THINGS TO DO AT CHRISTMAS IN LONDON 2010

Christmas in London is wonderful.  There’s the chaos of Christmas shopping and the festive fun of Christmas parties and events – and the tranquility of Christmas Day and Boxing Day when you can walk (and drive) around without drowning in shoppers.  But of course that soon ends when the New Year sales kick in!! This site covers all the best things to do at during your London Christmas.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS IN LONDON

Christmas in London is a magical time and made more so by some of the best Christmas lights in the world. Most of them switch on in the middle of November and we recommend checking out Bond Street, Marylebone High Street, Oxford Street, Carnaby Street, and Covent Garden – and at the same time of course you can do your London Christmas shopping.  Possibly the most famous lights on a single store are at Harrods in Knightsbridge.

The Elizabeth Street lights in Belgravia switch on with Amanda Holden on 23rd November from 6-7pm.

THINGS TO DO AT CHRISTMAS IN LONDON 2010

Don’t forget to visit our pages on Christmas entertainment and Christmas markets for more fun things to do at Christmas in London!

 5K Santa Run – Sunday 5th December 2010 (10am) in Greenwich Park, London.  1000s of entrants, and a free Santa suit if you run!

* Serpentine Swimming – join the morning swim in Hyde Park’s Serpentine on Christmas Day – or just go along to wonder at the insanity of London at Christmas…

* A Taste of Christmas 2010 – London’s ExCeL from 3rd-5th December 2010. A boutique food market, the hottest new products, the biggest name chefs and over a dozen of London’s starriest restaurants.

* The Great Christmas Pudding Race – Held on Saturday, 4th December 2010 at 11.30am, teams will run a relay race in London’s Covent Garden Market carrying a pudding on a tray whilst negotiating a number of obstacles along the way.

* ‘London at Christmas’ Walks  – 1st December 2010 at 7pm and on every subsequent Monday, Wednesday and Saturday throughout December, (except Christmas Day and 27.12.10.) Walks start from Trafalgar Square.

* The Enchanted Christmas House – 27th and 28th November and from 1st – 24th December.  Created for children aged 1 to 12, the tour includes amazing Christmas characters, the Garden of Winter Wonder, baking in The Gingerbread Kitchen, and meeting Santa Claus.

* Zippos Christmas Circus – Zippos have created a bespoke Christmas Circus for Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park from 19th November 2010 – 3rd January 2011.

* Santas On The Run – Walk or run through Kensington Gardens for charity on November 29th 2008… dressed as Santa.  They provide the costume! One of the many great things to do at Christmas in London.

* Crisis Christmas – need 6,500 volunteers to help their Christmas centres. Based in London, from 23 – 30 December, it supports over 2000 homeless and vulnerable people.

* Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Thursday 3rd December 2009 – Each year since 1947, a Christmas tree has been given to the people of London from the people of Norway in gratitude for Britain’s support for Norway during World War II.

* Christmas Brewery Tour

Tour of Sambrooks Brewery in Battersea, London – followed by beer and cheese tasting as well as a buffet meal. Booking enquiries call 0800 68 99 100.

* Erith Christmas Tree Festival

10th December 2010 – 12th December 2010.  80 real Christmas Trees sponsored by local groups, societies, businesses, and individuals decorate the grade 2 listed building in Erith, South East London.

SANTAS GROTTO – CHRISTMAS IN LONDON

Some of the biggest shopping stores have a Santa’s Grotto to help make Christmas in London really special for children.  Your kids can meet Santa Claus (aka Father Christmas) himself, let him know what they want for Christmas and get a small present to keep them happy in the meantime.

* Selfridges – Santas Christmas Grotto

* Harrods – Santa’s Grotto in London’s most famous store

* Hamleys – Santa roams the store at Christmas

* Westfield London – Santa’s Wish Kingdom

Lots to do at Xmas in London!

CHRISTMAS DAY LUNCH AND DINNER IN LONDON

We seriously recommend abandoning the kitchen on Christmas Day and eating in one of London’s great restaurants.  You absolutely have to book for Christmas Day, and of course many restaurants are closed.

Here are a few suggestions – all places offering a Christmas lunch – and don’t forget if you get stuck that most hotels offer a festive turkey lunch because they have guests!

* Brasserie Chez Gerard – Christmas lunch from £50 per head.  Many London locations

* Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington – Christmas lunch from £100 per head in Kensington. West London.

* Brown’s Hotel – Christmas lunch from £220…! Central London.

* Brasserie Roux – Xmas day lunch from £90. Central London (located in the Sofitel St James)

* Holiday Inn, Kensington – Christmas lunch from £45.

* Altitude London – Christmas lunch from £150

* The Langham, London – Christmas Lunch from £190 per person in the heart of the West End.

CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS

Visit our friends at Getting Personal for all your Christmas stocking filler presents – great Christmas gift ideas for kids, teenagers and mums and dads!

TRIVIA: CHRISTMAS IN LONDON

Following a victory at the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror, the then Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England in the newly finished Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.

The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is usually a Norwegian spruce over 20 metres high and 50-60 years old. It is selected from the forests surrounding Oslo with great care several months, even years, in advance. The Norwegian foresters who look after it describe it fondly as ‘the queen of the forest’.

Beautiful Images to get Inspired

I've been inspired to choose the next photos to show it to all of you, to tell you through images that is good to feel good. Maybe I am a litle crazy, but you what they say: 'A litle crazy help you through the day' and the next article will show you that :). The images are from all over the world, from the most beautiful places that if you get the oportunity, you should visited and see some interesting animals there. First are some pictures taken on Transfagarasan, Romania on a sunny day.

On the 22.10.2010 the sun is shining all over the valley crossed by a long road.

The same day, but a different angle.

Try to see this sight with a litle more snow.

And now some pure water from the mountain.

Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii

Fish go into a frenzy around me as scraps of food are dropped into the water by people on the boat.

Clownfish and Bubble

Tipped Anemone - Bleached by high water temperatures, this bubble-tipped anemone is largely devoid of the algae that provide color as well as energy from photosynthesis. Though stressed, it will likely survive and continue to serve its clownfish.

Underwater Cave, Bahamas

The Cascade Room, some 80 feet (24 meters) beneath the surface, leads divers deeper into Dan's Cave on Abaco Island. Nearly seven miles (11 kilometers) of the cave have been explored since the mid-1990s.

Ice Canyon, Greenland

Meltwater has carved a canyon 150 feet (45 meters) deep.

Autumn Leaves, Japan

"The road gods beckoned." Thus the poet Matsuo Basho set off in 1689 into Japan’s backcountry. His journal, Narrow Road to a Far Province, described a path, still visible on Natagiri Pass, that devotees have followed ever since.

Tiger

Hunted to death in much of India, tigers survive in Kaziranga National Park.

Peacock, Sarasota

I found this peacock last April while touring downtown Sarasota, Florida. He seemed willing to have his picture taken so I obliged him!

Northern Spotted Owl

A tagged northern spotted owl swoops toward a researcher’s lure in a young redwood forest.

Puffin, Shiant Islands

Dapper black-and-white razorbills (at right) and bright-beaked puffins (at left and in air, at center) find a haven on the Shiant Islands, just a few miles southeast of Lewis, Scotland. Nearly 8,000 razorbills and more than 200,000 puffins are estimated to use these islands as their breeding grounds each year.

Bathing Parrot

During a boat trip across the Gulf of Papagayo, this nice parrot decided that he couldn't stand the heat of the Guanacaste summer and decided to take a bath.

King Penguins Swimming

A feeding party streams back to shore after several days at sea. Their orange markings, long, slender bills, and hefty, three-foot-long bodies distinguish them as king penguins. With bellies full of small fish, they will regurgitate a portion for waiting chicks.

Pantanal, Brazil

Birds in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso in central-western Brazil.

Smyrna, Delaware

A "bllizzard" of snow geese at Bombay Hook, near Smyrna.

Butterfly Egg

Perched on the tendril of a Passiflora plant, the egg of the Julia heliconian butterfly may be safe from hungry ants. This species lays its eggs almost exclusively on this plant's twisted vines.

Serra da Leba, Angola

This is Serra da Leba, a landmark in Angola. It has been one of the country's postcard images for decades, but all shots were taken by day. I needed something different. I decided to try a night shot, but it seemed impossible: pitch black, foggy, an altitude of 1,800 meters (5,000 feet). My Nikon can stay open as long as 60 seconds max. But a car takes a few minutes to climb and descend and complete the "drawing." The fog was blocking! Suddenly the fog cleared, a car went down, another went up, and they met in the middle in under 60 seconds. Painting done.

Rideout Bay, Ontario

This is an image from Rideout Bay in Kenora, Ontario, situated on the Lake of the Woods. The February sun veiled the shoreline as it teased the fog from the open water. There is no reason to believe this point looked any different 500 years ago, and I welcome its haunting invitation to return to innocence.

Sea Stacks, Outer Hebrides

Their crumpled layers as old as the continents, the sea stacks and cliffs of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland offer jagged reminders of the forces that drove Europe, North America, and Greenland apart as the North Atlantic began to open 60 million years ago. Their crumpled layers as old as the continents, the sea stacks and cliffs of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland offer jagged reminders of the forces that drove Europe, North America, and Greenland apart as the North Atlantic began to open 60 million years ago.

Bering Sea Sunset

Water from the Bering Sea crashes on the rocks of Margaret Bay in Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

Saranac Lake, New York

Clouds and sunlight reflect off the surface of the West Branch of the Sacandaga Creek as a kayak penetrates a wilderness area of New York's Adirondack Park.

Everglades National Park, Florida

Little Butternut Key in Florida Bay, viewed from a shoal off Middle Butternut Key. From Florida Bay Ranger Station, kayak five miles northwest, rounding Swash Key. Then paddle southwest to the tip of Middle Butternut.

Waikawau Bay, New Zealand

This photo was taken at Waikawau Bay, Coromandel, New Zealand. After a gorgeous drive up the coast I was greeted with this scene. It kind of reminds me of the symmetrical paintings I did at primary school where you painted one side then folded the paper in half. The weather always seems to provide unique opportunities up this end of New Zealand.

Denali National Park, Alaska

The Alaska Range, viewed from Polychrome Overlook. Take the park shuttle bus to mile 47 and hop off at the viewpoint's designated stop. Look southwest.

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

An unnamed hoodoo formation viewed from the Peekaboo Connector Trail. Hike one mile into the canyon from Bryce Point and look back up toward the trailhead. In the distance is a trio of spires called the Three Wise Men.

Yosemite National Park, California

Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite Valley, as seen from Tunnel View. From Yosemite's South Entrance, drive 25 miles on Route 41. Park in the lot just beyond Wawona Tunnel and look east.

Death Vallery National Park, California

The untrodden dunes of Devils Cornfield, viewed from the south. From the Stovepipe Wells Visitor Center, drive east on Highway 190 for four miles.  Park on the side of the road and walk northwest into the sands for a mile.

Wind River Roadless Area, Wyoming

No signs point the way here, only the arthritic limbs of a pine gesturing to an endless sky. It is the wildest of the wild, a glacier-scoured terrain unmarred by roads, tugged at by wind, on the shoulder of the Continental Divide. This preserve of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho dates back to 1937, decades before the United States passed the Wilderness Act, in 1964.

Wadi Hitan

Imagine this dry expanse underwater, with whales hunting and diving. Today visitors to Wadi Hitan walk a stone-lined path to see rocks that hold the fossils of the long-gone sea creatures.

Lencois Maranhenses National Park, Brazil

Waves of sand, firmed by an overnight rain, flow along the route of a fisherman pedaling his catch at dawn to trade it for supplies. When the dune dries in a day or so, the wind will begin to reshape it once again.

Lightning, Cape Town

Two separate lightning bolts converge over Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, with an amazing display of natural electricity.

Point Reyes Station, California

The windswept trees formed a kind of tunnel and the sun pierced through the upper layer of the fog to create a very special effect. It appears quite unreal.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

A demonstration in making traditional chili ristras at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, southwest of Santa Fe.

Badshahi Mosque, Pakistan

A quiet interlude between prayers is the best time to savor the majesty of the Badshahi Mosque. Its marble domes and graceful minarets rise above Lahore's Old City, evoking the glories of Punjab's imperial past. If you like this post, send it to your friends, sow they can enjoy it too!  And leave a comment with your feedback for me, to know what my readers think about my work!

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