London's wonderful Christmas lights and trees

London looks brilliant any time of the year but in the build up to Christmas London dresses up in its very best festive lights and trees pop up all over the city.  

I'd love to show you a few of the fabulous sights to enjoy right now in London.   Covent Garden is a good place to start as they have the best tree, in my view, and fabulous lights. This year's theme is mistletoe - ahhh...   You can shop for gifts and enjoy some refreshment as you explore. 

The Queen's grocer (they have a plaque to prove it!) has some really unusual windows this year including the boy and the brussel sprouts and the turkey having a tug of war with a chopper! They are all beautifully crafted in the strangeness. 

Last year Regent Street had an epic fail with their decorations which were far too dark to enjoy so it was a relief this year to see the light, bright and very sparkly angels that cover the full length of this famous shopping street. 

Kew Gardens goes all out with their illuminated trail which sells out so fast I missed out last year so was determined to book early and was entranced by their lights.  The high point was a laser and lights show on the palm house, hard to photograph but here a a few to give you an idea of the magic. 

Ice rinks pop up in all of London's most iconic sights:  the Tower of London, Somerset House and the Natural History Museum:

Talking of ice, one of the more unusual trees was to be found at Kings Cross where a tree is trapped in an enormous block of ice.

The Strand didn't want to be left out and repeated last year's jolly decorations, as did Oxford Street: 

And finally, the best festive afternoon tea, happily consumed at St Ermin's Hotel:

I hope you enjoyed a virtual tour around festive London, where it really is 'looking a lot like Christmas.....'

Bye for now

Sue 
@itsyourlondon
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk

Christmas lights in London - part 2!

As we hurtle towards Christmas, I wanted to bring you some more pictures of the street lights and shop displays that are giving London a really festive look. 

Every year since the Second World War Norway has sent London a huge Christmas tree to thank us for our support in the fight against Nazism. The annual lighting ceremony is a popular event in the build up to Christmas and is always a beautiful sight, especially when seen across the fountain and water. 
 

A moment of reflection

The photo was taken through a bus window so apologies for the blurriness but it shows you the annual fun event which is Santa Con where hundreds, or more probably thousands, of people dress up as Santa and roam around London all day. They usually gather in Trafalgar Square but this year this famous venue was hosting a Nelson Mandela memorial so it looks like they were making Marble Arch their home this year!

Santa Con at Marble Arch

Santas are also to be found in most of the big stores and this unusual version made of Lego was in John Lewis with some less festive companions from Star Wars!
 

Watch out behind you!

There are loads of skating rinks across London, many of them in famous historic sights and this one is a favourite, with the ghostly shape of the Tower of London in the background. 

Skating in history

 Or you could head over the Natural History Museum and try out their rink:

Watch out for the dinosaurs!

 Carnaby Street always gives us an inventive take on Christmas lights and this year's lovely robins are delightful

 Piccadilly Circus has turned the statue of Eros into a giant snowglobe to the amusement of all who pass by.

I was really pleased to see the giant reindeer had returned to Covent Garden as he is so cheery with his blinking red nose! 

A giant Rudolph

 Covent Garden has a festive look all through with the alleyways looking great and serving hot chestnuts to give a wonderful Christmassy smell.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly...

 Just one more to show you as I liked this shop window, bringing together several symbols of London with a festive feel.

Bye for now,
Sue
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk
@itsyourlondon

Arts by day, sciences by night

It was an exciting week at the Natural History Museum as they treated us to a late opening on Friday night so we could meet their scientists. It was mobbed with people and we could hardly get through the crowds at each desk waiting to ask about dinosaurs, plants, rocks and mammals. This event was happening in 200 cities across Europe in other science institutions. It was a fun evening as the bars were open and everyone was wondering around with drinks enjoying the atmosphere and the special tours of the key areas. Hopefully they will do this again as everyone was having a good time in this most wonderful of buildings. Have a look at these 2 photos, one of the outside wonderfully lit and the other putting you face on to the dinosaur you see as you enter this home of natural science, an enormous diplodocus.



Art was on all around London as these weeks in September are the peak time for art exhibitions and shows. There was London Fashion Week, Decorex, 100% Design, Origins and Tent to name just some of them and this week I went to visit the last two. Origins was in Spitalfields Market where the central hall was given over to this year's show entitled Made not Manufactured. There were hundreds of stalls selling a wide range of original pieces from small traders from glass, pottery and jewellery through to leather goods and hats and scarves. We stopped for lunch at Spitalfields as this area is really good for restaurants and we visited John Torode's Luxe. They were busy but the wait for the food was worth it as it was very high quality. From there we went on to Tent in the Truman Brewery on Brick Lane where newer designers and more experimental work was on sale/being exhibited. Photos here are the posters at Origins, the outside of the Luxe cafe and the landmark chimney at the Truman Brewery, now an exhibition space.

More art on Wednesday as I visited three galleries that show glass items with a friend of mine who is a glass artist and we are working on how best to market her lovely creations. We went to Flow and Vessel Galleries in Notting Hill and Zest in Earl's Court and all the folk were really friendly and helpful. They have great stuff too so do poke your nose in their doors.

I had a treat on Wednesday night as I went to a party at the Hospital private members club which was thrown by Wolf and Badger. Lots of champagne is always fun and we had a great night. We'd had lunch at Taqueria in Notting Hill where you can taste more original and authentic Mexican snacks than you find at most places. They serve one of my favourites which is hot black beans with crumbled cheese.



Bye for now,
Sue
http://www.itsyourlondon.co.uk/