Today, I had my Christmas get-together with Helen! We planned a Christmas bonanza - first to the Magical Ice Kingdom at Winter Wonderland, where we determined also to have a stroll around the Christmas markets, and get some alcoholic hot chocolate. Then food - then we were on a Tootbus night-time open-top bus tour. As booked on Wowcher. Now, there was a rail strike today, but it didn't affect her. There was also a Tube strike. Of course, there was a bus strike too.. Happily, affecting neither of us!
Well, I was up in decent time - although the lift in our building is (finally!) fixed, SOMEONE is still doing building works - really loud building works. Drilling and hammering at 8.15 on a Saturday morning - I ask you. So, I was there in good time to meet Helen at the stop where I told her to get off.
That, apparently, is the Animals in War memorial.
And kudos to her for following the directions! Well, as she remarked as we headed to the Red Entrance, what a good job we weren't entering by the Blue (main) entrance - as I was to see for myself later, when we left that way. What a queue.. of the hour and a half we spent in Winter Wonderland, we'd probably have spent most of that time waiting, in a queue that size.
Speaking of entrances - what an excellent idea Winter Wonderland had, to use What 3 Words to help people to locate the entrances! Google Maps couldn't find the entrance exactly - but What 3 Words has mapped the entire world, using a random combination of three words to describe each 3-square-metre patch. So you can be that precise! Oh, and the app will tell you what the three words are for where you are at the moment - and then asks whether you want directions in Google Maps! and off you go. So, Winter Wonderland provided the three-word combination for each of the entrances, and you just look those up in the What 3 Words app, and click through from there for directions in Google Maps. Location has never been so easy - it basically eliminates the need to know coordinates!
Pity they didn't give the What 3 Words location for each of the attractions! We had the usual fun trying to find the ice kingdom - which I see actually has a castle frontage this year! The theme is that a wicked witch has turned the queen to a block of ice, and the king has to come and rescue her, with the help of some faithful subjects. The carvings are as impressive as ever - just watch out for the odd lump of snow falling from the frozen condensation on the roof!
The poor attendants were mithered telling people not to touch the ice - a major problem was kids patting this dog's bottom!
I think the witch's castle is guarded by a bear, which has to be defeated:
Battle is duly joined:
And you actually end up walking through a castle wall made of ice! Most impressive - there's an optional ice slide for kids, too.
Finally, the king and queen make good their escape:
And as well as the usual ice benches to sit on (brr!), this time, they have a carriage!
As usual, well worth a look - I've omitted lots of small details here. Wrap up, though - I think they keep it at -10c.
Now, the last couple of times I was at Winter Wonderland, they had the "boozy" hot chocolate at the exit to the ice display. Not this time - but we did have some lovely churros and doughnuts! We duly came across the "boozy" hot chocolate just across from the Apres-Ski Funhouse. I have to say though, I can't recommend the "Jameson orange" option - it's rather sickly. They used a different orange shot in previous years..
We found the Haunted Mansion interesting enough for a photo stop:
Very Christmassy toilets they have:
Many unisex:
Some nostalgic art on sale:
Winter Wonderland runs till the 2nd of January. Well, after we'd schlepped around the markets, we were ready for a sit-down and some food. So off we hied to Henry's, a moderate walk away - thanks, Laurence, for introducing me to it! Never really busy - I think passers-by think it's more expensive than it is. We were seated without problem - unfortunately, we ate enough that we were absolutely stuffed! We also bonded with our server over her love of cats.. Happily, we had plenty of time before our bus tour, and wandered our way slowly up there afterwards.
As we started, at 4.30, it was just getting nicely dark. We sat upstairs of course - and the promised rain mostly held off. I didn't envy the next tour, though! It rained more heavily later.. Oh, and we could all take a free Toot Bus Santa hat!
Down Oxford Street, we actually spent most of our time window-shopping! which was just fine with us. For all that they keep mentioning two branches of M&S, two branches of Primark - I counted at least four branches of Zara along its length! And the traffic was dreadful - which suited us just fine, as they had to drop us back (roughly) where we started. So we got an extra-long tour! I have to say, too, that guide - whose patter never failed for the whole tour - had something to say about absolutely every place the bus paused! Every building we passed. Well done, that man.
The crowds - well, the crowds were as bad as they are here every weekend..
That done, Helen had time to head for a hot chocolate - I checked out the nearest Caffe Nero, and we were lucky enough to get a table in what was a very busy cafe. And she was lucky enough to get the last of their new chocolate and hazelnut choux-nuts (like doughnuts, but with choux pastry - as she remarked, more like a profiterole). And I love their luxury hot chocolate - they do know what they're doing. And we had a lovely couple of pieces of gianduja, which they always keep by the till. Unfortunately, after that, her luck ran out - she'd left her (new) phone on the table while she ran to the loo, and there was a beggar, with a board, doing the rounds of the tables. With hindsight, of course, I'd have done something differently - but as it was, she used her board as a cover to lift the phone. Bummer, not a good end to the day. Well, 'tis the season for opportunistic thievery.. Be careful out there.
Ah well, despite that, it was good to see her! With her planning a move to the other end of the country in the New Year, these meetings will become less frequent..
Tomorrow, I'm back with Discover London, for a walk entitled Secrets of the Riverside Part 1: Tower Bridge to London Bridge. These events are good - I'm delighted to be back on one! And I see this one is now booked up. So I really need to get to bed soon!
The next two days, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - for some reason, I only just saw their advertised trip, on Monday, to see Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel, at the Arts Theatre. Awesome! This should be good - title decided by the audience on the night.
On Tuesday, we're back at the Park Theatre for the Make Mine a Double series - next week, it's Press, which examines the world of journalism, and Tunnels, about two cousins hoping to escape East Berlin. So, darker than last week's.
On Wednesday.. same problem as last Wednesday. Until just yesterday, when the London Classical Music and Theatre Group advertised a London Philharmonic Orchestra concert at the Royal Festival Hall for that day! And wouldn't you know it, there's a Black Friday discount until the end of Monday if you book on the LPO website with the code BLACKFRIDAY. As I'd only just seen! ;-) So now I'm going to that.
On Thursday - well, my contract has been extended, and the new company is busy with a background check, and hasn't yet given me a start date. Which is just fine, as I only have to give a week's notice. I booked an online talk, The Life and Times of Magnus Folk, from the Surrey History Meetup. One of the earliest electrical engineers in England, it seems. Anyway, it's free, and I've now cancelled - I found something more interesting while I was waiting for the play on Thursday night. The Arabic Music, Dance and Party Meetup Group are advertising an evening at the Bethlehem Cultural Festival - tickets from Eventbrite - in which there's a talk about 19th century travellers, as well as discussion of a forthcoming book, and a talk from a female artist in Gaza. Not that the group is advertising it, but there's also an Arab dance after, and another talk - you can go to some, or all. Happening in The Tabernacle. So, I booked a ticket - stopped short of joining the group though - we shall see.
Then back to Ireland for the weekend again - flying Aer Lingus for a change! My passport is due to expire, you see - I don't technically need one to travel between Ireland and the UK, but Ryanair demands it. Aer Lingus doesn't.. I've finally gotten around to starting the online renewal process. Fingers crossed it goes quickly..
On the 5th - yep, the London Chess Community again looked like the best option. Hmm. But just lately - hallelujah! I was saved by London Social & Cultural Meetups, who have scheduled a talk on The 70th Anniversary of the Great London Smog. (Although oddly, we're meeting outside - perhaps the venue is hard to find?) Anyway, I'm delighted - this is that friendly group I joined a while ago for Evensong at St. Bartholomew the Great, and I'm glad to be seeing them again.
On the 6th, well, Free Stuff and Free Events are holding another online singalong. Again, I cancelled my attendance at the last of these I booked for, so was reluctant to rush off and book again.. Or the Garden Talks have one on How Did Language Begin? Unfortunately, my free trial has long since expired, and they won't let me take out another. Well, I might have paid - but I'd be paying for a month's worth, so I figured I might as well wait until closer to the date, and get the value.. And yay, just today UITCS jumped to the rescue again, with a comedy called Dinner with Groucho, at the Arcola. The setting is a dinner, somewhere in heaven, with Groucho Marks and T. S. Eliot the guests.. best available seats for £15 with the code FRANK15, until Friday.
On the 7th, I'm back with UITCS for Baghdaddy at the Royal Court. About a little girl, realising she's half Iraqi, just as the Gulf War is raging. I see CT now has tickets for this.. unusually for this venue!
On the 8th, I've signed up for another Watkin's Bookshop talk! This is Colin Stanley on Colin Wilson's Introducing the Occult. Well, the last talk I was at here was interesting, so..
On the 9th, I'm heading to Lightopia, at Crystal Palace Park. As suggested by Over 40 Living the Life, who are not actually hosting a trip themselves, but just wanted to advertise it. 15% discount if you subscribe to Lightopia's mailing list, 20% discount for purchases of 10 or more tickets. And durnit if Groupon hsn't just advertised cheap tickets..
On the 10th - I've bravely scheduled another meeting of Those who Do Not Come. It's my last weekend in London before Christmas, you see. Well, so far Ivan and my first boss in London are probable attendees, the one person who came the last two times probably not, for once. We shall see - I've booked The Lucas Arms - O' Neill's isn't taking bookings for that day. Deposit payable, refundable with cancellation up to 72 hours beforehand.
And on the 11th, I'm vaguely thinking of heading to see Carnaby Street's Christmas lights..
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