New Yorker in London for Christmas

“Chestnuts roasting on the open fire…”, ah, as I hear the Christmas songs playing in the background with Nat King Cole’s soothing voice resonating through the apartment, feelings of warm and coziness just fills me up with excitement for the holidays.

Although London weather is far from pleasant during this time of year, the pre and post-Christmas events in the city more than makes up for the weather. From visiting Charles Dicken’s apartment to running through the illuminated forest in Kew Gardens, families and tourists have been attracted to this amazing city year after year.

In Covent Garden, I spotted a beautiful singing Christmas tree and also Lego’s new take of London’s famous landmarks!

See if you can spot and name all of them! 🙂

Despite all of this hectic Christmas schedules, I even had time put in a few moments to brighten up the Southbank with my man-powered Christmas tree!

Winter Wonderland was one of the best ones I have been to in years! The budget was bigger this year with more games, German Christmas markets, Ice Kingdom, and more rides!

Also, this was one of my first proper Christmas spent in the city as hosts to the London boy’s family coming back from Australia. Despite being ridiculously ill (a.k.a in bed ridden with three boxes of tissues and headache pills popping every two hours!), I managed to fight through my symptoms and fought through the crowds at the local Marks and Spencers to get the last stuffed Turkey.

Being an experienced Londoner after a few years spent in this city, I learned that nothing will be open on Christmas Day, so if one forgets to get food for the few days ahead, there will be no Christmas dinner and worse yet, starve!

In addition to the fridge full of food, we also added 4 lobsters to the starters as well. Paired that with carrot soup and finger hors d’oeuvre, the dinner headed off to a good start.

The rest of the evening was a huge success with the turkey tender and moist, filled with chestnut stuffing. All the trimmings were included, especially my least favourite, the good old brussel sprouts (I never really understood the British’s fascination with this rather bland vegetable).

What is Christmas dinner without Christmas pudding? I didn’t go for it this time! We decided to opt for a lighter choice of walnut cake topped with pistachio cream and a side of raspberry swirl vanilla ice cream. Yummy!

How and where did you spend your holidays? Leave a comment down below and I would love to hear about it! 🙂 A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you my readers and your families. May 2014 be an even more fantastic year ahead!

Next stop! To the shops for Boxing Day sales! This is an event that can not be missed but make sure to tread carefully as I almost had myself stampede on the first time I have experienced this. Discounts range from 20% to more than 70% off depending on the store and location. Bag yourself a good offer before they are all gone.

Happy shopping!