Christmas in London

23 December
made it successfully to bus early, even though encountered random people dressed as Superman, Batman and Robin on the way to the bus stop. People like to dress up in character around here.
And Mari (the Rotary Scholar in Cardiff not living with me) was on my bus, too, since she was on her way to Italy for Christmas with Fabiana's family! So she slept and I knitted all the way to Victoria Station :)

Checked out Hotel Meridiana to make sure not in shady part of town before the Lisa&Ben Tour were scheduled to stay. It was acceptable. Also this was good opportunity to re-acquaint self with using Tube since had been more than 3 years since last in London, I think. This was part of ruse to trick visitors into thinking am aware of where to navigate at any moment. My plan was worthwhile since got self completely turned around coming out of Tower Hill Station and walked in wrong direction looking forlornly for coffee shop.

Tower very dramatic and eerie in green light. Ice rink is to left, but that would have added too much cheer to picture.

Met Helene (at a Starbucks, because was fainting from coffee deprivation), waited a bit in her apartment with Ulla before collecting Karsten and venturing forth into night for solid and liquid sustenance.

24 December
relaxing day. Grocery shopping. Looking at Helene's yachts in St. Katherine's Docks and her block of flats that she rents out for a little extra income :) Karsten, Ulla and I fled to Greenwich for the afternoon so Helene could slave away over stove alone and peacefully (actually she also had to volunteer at a help line that night, so she couldn't just faff about mindlessly all day).

Note: when one is looking for food on Christmas Eve in London, it is best not to dislike Indian food, since few other places are open :) But we survived with a couple of pints at The Southwark Tavern (a nifty round pub with Debtor's cells as part of the basement seating) and then returned to eat a late dinner of ready-made sandwiches in the shadow (dramatically pictured to R) of Southwark Cathedral before Midnight Mass.

25 December
it is absolutely stunning to walk through a massive city of over 8 million people in almost utter silence. surreal.

Karsten and I walked to see the Swiss Re building, the second tallest building in the London skyline. Of course, my camera wasn't with me. Don't be absurd.

Then, Christmas lunch of delectable butterflied turkey rolled up with cranberry & orange stuffing, vegetables, including parsnips, which are one of new favorite items, and immaculately burned cornbread (that would be my contribution). sorry picture is blurry...

Later on in evening, Danish schnapps (sp?) was introduced to the foreigner (moi). This is quite a potent concoction made from carraway seeds and obviously created by some very cold person a long time ago. Being cold would be the primary reason for drinking it, I think; although the songs are fun, so suppose it should remain a tradition for that reason :) It also comes in a cool bottle. Personally, I prefer Glogg, a yummy (and also warming) mulled wine. The description given here does not do justice to Helene's (or to its vanquishing strength). Festivity continued late into evening.

Apparently have now reached photo limit for this entry so will be forced to start another.