. My friend Andie and I went ice skating at the Tower of London and it was incredible! We were skating in the moat of an 11th century castle. Only in London... 

Ice skaters at the Tower of London

Add sparkling Christmas lights in every neighborhood, and Christmas is definitely in the air. We even had a Christmas celebration in my dorm with mulled wine, mince pies, and a random group of the musicians living in Liberty Hall playing some holiday tunes. 

And whilst I’m on the topic of music, I guess this would be a good time to talk about Cello Christmas. Yes, Cello Christmas (a gift in its own, really). This is made up of a 16-piece cello orchestra playing Christmas carols. It’s quite a hoot really. It is an annual concert organised by my private teacher, Alice each year to raise funds for the local hospice. On top of playing carols, Julia and I played the Vivaldi Double which was tons of fun and the orchestra played some traditional English folk songs- when the audience started singing along, I couldn’t stop beaming. I believe the surprisingly high number of random people dressed up walking around London casually in their full Santa dress also merit a mention in this post. This was an enigma I never understood. 

I also got the chance to attend a small service at Westminster Abbey and a beautiful concert of carols at St. Paul's. While the service at St Paul's was grand and had had a real sense of tradition to it, the service at Westmister Abbey was also really cool because it was very quiet and intimate. I feel really lucky to have been able to attend both in two of the world's most historic and beautiful cathedrals. 

Well, that in a nutshell was my experience of Christmas in London. It was really wonderful to be here for that time of year but I am excited to be home to spend the holiday with my family.