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Magical Christmas vibe in London

Covent Garden, Candy Canes
Christmas time in London is like no other, the lights, the decor, the vibe.

No matter what mood your in, what age you are, what religion your are, whether you believe in Santa or not, the way everything is decorated is sure to lift your spirits and get you all festive.

Check out the massive -fake- grass hedge sculptures of candy canes and deer in the







This is just a massive Rudolph, look how far you have to stand to get a shot
Covent Garden area, enjoy the massive tree, and nightly carol singing whilst sipping on a moderately priced tiny cuppa of mulled wine.
Enjoy the whole outdoor ambience of Christmas Markets in this area, as well as free street performers in all areas of the square.

Or head down to Oxford Street to get your gifts in the high street stores, all are decorated amazingly.
AS a child my family and I used to wait to all the shops had closed- drive down and park up- usually about 6pm back in those days (now it's more like 10pm) and buy some chesnuts peeling them eating those as we admired all the different window displays, Liberty's, Fortnum and Mason and Selfridges have the best ones, all a bit of a walk from each other, although the other stores are catching up.

Selfridges Gingerbread window, nice to do when the shops shut too, buy some chesnuts to peel as you walk.



















Top of a Double Decker, the place to see the lights in comfort.
 The Double Decker is a great way to do the lights and the sights, take a number 11 to do the usual stops a bus tour does anyway, and now it's one of the newest retro looking buses in London. It's a snip of the price of on of those hop-on hop off things and you can see everything, having said that, there are many other routes too.


 I love the Regent Street lights myself, but I'm not a fan of shopping. Yes, Oxford Street has the longest shopping street in Europe, but they also have the crowds to match- see below.
Sooo many shoppers at this time of year.
If you come as a visitor or a local to London's shops for your Christmas or January Sales shopping make sure to make reservations for Lunch or Dinner, trust me, when you're exhausted after shopping and all the eateries have an hours long wait, you'll be grateful you can pop into the Wallace Collection for example, for a bit of tranquility and afternoon tea.



* It should be said that I'm  aware that some people have said it's not  politically correct to call this time "Christmas time." Instead to encompass all religions and saying 'Happy Holidays' as they do in America.
I was born here and we've always called this time Christmas, that's what it's always meant to me. Being 'politically correct' (which has only become an issue in recent years) is to save the feelings of a minority, most people accept my view is that this is a Christian country, and it is important, right and good that the Christians here be able to celebrate Christmas and call it Christmas. There is such a thing as going too far with political correctedness.
I'm a Hindu. But that doesn't stop me from celebrating, I always have, church and presents and all. God is God. Plus with all that, it's a lovely time of year. Enjoy.

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