December 2018 Archives

I'm not exactly sure where 2018 went, but it has been another roller-coaster of a year in which I have been unable to get caught up on most aspects of life. It has been a year of putting in long hours at work, which is something that I did not plan to do again this year, but it started at the end of last year and then carried on for the majority of this year. The one decent aspect about this year is that there has been a sense of stability for me in some aspects, although the workload has been continuously hectic. I am looking forward to seeing what 2019 brings, though I do hope 2019 is stable and relaxed year with new opportunities to travel and to look after myself, which I've been neglecting. I often end up looking after others and putting myself last, which doesn't do me any good at all. Despite that, I did manage to do quite a bit of things this year. Anyway, I will cut to some of the more memorable moments of 2018 now.

January: This month started with a continuation of December's workload where I was putting in long hours and working two jobs. The other job was carried on from my previous employer who won a project and then did not have the resources to complete the project after my contract ended; I agreed to help them out and did so until the middle of April. I enjoyed the project and it was for a huge brand. 

I did manage to take an evening off to spend Twelfth Night and Farewell Party at the Geffrye Museum. The Geffrye Museum is a museum dedicated to the British home and how it has changed throughout the centuries. The museum closed for renovations in January and is to remained closed for at least a couple of years, so the annual Twelfth Night celebrations were also a Farewell Party. I could not stay for too long, but the celebrations had a great community feeling, and I enjoyed the carol-singing and entertainment.

One of the most delicious and unique treats that I ate this year was a "wheelcake", which is inspired from Taiwan. "Wheelcake Island" is the name of the street food vendor that sells them, and they set up shop at Brick Lane Market, although at the time of writing this, they are now located in Spitalfields Market. I attempted to buy from them three additional times, but they were either shut or I failed to locate them in Spitalfields, and it's now the end of the year and I've not been able to get back. The "wheelcake" is similar to a waffle or pancake and filled with a choice of traditional bean filling, matcha, custard, or custard with chocolate (which is the one I tried). 

One of January's events that I had been most looking forward to since the middle of previous year was the return of London Lumiere, a four-day light art installation show that was held across multiple locations in London during the darkest month. It was last hosted a couple of years ago, and I loved it. This year's installations were spread out over a larger area of the city to reduce the over-crowding that the previous event suffered, and there were a few gems, but I felt that the previous Lumiere was better. The highlights were the projections onto Westminster Abbey, which was shown the previous year, the rose window powered by energy from cycling, a giant globe at Oxford Circus, an immersive blue fog at King's Cross Granary Square, and glowing portals at Jermyn Street.

Also, Canary Wharf's Winter Lights also took place again, and this is now an annual staple (similar to London Lumiere but on a smaller scale and limited to Canary Wharf) that appears to have replaced the Ice Sculpting Festival that they used to host. Overall, a nice selection of work could be seen, but not all of the installations could be displayed on some days due to the windy weather. I loved the interactive glowing blocks and the sphere. 

February: February was another busy month for me, and I spent the majority of my time working. The weather was unusually cold, so I did not mind staying in and working hard. This year, Pancake Day and Valentine's Day were on consecutive days. As I am currently not working on Brick Lane or in any place where I could watch a pancake race, I had a quiet Pancake Day lunch not far from the new office in Chiswick in an American bakery/restaurant known as Outsider Tart.

At the weekend, I enjoyed Valentine's Day Enchanted Rose Afternoon tea at Kona Taj 51 Buckingham Gate. Kona Taj 51 has been on my radar for themed afternoon teas, so I had to give the venue a try for their Valentine's Day afternoon tea. The highlight for me were the heart-shaped rose and almond-flavoured scones. They are the best scones that I have had, and thinking about them makes my mouth water. I would love to have them again.

March: "The Beast from the East" arrived at the end of February and continued in early March with snowfall and freezing temperatures, which brought more travel chaos for the first half of the month. I looked forward to a trip to Disneyland Paris in the middle of the month, and by then, the weather wasn't too dreary or cold. This year marked the 25th anniversary of Disneyland Paris, and a special "Star Wars" event was held until the end of the month at Disneyland Paris. I am a huge fan of "Star Wars", so visiting while the special "Star Wars" events were taking place was awesome.

This was my third visit to Disneyland Paris. I went on the rides, watched the illuminations/fireworks and the parade, had meals at some nice places, and went to the Buffalo Bills dinner entertainment. I spent just over two days here,  and I cannot believe just how busy Disneyland Paris has become since my last visit ten years ago, and that visit was in high season in summer.

April: April was yet another busy month with work, so I did not get to do many social events, but I did get to attend Secret Cinema "Blade Runner". Secret Cinema is immersive cinema; the audience become a part of the film and are given an identity following the theme of the film to participate in different activities before sitting down to watch the film itself. Inside the secret location near Bermondsy, the city was reconstructed with street food vendors, a nightclub, and offices. Other actors and actresses make it come to life. Oh, and it actually rained inside the building in the busy "street" set in the metropolis created to look like it was out of the film. It was great!

Toward the end of April, the weather finally improved, and one of the best days for the weather was the day that I visited Fes-tea-val for National Tea Day at Chiswick House. I discovered historic teaware from other parts of the world and walked around the food market. I actually bought so much from the food market that I struggled to get it back home, though getting to Chiswick isn't an easy journey for me. I had won a prize but sadly did not realise that I'd won the raffle until I had already left.

The last event of April was a christening, and the weather turned chilly again. After the christening at the church in Bournemouth, all of us went out for lunch at Neo's Restaurant in Bournemouth. We had some really cool cocktails served in glasses shaped like pineapples. After lunch, we went back to the house to have cake and chat.

May: The month kicked off with a beautiful and warm Bank Holiday. I finally got to tick an item off my bucket list, and that item was to see a bluebell forest. I have seen photographs, but I had actually never seen a bluebell forest in real life. I was very impressed, and the bluebell forests at Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire were so beautiful that my photographs cannot do them justice. After talking a couple of walks recommended by the National Trust as the best trails to see the bluebells, I stopped at Berkhamstead Castle a few miles away from the Ashridge Estate and had lunch along the canal. Berkhamstead is a beautiful village, and I'd love to go back to visit it.

Additional time this month was spent with friends and family who came to visit, to attend a birthday party, and included another visit to Bournemouth. While in Bournemouth, I wanted to go to Corfe Castle as I have never been there despite driving past it a few times and spending a good deal of my time in Bournemouth at university. We all ended up going to the village of Corfe Castle and visited Corfe Castle Model Village, which was followed by warm tea at the National Trust tearoom. I also had a quick tour around the castle at Corfe Castle on my own.

At the end of the month, everyone was talking about the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. To celebrate, I enjoyed Royal Wedding Afternoon Tea at The Royal Horseguards. The pastries did look stunning and were served well, but this was not the best afternoon tea experience that I've had. The service was incredibly slow, and the food wasn't great.

This month also provided me with the best dessert that I had this year. I found it at Alto by San Carlo at Selfridges. This rooftop Italian restaurant is decorated with vines of flowers across the ceiling, giving it a summery feel. The pistachio tart was delicious; I am not in this part of London often but did attempt to return one time when I was in the area, only to be turned away because they did not have space. I really want to go back and eat this again!

June: June is my birthday month, and this year was an important birthday. I had a couple of big holiday plans but fell short of booking them as I needed to watch my spending until May because of last year's renovations. I'd booked the time off but had to cancel due to work, and the most that I could take off was a long weekend. 

I had never been to Milan before, but it has been on my bucket list; I booked a short trip to Milan (Birthday Trip to Milan). Milan is a working city, but the people were friendly and I enjoyed good gelato and good food, and the city offered a small selection of attractions made this achievable in a long weekend. I got to see Milan Duomo, which is the largest cathedral in Europe and third largest cathedral in the world. I also got to see the famous Da Vinci painting "The Last Supper". My favourite day there was on my birthday. After an early morning start, I got back to the hotel and enjoyed Prosecco and birthday cake with the balcony opened. Shortly after I'd returned to the hotel, a singer started to sing outside on the street right below my hotel window. He was singing/playing old jazz, which is one of my favourite types of music, and he was fantastic.

The last full day was spent on a day trip to Lake Como where we had a short time to spend in Como before going on a boat ride from Como to Bellagio to see the famous villas owned by celebrities and used in films. Unfortunately, this wasn't the best trip because the tour company's audio and transport equipment did not work, so we did not get much out of it. The weather that day had also changed and was rainy and colder. Besides the boat trip, which took a long while, we spent a little bit of time exploring as much of Bellagio as we could. This is a nice village on the lakeside, and a series of steps can be climbed to an upper road with tourist shops along it. It was a picturesque place.

July: The highlight of my year was July. After a hard-working June, my working hours became a little bit more manageable. Also, from the end of June and throughout July, the weather was wonderful; it was hot and sunny. At the beginning of the month, I had a last-minute Fourth of July BBQ (which doubled as birthday and engagement parties) that a few friends came to. The weather was perfect for it.

In the middle of the month, the annual MINI event in Poole, "Quay For My Car" (MINIs in Poole Quay), took place. I met up with friends and saw classic and new MINI cars. This event used to take place in three months over summer, but it now only takes place in one month and always happens on a Friday early evening.

My friends from America had also come to visit and were staying in Manchester. The next morning, I went to Manchester for the weekend and then spent a day in London with them. It was a whirlwind trip, and I have not managed to post about everything we got up to. The first stop was that we had Brunch at The Alchemist in Manchester, and then we had fun looking at Manchester's street art before visiting Manchester's Cat Cafe. We toured BBC Media City the following day.

At the end of July, I had a long weekend in Norfolk. I had been to the city of Norwich twice before, but this trip allowed me to see Norfolk, and I was able to spend nearly three days in the area. I originally visited to see the charity sculpture trail GoGoHares! Hop Around Norwich and Norfolk, but I also had some time for sight-seeing. I visited Baconsthorpe Castle, Caister Castle and Caister Castle Car Collection. I hope that I am able to get back to see more of the area and have equally excellent weather for it in 2019.

The last amazing attraction that I saw at the end of the month was Hell-Fire Caves. These man-made caves have a wealth of history and many stories surrounding the Hell-Fire Club, and I loved the tour. I had no idea that something like this existed. I have recommended this place to a few people as it's really neat and someplace I had not heard of before.

August: Unfortunately, the wonderful weather did not stick around for August. Near the middle of the month, I had a long weekend in Bristol for the bloke's birthday and expected to see Gromit Unleashed 2.0, the newest charity sculpture trail, and the Bristol Balloon Festival. Despite a promising start very early on the first morning (we arrived the night before), the weather was dismal and the Balloon Festival was cancelled. I had lived in the area for a few years and had never been to the Balloon Festival, so it is still on my list. I was really disappointed. 

I went to two more charity sculpture trails in August. The second one was Hoodwinked!, which featured many large-scale robins dressed as Robin Hood in Nottingham. I also went to see Minerva's Owls of Bath at the end of the month for a day, but I only ended up seeing very few and the weather was not kind. Overall, I found August to be a very disappointing month.

September: I guess that the first day in September felt like it needed to make up for the wash-out August, so we had a day of unexpected heatwave. This was spent (caught off-guard) on Bournemouth's Beach with thousands of other people and family to watch the Bournemouth Air Show. This year marked 100 years of the RAF (Royal Air Force), so this aspect was brought into the display.

Autumn this year was all about weddings. I had three weddings to attend, and all three were within six weeks of each other. Two of the weddings took place in September. The first wedding was the wedding of my good friends Andrew, who I have known for years, and Agnes. Agnes' and Andrew's Wedding took place at the Wokefield Estate near Reading, and I stayed overnight at the venue to help them celebrate into the early hours.

The second wedding was held in rural Kent at the end of the month, and we had surprise sunny weather. It was to celebrate Mini and Chris, a really lovely couple that I've only got to know in the past few years and hope to spend more time with.

October: The final wedding was held at the end of October for my cousin Elizabeth and her fiance Brian in America, so my October focused on a nearly-two week visit to Ohio. I have been hoping to return to Ohio for autumn for nearly fifteen years and nearly went last year but did not get to due to my work situation. Autumn is my favourite season, and I love the colourful autumns in Ohio where a couple of weeks of warm weather (Indian Summer) can be enjoyed before the cold weather sets in. Unfortunately, Ohio's weather has been odd this year and the leaves were not changed when I arrived in the middle of the month, and after the first few days, the weather was not great. 

I've always wanted to go to the Circleville Pumpkin Show, so I planned to go to Ohio in the middle of the month so that I could go when it was on. I really enjoyed trying the pumpkin-flavoured foods and exploring the pumpkins. I really wanted to watch the parades and stay later, but we did not get to and it ended up being a very rushed trip, so I want to go back again and see it properly.

I also met up with friends. I went with friends to "Wine Your Way Out" wine-tasting in a corn maze, followed by a hay ride around the corn field. I also went to Utica to the Velvet Ice Cream Factory with my mother and then out to eat with her father and step-mother (my grandparents), and her sister and brother-in-law (my aunt and uncle). 

The highlight was the trip to Hocking Hills state park where part of my cousin's wedding celebrations were due to take place. We arrived early and had fun walking on three of the trails (Old Man's Cave, Cedar Falls, and Ash Cave) before the weather got worse. We stayed in a lovely cabin while we attended the wedding celebreations. We saw some awesome places, and you can read all about the visit by reading this post, where I have included everything that I got up to and a wealth of knowledge; many of the hints and tips were from the bride and groom.

The month ended with the wedding of Elizabeth and Brian at the orchard with a reception at Hocking Hills, which was great fun. The sad part was having to leave and then get back to normality. Work was crazy-busy when I returned.

November: November brought me back into reality and kept me busy. I got to see the local Ruislip Bonfire Night fireworks a few days after I returned from being away. I always thought fireworks should happen in July, but I now have a fondness for seeing them light up the sky in the crisp early November evenings with the smell of firework smoke and bonfire in the air.

Armistice Day was also a big deal this year as it marked 100 years since the end of World War I, and a couple of art installations took place in London. The first one was candle-lighting at the Tower of London for the week up to the 11th of November (The Tower Remembers).

My favourite of the art installations was "Shrouds of the Somme", a large-scale art installation representing the scale of the lives lost during the battle in the trenches in France. The names of the soldiers who died and their rank, division, and home towns were all read out. It was very moving and sombre.

November is Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving fell early this year. I had an evening Thanksgiving dinner organised by the Benjamin Franklin House, and it took place in the beautiful Clothworker's Hall in the City of London. This was a traditional-style Thanksgiving dinner with complete strangers and other American expats.

At the end of the month, I went to the New Forest to the Christmas at Beaulieu event. This was the first Christmassy event that I went to this year. There were many different installations and light shows, and I enjoyed the light show on the front of the house and the Christmas tree lights, which were in time to the Christmas music being played. It was a very festive evening.

December: December was eventful for me. First of all, I took a walk around London to look at the Christmas lights and then I had drinks at Christmas Cocktails @ Miracle at Henrietta. I loved this pop-up bar with the festive drinks and festive vintage Christmas decorations, but it was always too busy to get in. I would love if they made this permanent and a larger venue; it was so popular. 

I also finally got to go to Peggy Porschen's Cakes cafe: A Christmas Visit to Peggy Porschen Bakery. I've been wanting to visit Peggy Porschen's for a long while. I visited early in the morning during the week and had a hot chocolate and a cupcake and sat outside. This cafe is picturesque, and I spent the remainder of the day looking at a few Christmas lights and displays and visited the new "Peanuts" comic strip exhibition at Somerset House (I'll be covering this next month).

Right before the holidays, I went with a couple friends to Festive Afternoon Tea at Jean-Georges, The Connaught Hotel London. We were looked after very well and enjoyed the festive afternoon tea.

This year, Bournemouth have launched a new Christmas Tree Wonderland and Christmas Tree Trail. The majority of the trail is located in the middle of Bournemouth in the Lower Gardens and along part of the seafront near the entrance to the Lower Gardens. Included in the evening is additional entertainment, light and audio shows, fireworks, and a Christmas market. I visited it last weekend. For those who wish to go, you still have time as the trail ends on January 2. Do note that not all of the lights or trees may be lit up, and some of the shows are timed.

The Christmas market has a number of items for sale, and I had a quick browse. Primarily, the market was a place to get food and drink, and I had a hot chocolate that came with a candy cane and gingerbread man.

The first part of the trail that I saw was at The Triangle, up the hill from the Lower Gardens. But, the majority of the trail was located in the Lower Gardens as this is a larger area. I was also able to see where the new cinema and restaurants are as they have been renovating the centre.

The centre of the tree trail is the light and audio show, and visitors have to walk through the middle of the Bournemouth Wonderland Tree to get to the other side of the trail. The Christmas tree changed colours and patterns and was synchronised to music. Many different parts of favourite Christmas songs were played.

The other trees are had names inspired by various locations.

Oslo Tree

Warsaw Tree

Gingerbread man

Illuminated rocks and stream

Bournemouth illuminated wheel and trees

Seattle tree

Bethlehem tree

St. Petersburg Tree

St. Petersburg Tree

Tree of light

Moscow tree

Illuminated walk-through bauble

This was a fun evening out, but town was very busy with visitors and it was difficult to walk through the large tree because of the number of people and no set "one way" trails. They really needed to make the trail in this area one-way with a diversion around or put a rope down the middle. Anyway, it was a very nice evening and a festive trail.

Glossybox is a monthly subscription box that sends subscribers between four or five beauty and skincare products. Each month, a mixture of sample and full-sized products is sent out. This December, the theme of the Glossybox is "All That Glitters", and five full-sized products are presented in a red and gold box for the festive season. One of the items is a bonus treat. Three of these are marketed as skincare and three are beauty, though I'd call one of the skincare ones body care. Let's look inside the festive December box below.

Bellapierre Cosmetics Shimmer Roll in 'Champagne': This is a highligher that blends well into the skin to help create dimension and extra glow; this is perfect to be used on the cheeks or above the eyes. I actually already have one of these. This is perfect for evening party wear.

Imperial Leather Fantasy Icons Cosmic Unicorn Shower Gel: I enjoy the highly-fragranced Imperial Leather shower gels. This one has a very floral scent which does work for the party winter mood, and it is a very sweet scent. I think this one does work better as a winter fragrance.

Vitamasques Cosmic Pink Ruby Glitter Peel Off Mask: From the Korean brand of facial mask, this glittery peel contains gemstone powders and oils to firm skin.

Doucce Relentless Matte Lip Crayon in 'Winterberry': This dark berry shade of lip crayon is fully-pigmented to create beautiful festive lips, and it has a matte finish. It has a creamy consistency that glides on lips well.

Niko Pro Liquid Jelly Brush in 'Bali': This is a liquid and slightly shimmery blusher, and it contains a formula to help hydrate skin.

MayBeauty The Incredible Pore Strip: Marketed as the bonus product in the box, this pore strip contains charcoal to help remove impurities and blemishes in the skin. They can be pulled off on the strip, but I am not sure how harsh this is on skin.

Festive afternoon tea at The Connaught Hotel in Mayfair, London is held at the Jean-Georges Restaurant, and I visited yesterday in the early afternoon with friends and the bloke. This year, we were looked after extremely well by the hotel and the staff at Jean-Georges and were seated in the beautiful conservatory. The restaurant is named after chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The traditional (with contemporary flavours and style) afternoon tea is served with a festive twist from the end of November until the end of the festive period.

At this time of year, The Connaught and London looks very festive. In front of the hotel this year, a giant Christmas tree glows. Each year, The Connaught Hotel in Mayfair has a different artist design their Christmas tree, and this year, it is designed by Michael Craig-Martin; for more information and photographs, see The Connaught Christmas Tree 2018 is Designed by Michael Craig-Martin.

We had champagne first, and this was served in the bar while we waited a couple of minutes for our table to be ready. When we were sat at the table, I ordered Darjeeling tea.

Up first was the pre-afternoon tea item of a "Black Tru e Feuillette", which is a delicious puff pastry with a hint of truffle flavour. This was delicious, and I was equally impressed last year.

Next, we were served a selection of sandwiches. These included: cucumber Greek yogurt with lime and mint on herb bread; egg and mayonaisse with watercress on onion bread; smoke salmon with chipotle, coriander and lettuce; roast ham and butternut squash and white miso/black pepper on walnut bread; turkey with mayonnaise. The walnut bread was delicious, and I enjoyed the ham and cucumber sandwiches.

Next up were a selection of plain and raisin scones, and these were served with clotted cream, lemon curd, and strawberry jam.

Then, the cute pastries arrived. On the top tier, we enjoyed spiced chocolate fondue with gingerbread men.

From the top: Orage Hazlenut Praline with orange mousse. This was probably my favourite and it was a solid thin ball of chocolate with a creamy orange flavour inside; it had a hazlenut in the centre. Christmas Log Raisin Shortbread, Caramel Tonka Crémeux.

Coconut Passion Fruit Jelly Whipped Coconut Cream. Chestnut pear compote with chestnut cream. Apple & Mince Milk Mousse, Cinnamon Streusel Chocolate.

Overall, it was a lovely afternoon and evening enjoying afternoon tea before the festivities. I hope that everyone has a good few days. Happy holidays.

Peggy Porchen Cakes is one of London's most photographed cafes, and I have been wanting to visit it for over two years. I finally got to after work one afternoon in the middle of November. I was then able to make another visit in mid-December early in the morning on a weekday. The attractive pink shop opened in late 2010 and is located on a corner on Elizabeth Street between Victoria and Sloane Square, on the fringe of London's Belgravia. Peggy Porschen go all out on their decorations, and the cakes and other treats are highly-decorated to look beautiful; their clients include celebrities and royalty. They have provided wedding and celebration cakes for a many celebrities.

This little pink cafe gets so much attention, and because it is so busy, I was put off going at the weekend because I'm not really a fan of crowds. The location is a bit out of the way for me as well, so I did not want to be disappointed. I thought that at 4:00 on a work night (I cannot get there any sooner than this really) would have been relatively quiet, but there was a pretty long queue when I arrived! The place is now massively popular with non-Londoners too as quite a lot of the people visiting were from out of town.

Anyway, my visit on a week night in the afternoon included a long queue to be seated, and I did not want to wait that long. I just got a few photographs and took a few items home with me. 

My second visit happened very early on a Monday morning. Peggy Porschen Cakes opens at 8:00am, and I arrived close to ten minutes early. I took my time looking at the beautiful displays and windows on Elizabeth Street and then waited outside the shop for it to open. I was the first one there, which actually surprised me as I expected that it would be busy. However, not long after I arrived and placed my order, others started to turn up. I wanted to sit outside, and it was a little chilly but manageable, but three couples who turned up sat inside. I had the outside to myself.

What did I order? For starters, it was early for me and chilly, so I opted for the hot chocolate. This came with plenty of miniature marshmallows on the side and a lovely stencil design of snowflakes on top of the frothy cream. It looks very pretty, but it wasn't the best hot chocolate that I have had, but the warmth was satisfying.

I also had the snowman chocolate cupcake. I had had one earlier in the season, but I could not remember the flavour of it but did remember the gingerbread one was really good. As I couldn't remember what flavour I had last time, I opted for the snowman cupcake in chocolate. And, I found out that this is what I had last time. It was okay, but I preferred the gingerbread cupcake that I had previously.

To finish, I had the biscuit shaped like an ice skate. I took this home, and it came in its own little package, but I really wanted to photograph it here. I did enjoy this.

The cafe is gorgeous, and I just could not stop taking photographs of it all!

On my previous visit, I did not want to wait for a table because there was a long queue. I had no idea that it would be that popular on a weeknight just before 4:00, so I mentioned that I took a few items home with me. These are posted below as a part of my original write-up. I honestly did not believe that I would get around to visiting again so soon after it's taken me over two years to make my first visit. First up, I choose a couple of cupcakes. The one on the right is a "Christmas Cabin Speculoo" cupcake; I didn't know what this meant, but I believe it was a German-style gingerbread. The cupcake was a gingerbread-flavour and tasted light and was actually really good. It wasn't too heavy nor too sweet. The second one has a snowman decoration and is a chocolate cupcake.

They also had another cupcake with a snowman design on the top, but the cake is a different flavour. I did not try this one, but it is lemon and gingerbread. I bought the other gingerbread one, so I did not need to try this one. 

I also got a slice of coconut cake; a photograph of the whole cake is below. I thought it looked very pretty. It had round orbs of different pastel colours (pink, cream, and green), snowfakes and smaller white and silvery orbs. The cake was very light and tasted like subtle coconut. I was not as keen on the icing. It was light as well but tasted a bit greasy.

They also had a cake with macaroons on it.

I would like to get to Peggy Porschen's Cakes bakery and cafe again next spring when it is decorated with floral displays. Also, they are launching a new venue in Chelsea on King's Road. I happened to see their new location when I went to check out the Christmas displays on The Ivy Garden Chelsea restaurant, and it is not far from there. Hopefully I will get to do visit Peggy Porschen Cakes again now that I have finally been, so watch this space. 

I love London decorated for Christmas, and this year certainly does not disappoint. This post showcases most of London's Christmas lights, Christmas trees, and areas where you can see some of the best Christmas window displays. I have spent the past month scouting out the best that London has to offer for Christmas lights and displays. I don't think any of my readers will be disappointed this year. Yes, many of the lights are the same but there are quite a lot of new displays.

Covent Garden: Now that Covent Garden has finished its renovations, it is in top form for some excellent Christmas displays. The mistletoe lights and giant silver baubles have been used for the previous few years and are reused again this year, and the giant silver reindeer that has been shown for the past few years is also back on display. The large Christmas tree in the same Covent Garden basket is also back on display. The Lego sculptures and displays are now a thing of the past as the not-so-new Lego store is around the corner in Leicester Square. This year also brings a couple of new selfie-stops to Covent Garden. The first is a vintage car topped with wrapped presents and decorated pine branches, and the second is the addition of two wooden chairs within the market hall to be used for photographs amongst a wintery floral display backdrop. I am actually really impressed with Covent Gardens displays this year, and it is certainly one of the top places to be in London this winter.

The Christmas tree at the restaurant The Ivy Market Grill in Covent Garden is the same or very similar to last year's one.

Seven Dials: A short walk just north of Covent Garden is an area known as Seven Dials, which is full of nice shops and cafes and the roundabout with seven roads leading off it. In recent years, the area has changed their Christmas lights each year. This year's theme is white snowflakes. Along the monument in the middle of the Seven Dials' roundabout, I loved the light display with the white and gold lights and snowflakes strung along the buildings.

Leicester Square: Head southwest from Seven Dials, and in a brisk 10-minute walk, you will be at busy Leicester Square. This area is always filled with tourists and is one area of London that I avoid throughout the year. Leicester Square was renovated a few years ago, and a year or two after this, it has become home to a new Christmas market with entertainment. 

Piccadilly Circus: These days, the statue of Eros has scaffolding around it to protect it from people as (for some unknown reason), it tends to attract people who wish to climb it. This is sad because it is a much prettier monument without the scaffolding around it. For a couple of years, the statue was a feature in a Christmas display, being encased within a giant snow globe; the wind put a stop to that one year. Soon after that, a tourist scaled the statue and damaged it, and for the majority of the time, it has been encased in scaffolding. This was removed for a time but replaced due to another incident. The scaffolding has some light-up Christmas images on screens, but this appears out of place, and the main feature are the electronic advertising boards and the beginning of the Christmas lights on Regent Street.

Regent Street: These angel Christmas lights have been used for the past few years now, though I think they were all white lights previously. This year, I did think they looked pretty whereas I've found them a boring in the past.

Soho: Walk for about ten minutes up Regent Street (more if you wish to pop into shops or if you keep on the left to avoid the crowds outside Hamley's Toy Store), and off to the right toward Carnaby Street (but just beyond) is the entrance into London's popular Soho area. This area now has its own Christmas lights So-ho-ho, which i thought was a cute Christmassy take on the area.

Carnaby Street: This historical fashion street takes up a small space just off Regent Street just south of Oxford Street (near Liberty Department Store). This area always has the best Christmas lights in London as they are different each year. This year, the Christmas lights were a tribute to band Queen's song "Bohemian Rhapsody". Not all of the Christmas lights on Carnaby Street have been too Christmassy in the past; they take inspiration from the street and its history in rock 'n' roll. The Queen tribute is to celebrate the new film, and a pop-up store has been placed on Carnaby Street for the Christmas period so that people can buy merchandise and look at props from the film. For more photographs of these beautiful lights, see Carnaby Street Christmas Lights Celebrate Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

Oxford Street: Oxford Street was meant to have new Christmas lights this year, but this was postponed due to Crossrail running behind schedule. Instead, the older lights were used, although the area around Oxford Circus had a few new lights to start its familiar display of twinkling orbs. This year, the orbs are in blue and purple colours. Several of the department stores also get into the spirit by decorating their stores with lights. Boots, Debenhams, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, and Selfridges always have their own displays.

Bond Street: Bond Street runs down through Mayfair to Piccadilly Street, and the lights here have remained the same lights that have consistently been used and were inspired by peacock feather and diamonds. The blue archways (not photographed this year) on South Molton Street (near Bond Street tube station) are also on display again.

St. Christopher's Place: On the north side of Oxford Street and a block away from Selfridges is a "blink and you'll miss it" alleyway that opens up to a narrow street known as "St. Christopher's Place". This area normally change up their display with the white baubles. This year, it has gone very British with red, white, and blue figures standing atop the baubles.

Mayfair: Many of Mayfair's shops and hotels decorate for the holidays. One of the must-see Christmas trees in London is the Connaught Christmas tree. It is designed by a different artist each year, and this year, it is designed by Michael Craig-Martin. For more photographs and information, see: The Connaught Christmas Tree 2018 is Designed by Michael Craig-Martin. Stella McCartney also always decorate the facade of the building. One of the other stars this year, which has attracted much attention on Instagram, is Annabel's Wine Bar, a private nightclub on Berkeley Square. The facade of the building has been decorated like a giant Christmas tree.

Sloane Square, Belgravia and Chelsea: The past few years, Sloane Square has had these lights hanging from the trees. Not too far away in Belgravia, the shops are decorated with beautiful Christmas displays. Elizabeth Street in Belgravia has the Instagramable cafe and bakery Peggy Porschens and Dominique Ansel. I will be posting separately about Peggy Porschens, but the display is beautiful with their pink building. They will also be launching a new shop on King's Road sometime in the new year. The other Instagramable Christmas display is The Ivy Garden Chelsea. The facade of the building is covered with Christmas decorations and baubles. 

King's Cross: King's Cross station always puts up a new Christmas tree each year. This year, it is decorated by jewelery brand Tiffany's. It is ice blue and silver and shows a giant robot decorating the tree.

Leadenhall Market: Leadenhall Market in the city of London always has a Christmas tree, and there's also one outside of City Hall near Tower Bridge. Broadgate also has its own skating and Christmas market here. The buildings often are also lit up for Christmas with the Shard, Tower 42, and the Heron Tower (Salesforce Tower) lit up in festive colours. I have not been there this year.

Trafalgar Square: This is a traditional Christmas tree gifted to London by Norway each year for helping the country during World War II, but it is not usually on display until later in December. There's been a tree in the square since 1947. It is lit in the Norwegian style of decoration, which includes putting the lights on vertically. I did not get a photograph of it this year. 

Somerset House: Somerset House is probably London's most famous ice skating rink, and it attracts many people throughout the season. The giant Christmas tree here is decorated by Fortnum & Mason. There is also a food shop set up here during the season.

Winter Wonderland and Winterville: Winter Wonderland is in Hyde Park and London's largest Christmas destination with a range of activities and entertainment available. It is an excellent place to visit to get into the Christmas spirit and has a good-sized Christmas market. Winterville is now located in Clapham Common and is a much smaller version of Winter Wonderland. For a write-up of Winterville, see: A Visit to Winterville and Backyard Cinema's Christmas Labyrinth. For a write-up of Winter Wonderland, see An Evening at Winter Wonderland Hyde Park and "The Snowman Experience" by Backyard Cinema.

Window Displays: John Lewis' window displays for Christmas mimic their Christmas commercial this year, which feature Elton John and "Step into Christmas". Selfridge's display shows various Christmassy figures dressed up with its products, and it was similar to last year's and not that imaginative. Fortnum & Mason's were my favourite this year with several interesting windows and flying mince pies. Visitors to London can check out Harrods and Harvy Nichols for their window displays, but I rarely visit that area of London. To be honest, I have not found the Christmas window displays in London very interesting in the past two or three years, so I have decided not to dedicate a full post to it this year.

Special Mention - Most Festive Pub: The Churchill Arms around the corner from Notting Hill station is London's most festive pub. The pub also has wonderful floral displays in the spring and summer, but this year, it is covered with Christmas trees. These are lit at dark. I will be covering this in more detail later on, but I thought it looked amazing.

Previous London Christmas lights are below:

• Where to see London's Christmas Lights 2017
• London's Christmas Lights 2016
• Christmas Lights and Windows 2015
• London Christmas Lights 2014
• London's Christmas Lights 2013
• London Christmas Lights and Window Displays 2012

Previous London Window displays are below:

• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012
• 2011

The popular Christmas-themed bar "Miracle" has come to London from the U.S. in a special pop-up at Henrietta Hotel in Covent Garden and is currently serving up festive drinks in holiday glassware. The Christmas decor throughout the bar is "nostalgic" Christmas with vintage cards, prints, illustrations, paper chains, tinsel, and ornaments dating from the 1950s-1970s time frame on display. The seats were laden with warm fur to complete the cozy winter feeling, and classic Christmas songs were being played. Anyone who visits will immediately be transported to the Christmas of their childhood.

I tried three different cocktails. The first one was served in a mug shaped like a barrel: Christmas Carol Barrel. This contained aged rum, Amaro, pumpkin pie, lemon, and Angostura Bitters. The second one was served in a glass with a miniature stuffed koala bear: Koala-la-la-la, la la la la. This is made with gin, pine, lime, orange bitters, and eucalyptus syrup. The third one is served in a tall glass with a vintage Santa pulling a reindeer sleigh printed on it: And a Partridge in a Pear Tree. This cocktail included Tequila, pear brandy, mezcal, spiced demerara syrup, lime, egg white, Angostura bitters and cinnamon. My favourite was the "Koala-la-la-la, la la la la" cocktail as it was more refreshing and not as strong, but these are very strong cocktails. (I don't drink much alcohol, so I would have preferred some mocktail alternatives to these.)

Small snacks could also be purchased with the alchol, but the selection is very small and I cannot imagine the plates would be that large. I suggest eating somewhere first and then having cocktails to follow up, though I did get pleasantly tipsy for about fifteen minutes until I walked it off around Covent Garden. Without further comment, enjoy the photographs below.

Miracle is located at Henrietta Hotel in Covent Garden, and booking is recommended. I turned up in the middle of the day on a Sunday and had to wait about fourty-five minutes for a table or bar seat. Bookings are for two hours each. Miracle is located here for a short time only and closes its doors on December 23.

The only surviving Benjamin Franklin residence is in London, and it is located on Craven Street near the Strand and Embankment. Benjamin Franklin lived in this house as a lodger with a widow and her daughter (and her daughter's husband) for many years. Benjamin Franklin's wife did not like sea travel so never visited in England but raised her family in America. The house on Craven Street is in a terraced row of houses, and we learned about the history of the house and Franklin's time here. The history was played to us in short videos in each room, accompanied by a tour guide in historic dress. The videos focused on Franklin's life as told through letters to his wife and writings in his diary and other publications.

Franklin's parlour on the third floor

We were told that the bust of Franklin in the fireplace is a reproduction and that the original one was lost. And that the building largely remained unaltered, though some time later, the house became a hotel, and the hotel made some slight alterations to the third floor where Franklin lived. Two decades before it became a museum (2006), the building was derelict, and squatters stole threee of the four marble fireplaces, although replicas were produced.

The house dates from approximately 1730. Franklin came to the house from America for sixteen years. He came with two of his slaves, but slavery was not allowed in England so they became servants, and only one of them stayed in the house with him. 

William Hewson, the husband of the Stevenson daughter (Polly) whose mother owned the house, was a doctor and had an anatomy school at the home. He would purchase human parts and bodies (ferried in from the Thames, which was easier to access then because the embankment had not been built and the road would have gone straight down to the river's banks) to learn more about the human body. Many of these body parts were buried in the garden and discovered, and they are on show in the house.

The Benjamin Franklin House is open for regular tours from Wedneday to Sunday. If you are interested in Benjamin Franklin and history, have a look at the Hell-Fire Caves in Buckinghamshire, England: A Visit to Hellfire Caves (Buckinghamshire, England). 

Each year, The Connaught hotel in Mayfair puts up a Christmas tree that has been designed by an artist. I have been following the different Christmas trees at The Connaught for the past three years now, and Michael Craig-Martin has designed the latest Christmas tree and follows artists Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, and Antony Gormley.

Craig-Martin is an artist who plays with light and colour, and his tree is aglow with hundreds of fairy lights that light up the whole tree. The colours change, taking on new patterns and colours while visitors watch.

Previous Connaught Christmas trees that I covered on my blog are below:

• Tracey Emin
• Damien Hirst
• Antony Gormley

Book store Stanfords (focusing a little more on the travel genre) has occupied the little shop on Long Acre (around the corner from Covent Garden) since 1853. It's one of my favourite London stores, and I love the illustrated maps on the floors and the range of globes on display in the lower floor. I've always been fascinated with globes, so if any of my readers wish to get me a gift, I'd love a nice globe such as one of the ones you can store drinks in. Stanfords also have a nice range of books and gifts, and it's just a wonderful little shop to browse in. Unfortunately, I read that after all this time, Stanfords will relocate to a new shop a couple of blocks away on Mercer Walk. 

The golden letters above the current shop on Long Acre were placed in 1901, but I'm not sure if there will be new lettering above the new shop. The move is expected to happen in January, so we will see what the new shop is like then.

One of the other wonderful attractions of Stanfords book store is the little coffee shop at the back. The hot chocolate is very nice here, though I've never managed to actually sit down and enjoy the ambiance in store. I am hoping that the new shop is as nice, but I will be sad to see it move and hope that it does not lose its character.

Carnaby Street's Christmas lights are probably the best in London because they are different every year. Last year, Carnaby Street had "Christmas Carnival" lights that were reminiscent of a tropical carnival with palms, parrots, confetti, and glitter. This year's Christmas lights were also not as Christmassy as they have had in past year, but they are colourful and bright so easily pass for Christmas lights. Carnaby's Christmas Lights this year celebrate band Queen's song and new film "Bohemian Rhapsody" with the lyrics printed in colourful and glowing neon signs overhead. I tried to get amazing photographs of these lights, but my camera really did no do justice. There's so many bright different colours in the mix that my camera did not pick up.

In the past, Carnaby's Christmas lights celebrated music as this street was fashionable in the 1960s with new fashions and music, and it was frequented by many artists. The importance of showcasing Queen this year coincides with the release of the film "Bohemian Rhapsody", which is the story of the band Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury. On the light switch-on, actors from the film and some members of the band's family kicked off the celebrations. 

To generate interest in the film, which was released this autumn, a pop-up Queen shop has opened for a couple of months on 3 Carnaby Street. The shop sells Queen merchandise and also has items on display including some photocopies of Freddie Mercury's hand-written lyrics for some of his famous songs, a drum kit, photocopies of ticket stubs, and costumes and props from the new film.

To see previous Carnaby Street Christmas lights in my blog, see the below posts:

• Carnaby Christmas Carnival
• Carnaby Christmas Revolution
• Carnaby Christmas Party
• Robins
• Santa
• Rolling Stones (rock and roll)

Last Thursday, I found myself in Winterville with my colleagues for our work Christmas party. This visit included a visit to Backyard Cinema's Christmas Labyrinth to watch "The Greatest Showman", ice skating, roller blading, mini golf, drinks and dinner at Winterville's Street Feast. Winterville first opened its doors in Stratford east London a few years ago, but it is located at Clapham Common this year. It is essentially a much smaller version of Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. Note that I did not participate in some of the activities, but I watched as others did.

Visitors to Backyard Cinema in Winterville this year had to find their way through the Christmas Labyrinth before sitting down to watch the show. Visitors could choose from one of four doors into the labyrinth. One of the doors reminded me of a grand forest entrance; the other was a wooden door with a lion knocker. Another door was a steel door, and the last door was a small door with a jester's hat on it. I decided to take my chances with the steel door, which opened up into a Victorian-era house. 

Dead ends in the labyrinth led to empty rooms filled with clocks, and doorways through to other rooms were through the fireplace mantle, through a wardrobe, and out a door onto a cobbled 'street' and into a small room that was decorated like a pub.

After finding my way out of the labyrinth, I headed over to the bar and ordered a Gingerbread Martini and a glass of Prosecco. I didn't realise that we had VIP tickets that included mulled wine. I let one of my colleagues have it as I am not really a big fan of mulled wine anyway. 

The beanbag seats were the most comforable seats that I've had in a cinema. While everyone was waiting to get seated, Christmas songs were playing on the screen before "The Greatest Showman" was shown. I've seen the film previously when it came out, and the songs from the film are very popular at the moment. 

After the film, we went to Magic Bar Rum Bar, and I had a tropical drink. Rum isn't really my choice of drink, but this was good and fruity/tart and did not taste too strongly of alcohol.

Nearly everyone participated in the ice skating, but I sat it out because I do not have good balance and I did not want to hurt myself. Unfortunately, one colleague did hurt himself and had to go to the hospital. 

After the skating, we headed over to Street Feast and choose what we wanted with the money we were given to use. I had KRAPow Northern Thai Street Food. I had the chicken on fries, which was served with spice. The food was really good, and I loved the fries. I didn't have any food earlier, so my stomach was not very hungry and I struggled to finish it. I was going to get some halloumi fries as they are my absolute favourite, but I wasn't hungry.

After eating, I wanted something sweet so looked for the hot chocolate my colleagues mentioned. I ended up getting a hot chocolate Baileys, which wasn't very nice. Then I came across Chin Chin Labs and their pop up selling hot chocolate, sticky toffee pudding, and a couple of other treats. I ordered the toasted marshmallow hot chocolate, which was good. I then had a really quick look around Winterville. It wasn't very busy.

Before having some more drinks in one of the tent bars and chatting with colleagues old and new, I played mini golf. 

Overall, there's something for everything at Winterville, and I really enjoyed The Christmas Labyrinth at Backyard Cinema and also meeting up with my colleagues for drinks, food, and activities. 

Back in 2008, I visited Colunbus Zoo in Columbus, Ohio. I went to see the Wildlights at the zoo, which was a very popular attraction to do at Christmas at that time and a few years prior. It was one of the first places to do a spectacular Christmas lights tradition, and since then, these are done at quite a few places. The zoo came to life with thousdands of Christmas lights at dusk. On the day I visited, it was close to -30 degrees Celsius, so a lot of my photographs did not turn out too well because it was much too cold, and we did not hang around for too long. It was just so cold; as soon as we were outside, breath from our noses froze.

Apparently, this tradition at Columbus Zoo started in or around 1998, but I had never heard of it until 2005 when friends visited; I suppose they mentioned it on social media, so attractions like this get a lot of publicity through word-of-mouth on social media. One of the other things to see, besides the lights, were some of the animals. I think they generally avoided the lights around the animals that need their sleep, but other animals could be visited in that time. These included the reptitle/lizard/bat houses, the elephant room, and the aquarium.

Wildlights at Columbus Zoo is still going strong but is not quite as popular as it once was. I would like to visit it again if I am around the area, but it depends if it has improved and is worth visiting. I know that zoos have gotten a bad reputation in the past few years, partially due to the stupidity of humans. I don't mind a trip to the zoo as long as the animals are content, and I think it helps people and children to learn about and appreciate animals. I remember my first visit to the zoo and learning about the animals.

Japanese pop artist Yayoi Kusama, popular for her large flower and pumpkin sculptures, has a new exhibition on at Victoria Miro galleries in Islington, London. Last year, she had a popular sell-out exhibition in London, so this was a smaller-scale one. The exhibition is free to visit and available in timed slots from the beginning of October until the middle of December, though it is now fully-booked. For those who did not get to go, the photographs and write-up will (I hope) make up for it in some way.

The gallery was separated into four parts. The first part was upstairs at the "Infinity Mirrored Room". Visitors were put into a queue system in order to go into the small room, and between three and five people entered the room at a time. Once inside, we got to look at the mirrored colour-changing orbs for a whole fourty-five seconds, which went super-quickly. Personally, I think we should have been given slightly longer and it was a lot to take in after just arriving and rushing to get to the gallery. (The gallery is a little over a twelve-minute walk from the closest tube stations, so commuting, waiting, and being ushered in for such a short time was what I found difficult to get into the mindset. This was a pity because I felt that it was the star of the exhibition.)

After the mirrored room, the exhibition continued downstairs with a room full of paintings and pumpkins. The colours of the room were the primary colours of red, yellow and green. A pumpkin sculpture of each colour was in the room, and the paintings hung on the walls featured pumpkins or dots, which created patterns.

The next part of the exhibition led to an outside garden behind the galleries. This area included a little pond and trees and was a perfect setting for the giant and colourful flowers that Yayoi Kusama is known for. (The collection of the flowers is called "FLOWERS THAT SPEAK ALL ABOUT MY HEART GIVEN TO THE SKY"). For those readers who have ever visited Lille in France, her giant flower sculptures are located right outside the train station there. The outside area had three of these flowers. As my time slot for the exhibition was in the late afternoon on a rainy day, capturing the sculptures was a challenge.

After seeing the outside terrace, the exhibition continued in the neighbouring building and on a ride up an elevator to the first floor where several large-scale paintings were hung on the walls. The series of artwork is in Kusama's "My Eternal Soul" collection. The collection uses bright and solid colours with various illustrations, shapes and patterns.

This was the last room in the exhibition. Visitors could spend as long as they wanted in the other rooms to admire the art. Overall, I spent about thirty minutes at the exhibition. The highlight was the infinity mirrored room, though I do like the large pumpkin sculptures too. I was less keen on the last room of the exhibition. I did not get to go to the exhibition last year, so I cannot comment on how this exhibition compared. 

I visited Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park last week after work to have a wander around the venue and to see "The Snowman Experience", an immersive cinema experience from Backyard Cinema. This year marks 40 years since "The Snowman" was published by illustrator Raymond Briggs, and a short animation was created a few years later based on the illustrations and is shown every year at Christmas in England. This short animation is far more popular in England and includes a magical snowman that was built by a little boy. A few years ago, a sequel to "The Snowman" was released. "The Snowman Experience" is new this year to mark the 40th anniversary, and this is the first time such an attraction has taken place at Winter Wonderland. Seriously, Winter Wonderland keeps getting bigger each year with more unique attractions. 

This year's attractions include the old favourites such as the Ice Bar, ice sculptures, a circus, ice skating, Christmas market, theme rides and new attractions such as "Peter Pan on Ice", "Teletubbies", ice sculpting workshops, and Backyard Cinema. Also new this year is a roller coaster Munchen Looping and possibly a larger Ferris Wheel. The attraction has attracted large audiences since its first "humble beginnings" year in 2007 with a leap in audience numbers a few years ago to prompt the organisers to de-design and increase the space. (When I visited in 2011, it was actually too busy to move and that put me off attending for a couple of years.) Those interested in Ice Bar and the Ice Kingdom may want to read my posts here Cocktails in Winter Wonderland's Bar Ice 2014 and here: Winter Wonderland's Magical Ice Kingdom (King Arthur).

I had scheduled "The Snowman Experience" for the early evening before most of the crowds had gathered. We were led into the first room to watch the first part of the animation where the boy builds the snowman and it comes to life. The room had a set of the living room and the kitchen of the house, which changed depending on what was happening in the film (lights turning on and off, the television turning on, the Christmas lights/fire, the snow falling). The next part, we were led through a chilly and foggy forest which smelled of pine tree before watching part of the film with the classic song with the snowman and boy flying through the air. The last scene was the snowman's party with a table set for a party. At this point, the snowman came through to wave to us.

After the film concluded, I had a bite to eat and drink and walked around the Christmas markets. This year, I noticed some popular London street food vendors selling in an area with live music at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. I had Homeslice Pizza, a staple of London pizza that started at Seven Dials (Lunch at Homeslice Pizza (Seven Dials, London)), and I really wanted halloumi fries but never got them. 

The was one market stall in the Christmas markets from iCreateDesserts that were selling glowing light bulb mocktails, and these actually attracted so much attention!

Winter Wonderland was fairly busy when leaving, and it was quite an early night as a large group of people were entering as I was leaving! But I had plans early on Saturday so needed to get home.

Previous visits to Winter Wonderland for historical purposes are below:

Where to See London's Christmas Lights 2017
Where to See Christmas Lights in London (2015)
London Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland 2014
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland (2011)
A Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park (2010)

Seaside English town Brighton hosted a charity art sculpture trail this autumn. The trail was put together by organisers "Wild In Art" after the successful "Snowdogs by the Sea" sculpture trail that took place in 2016 (Snowdogs by the Sea - Brighton) and features large-scale snails (dubbed "Snailspace" and #BeMoreSnail). Once again, the charity that benefits from the auction and merchandise of "Snailspace" is Martlets, a hospice that helps people with terminal illnesses.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get to Brighton this autumn in order to see all of the snails in situ on the trail, so I looked forward to the farewell event, which took place last weekend. The snails were all put together at the church St. Augustine's Centre indoors. I would have preferred them to be displayed outside or at least spread out a little more as the centre was busy and it was difficult to take a look at them all. 

I enjoy these sculpture trails because they enable the community to come together and to appreciate art, walk, and support local businesses. I have seen many families out enjoying the trails in other cities and it also gives everyone a chance to explore a part of a city where visitors may not be too familiar with. It also helps others to create and participate in artwork. The sculptures were in place in Brighton and Hove between 15 September to 18 November, and visitors said farewell to them at the event on the first weekend of December. 

The theme of the trail was to #BeMoreSnail and live life at a snail's pace so that time with family and friends can be enjoyed. This is good advice because we all have busy lives, and time just seems to speed by or we wish our lives away for the weekend or for some time to spend with friends and family.

St. Peter's Hill in front of St. Paul's Cathedral (between St. Paul's and the Millennium Bridge) reccently hosted several giant wands from the world of "Harry Potter". The giant wands are all unique to each character's wand in the films, and a television screen near one of the entrances to the tunnel of wands shows information about them. Each wand is also placed on a plinth with the name of its owner. Music is also played at various intervals to immerse the viewer into the world of "Harry Potter". Special events took place on various days, such as its opening day in October. The marketing attraction is known as "Fantastic Beasts: Wizarding World Wands".

The wands will be on display until the film "Fantastic Beasts" premieres in cinemas in the middle of this month; some lucky people received freebies, including tickets to the premiere, when the wands had their "opening party". The "Fantastic Beasts" film due out is the second part to the multi-part "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" story. I saw the film shortly after it was released in the middle of November, and it is building up to the next film.

Getting photographs of the wands was nearly impossible due to the large crowd that the wands attracted, and I saw a few fans dressed up as well. The visitors were definitely not ordinary muggles; a couple of them even commented that they recognise Millennium Bridge from the original "Harry Potter" films. On another night, Potterheads (fans of the "Harry Potter" franchise) lesbian couple got engaged under the wands and were congratulated by the author of the franchise J.K. Rowling. Awww.

At the end of October, I spent a long weekend in Hocking Hills. Hocking Hills State Park is located in southern Ohio and contains several attractions; it has a little of something for everyone. For those who enjoy the outdoors, there are a few walking trails in the area to see waterfalls, woodland, and caves. There are plenty of places to enjoy a good meal and to shop. Although my guide is not complete, it explains what I got up to. I was in this area to attend my cousin's wedding (Elizabeth's and Brian's Wedding in Picturesque Hocking Hills (Ohio, USA)), but I had some days to explore. I did not get to Athens, my university town, but it is about a fourty-five minute drive from where we were staying in the middle of Hocking Hills, and I recommend a visit.

First up, there are a lot of places to shop in Logan, Ohio (the largest town nearest to Hocking Hills). I found a really nice bakery in Logan called "Hocking Hills Bakery" at the corner of Main Street and Mulberry, and the iced sugar cookies were the star of the show. There are a few gift shops, food shops, and antique stores in Logan at "Hocking Mall Shopping Center off of 664. Further down State Route 33 just outside of Rockbridge (roughly ten minutes from Logan) is Appalachia Art and Craft Market. It's not well-posted and easy to miss on the main road and also be careful when exiting across the double lanes of fast-moving traffic. (America doesn't do road access very safely.) The Appalachian Art and Craft Market has a little bit of everything, including antique malls, gift shops, furniture stores, crafts, ice cream parlour, and a small market. Hocking Hills itself has a couple of convenient shops, and one of these had many different flavours of soft-serve ice cream on offer. I had the pistachio.

Visitors to the area are spoiled for choice, and we actually were recommended a couple of top places to eat by my cousin and her husband. Pizza Crossing was one of those, and it is located in the center of Logan, Ohio, on Mulberry Street. It is a walk across the road to the good bakery I mentioned above. Pizza Crossing had excellent pizzas and sides. It really is excellent pizza.

Another excellent place for food is Millstone BBQ (Lunch at Millstone BBQ & A Visit to Cantwell Cliffs Trail in Hocking Hills (Ohio, USA)).

For those who want a taste of the outdoors, there are a number of trails that can be walked in the area. There are also extreme sports and a lot of other options and attractions, but this post just covers what I got up to over my time in the area.

First up is Ash Cave. It is a large recess cave with a waterfall. If staying on the lower trail through the gorge, this is level without any hill climbs so it is perfect for people who are mobility-challenged or with small children/babies. It's also only a short walk away at roughly seven minutes to walk to the cave. A Walk to Ash Cave in Hocking Hills (Ohio, USA)

The largest waterfall at Hocking Hills is Cedar Falls, which can also be accessed closely to parking or visitors can walk a longer trail to visit it. Visiting Cedar Falls in Hocking Hills (Ohio, USA)

The other place to visit is the most famous attraction in Hocking Hills, and that is Old Man's Cave. This is another recess cave that was a trading post, and an old man lived in the cave in the late 1700s to operate the trading post. The series of trails covers other attractions, including stunning waterfalls and a waterfall that falls into a deep pool of water known as "Devil's Bath Tub". A Walk to Old Man's Cave in Hocking Hills (Ohio, USA)

For those who enjoy wine and have a rainy day, Hocking Hills Winery is located in Logan and offers visitors the chance to sample eight different wines (red, white, and wine slushies). Food can be ordered in to enjoy at the winery, and cheese and cold meats are also on offer to pair with the wine. Wine Tasting at Hocking Hills Winery (Ohio, USA)

If you are thinking about staying in Hocking Hills, I recommend Cedar Grove Loding (A Long Weekend at Cedar Grove Lodging in Hocking Hills (Ohio, USA)), who have a selection of cabins to suit your needs and can take different sizes of groups.

This autumn has been all about weddings with the final and third wedding of the year taking place toward the end of October in Ohio. I took a two-week visit to Ohio and went to my cousin Elizabeth's beautiful wedding, which was held over a couple of days, starting with a small ceremony at her family's orchard in mid-Ohio and then continuing the next day at a resort in Hocking Hills (about an hour's drive away) that Brian's family owns. I do not often get to see my family since I moved abroad, so this was a great time to get to see everyone, even if it was for a fleeting moment. When I was younger, I would babysit for Elizabeth (and to a lesser extent her younger sister) and have a lot of memories of her growing up. 

Brian and Elizabeth choose to get married in October because autumn is beautiful in Ohio. They actually got engaged on a hiking trail in Hocking Hills last autumn. I rememeber getting envious and having serious FOMO (fear of missing out) of their beautiful autumn walks in photographs on Instagram as I miss the countryside and I have been wanting to get back to Ohio in the autumn for many years now. The last autumn that I had in Ohio was in 2002 or 2003, and it is my absolute favourite time of the year. The foilage starts to turn in early to mid October with the middle to end of the month being the grande finale, and there's usually a couple of weeks in the month of hot days (and chilly nights) that we call "Indian Summer". This year, the seasons seem off as the trees had not even started to change when I arrived in mid-October.

Normally, Ohio has nice weather in Ohio, but this has been a very odd year. So, why am I mentioning the weather? Mentioning the weather and having long discussions about it is an extremely "British" conversation topic. But, I mention it because we all got just a little bit wet during the ceremony. It wasn't the best weather to greet us for the outdoor ceremony, but it could have been a lot worse and the important thing is that we were all safe and could enjoy the celebration, and my 94-year-old grandmother and another aunt also drove down to attend. Anyway, we all had a really good time, and the rain eased off a bit for the ceremony at least. 

The ceremony was held in the supurb location in the middle of the orchard where my uncle had created a Japanese-inspired garden and pond, Japanese tea house (photographed above) and pagoda structure. This is in the middle of the apple trees and on the other side of the vineyard. This was an addition that I have not seen before. The ceremony was mainly for family and close friends.

When I was younger, we tended to visit for birthdays and gatherings in the late summer and autumn. I was obsessed with the concord grapes. I love grapes, and I would eat quite a lot of these when I visited. 

Many of the apples were picked in the orchard except for a few trees near the ceremony, but the idea at the time was for guests to pick a few apples to take away with them while photographs were being taken, but it was a little too wet. I think some photographs in front of the apple trees would have been nice too. The bride looked very beautiful in a laced-wedding dress, and the groom looked handsome too, and to have everyone there to show their support and friendship was really wonderful.

The colours were sage, grey, peach and cream and worked well together. In the vineyard, a couple of photographs were taken when the rain eased slightly.

After the ceremony, it was nice to be indoors, which is where the dinner took place. My uncle had actually cleared out the part of the barn next to their little farm market to host the vintage-country reception. The reception was catered with baked chicken, vegetables, dessert, and a pyramid of green and white cupcakes. Cider from the orchard was available to drink, and I had a lot of it as I love cider (American cider is pure apple juice and not alcoholic).

After the ceremony, those of us who were staying at the lodges made our way to Hocking Hills to the lodges (A Long Weekend at Cedar Grove Lodging in Hocking Hills (Ohio, USA)), which are about twenty-five minutes from Logan. For those of us who were staying, an evening of games, s'mores and hot chocolate was put on. I would have liked to have played some board games, but didn't really know anyone there, so we ended up playing a little bit of "corn hole". "Corn hole" is very much an Ohio country game. It's actually quite a new game and had only come about in the past fifteen years and became popular after I'd moved abroad, so I have never actually played it before. Instead of corn cobs, bean bags are used, and there are different points systems for tossing the bean bags into the hole of knocking off a competitor's bean bags.

S'mores are very much an American campfire tradition, and these were indoor s'mores with indoor burners with metal sticks that we could use to put the marshmallows over the flames. I did not do very well and kept setting my marshmallows alight! Oops. Oh, and the hot chocolate bar came with all sorts of toppings that you could ever desire for your hot chocolate.

The following evening was the big reception day. We did our outdoor waks and sight-seeing in Hocking Hills the day before the ceremony when the weather was nice, so we slept in and went to do some shopping and wine-tasting. We made sure we were back in the early afternoon to wait for the family to arrive to the cabin. Then, we all went off to the reception together.

We took part in the photo booth...

And then we sat down and had a meal...

Then we watched the cake cutting...

Then we had candy (chocolate-covered) apples...

Then, we danced...and danced a lot....

The events hall lodge is brand new, and this was the first event to take place in the new hall. It was finished not long before the wedding. (For more information, see A Long Weekend at Cedar Grove Lodging in Hocking Hills (Ohio, USA).)

The evening completed with a sparkler send-off. Some people returned later to party into the night, and there were sightings of a roaming cow. Okay, one person reporting a cow may be a little like "how much did you drink?", but several people reported the roaming cow and I saw photographic evidence of the cow. So, I must say that everyone had a wonderful time. We met some really nice people that evening and enjoyed good conversation, and the evening went very quickly.

The next morning, skies were clear and we had a breakfast at the event hall that was catered by a local company (The Ridge Inn in Laurelville, OH) that the bride and groom recommended to guests staying in the area. The owners of The Ridge Inn are also known for their delicious doughnuts. The doughnuts were vanilla (plain glazed) and pumpkin. They were really good! (Also, since we are talking about sweet food in this part of Ohio, the bakery in Logan bake amazing iced sugar cookies.) After the hearty breakfast, we went to explore a little bit of Hocking Hills before heading back home.

Congratulations again, Elizabeth and Brian! Thank you for inviting us to your special day.

The Imperial War Museum had a makeover four years ago in 2014, and could you believe that it has been on my list to visit since then and I've only just recently got around to it. My goal was to see it before the end of 2014, but that just did not happen. So, with 2018 being the centenary of the end of World War I (The Great War), I knew I had to go. I decided to avoid Armistice weekend in early November and instead went the following weekend when I could still see the wave of ceramic poppies climbing up the facade of the museum. I thought that it would be quiet; boy, was I wrong!

The first attraction to see was the wave of poppies climbing up the side of the building. The ceramic poppies were first on display in the moat of the Tower of London in 2014 (read about them here: Tower of London Poppies - Jenikya's Blog). They became an instant sensation and a wave of them toured the country. Their final tour was at London's Imperial War Museum, which marked the end of the four years. The poppies were on display here for only a short time, and they have since completed their tour.

An anti-aircraft gun and a section from the Berlin Wall are also on display in front of the Imperial War Museum.

The interior of the museum has actually changed a lot, and it's actually not a very large building. I last visited the museum around twelve years ago. I remember that a lot of it seemed to focus on the Great War, and I particularly enjoyed the bit with a stretch of trenches with sounds that made visitors feel that they were actually in the trenches. I started on the top floor, which was primarily about the rise of Hitler. This continued into related subjects focusing on Europe in the same timeframe. There were some attractions with photographs and audio to remember the war, and the ground floor contained a lot of information about the Great War, but it was too busy to have a look. 

I really wanted to go through the trenches again as that was my favourite part of the museum, but they have replaced them with a very small segment of "trench", and it's nothing like what it was before. I feel that they ruined it, and apparently a lot of visitors have said the same thing. I know that the area is not large, but they have crammed a lot in and I think some of the exhibits could have been excluded. I also remember more planes in the ground floor area, but a lot of these are removed now.

Overall, I left feeling a little disappointed with the Imperial War Museum because the trench was mostly removed and I didn't think some of the exhibits were the best use of space, and it was just too busy in the museum. I will probably attempt to go again and hope it is quieter so that I can take a look at the exhibits.