Christmas break in London, part II

The next day, a bunch of us took advantage of the sunny weather and went to Regent's park. It was a very nice day. The sun was shining, the weather was chilly in the shade, but not bad, the grass was green, and I even saw some flowers in bloom. It was good exercise, fun exploring, and time spent in good company.


Regent's Park


Pretty sky



Sunbeams



A walk in the park. Bryan, Ami, Rom, Steve, Kyle

The following day, Nate, Ami, Rom, and I went to have breakfast at a restaurant named Giraffe in Brunswick Square not too far from the hostel. If ever you have the opportunity to eat at this restaurant, I would recommend trying it.

Later in the day, Nate, Rom, Bryan, Steve, and I went for a walk to Hyde Park. We stopped by Speaker's Corner near Marble Arch to listen to some of the opinionated conversations and speeches going on. We didn't stay long, but it was an interesting experience to see something like this.

Christmas break in London

The Christmas break was nice. It provided some free time to go and explore more of London.

The day after Christmas, 26 December, is a national holiday in England known as Boxing Day. Historically, this was the day where people, more typically the wealthy, would put together boxes full of gifts and give them to their servants, employees, and the less fortunate. In modern times, it is a day off of work for many people and a huge shopping day for the masses. I spent my boxing day being lazy and relaxing.

This week, the hostel became a whole new place, as there was a huge turnover of people and many new people moved in. I spent some time getting to know a few of them over the past few days. One day, Ami, Steve (a more recent addition to the hostel), and I went to check out Saint Paul's Cathedral and the crack at the Tate Modern.


the Millenium Bridge,


and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

We wandered a bit more along the River Thames exploring and becoming more familiar with the area. We also crossed London Bridge,


Tower Bridge,



and walked around the outside of the Tower of London.

Christmas Day

I slept late, we prepared a very yummy Christmas brunch...


Nate, Travis, Steve, Kat, Andy, Heidi (me), Ali

...watched "Finding Nemo" and "Ratatouille", did Christmas crackers...


Rom, Ami, Julian, Doris (elderly woman who has lived at the hostel for over twenty years...), and Andy

...and then ended the evening with a dance party at the hostel. It was a very nice Christmas.

Merry Christmas!!!

Dear friends and family,

I wish you a very Merry Christmas!!! I am staying here in London for Christmas and will be spending my time with new friends here at the hostel, but missing family and friends back home.

Christmas Eve day I had to work to finish up a few things in the morning. I did a little bit of last minute shopping, and then headed back to the hostel. This evening, I met Kate and James, her boyfriend, for dinner at a nice little Italian restaurant in Covent Garden. We had a lovely time and I enjoyed the good company. It is great having Kate here with me in London and I am happy that she gets to spend the holidays with James.

After dinner, I made it back to the hostel, and a little later, I went with King, Travis, and Ali on a walking tour of Central London. Luckily, it is warm out and we could comfortable walk without getting cold. It is King's last night here in London after about three years, so we went and experienced several of his favorite areas for the last time. We walked through Soho, Soho Square, checked out Saint James Park in the dark and went to see the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square (not all that impressive, unfortunately). The four of us were looking for ghosts, but unfortunately, didn't find any. It was a fun little adventure and I will miss King dearly, so was glad to be able to spend time with him.

Tomorrow I will likely sleep late, as it is all ready pretty late here. Santa hasn't stopped by, yet, but I expect he will soon. Here at the hostel, we are going to have a Christmas brunch with a full breakfast menu. We also have a Christmas tree and some traditional English treats like mince pie, but unfortunately, no figgy pudding. I also made some sugar cookies on Sunday and bought some nuts in the shells and a nut cracker, so will have a little bit of home with me here in London. We will probably play some board games, eat some yummy treats, and maybe go out for dinner. All of the transportation shuts down, so we won't be going too far. All in all, I am looking forward to a nice relaxing Christmas day spent in good company.

I miss you and have you close at heart. Warm wishes for a very Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

Heidi

Prague

Prague was wonderful. Kate, Nate, and I had an easy trip to Prague without any troubles to start the journey. We left very early on Saturday morning taking a taxi to Liverpool Street Underground Station and then catching the Stansted Express to the Stansted Airport. We flew from London directly to the Ruzyne Airport in Prague, which took just under two hours. We took a bus from the airport to the metro into the center of the city and then walked to our hotel.

We stayed at the Aparthotel about ten minutes from the Old Town Square. Our'apartment' had two bedrooms and a nice big bathroom. It was very comfortable, the staff was pleasant, and they had an enjoyable breakfast, and it was very affordably priced.

Saturday we spent a little bit of the afternoon recuperating in the hotel having tea and taking naps, which were very much needed after the travel. After that, we ventured out to explore the city. We walked through the Old Town Square where we checked out the different markets.



In local shops, the souvenirs typical to Prague were Bohemian glass, mugs, jewelery with garnet and amber, and things related to Franz Kafka (a writer), and music. Many famous classical composers spent time in Prague writing and performing their music.

We took a walking tour on which we saw Charles bridge, the Castle, Old Town Square, Wenceslas Square, the hotel at which Mission Impossible was filmed, New Town Square, the Jewish quarter (this was where the Jewish ghetto was during WWII times), the Astronomical clock, and several other neat sites.


The Astronomical Clock


Statue on Charles Bridge, Prague Castle


A view from part of our walking tour

We also went to the National Gallery and visited the Museum of Communism.

Winter Wonderland

The weekend was pretty low key. Today, some friends and I went to check out Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. They had a ice skating rink, ferris wheel with enclosed seating, food, drink, a small German market that was really neat, and some fun things for kids. It's a festival that will be going on until the end of December after the holidays. It was pretty fun. We didn't go ice skating as we had hoped, but plan to at some point in the next few weeks.

Speaking of the holidays, there are decorations and holiday music all around London. Also, unfortunately, I will not be making it home for the holidays. I am going to miss my family and everyone very much. I will be here in London with friends, so I will not be spending it alone. It will certainly be different, since I have never spent Christmas away from home before.

I'm going to Prague next weekend with Nate and Kate, which I am really looking forward to. Otherwise, work is really hard and I'm not sure how long this job is going to work out. I am thinking about finding something else to do.