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Showing posts from December, 2015

Why I love Christmas in London

Yes, another post about London!  Here are some of my favourite things about Christmas in my favourite place on earth in no particular order. The Lights.... Fun fair in Leicester Square The Culture... In the winter London's theatre scene comes to life and at Christmas the variety of live performances is staggering.  You can see everything from a pantomime  to performances of the Nutcracker to weeks of beautiful concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden I've been here to see the Nutcracker, Swan Lake and this darling Beatrix Potter ballet.  Meant for children but I adored every minute!  I mean, look at them! The Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall Christmas Spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall - absolutely wonderful!  The Royal Albert Hall has concerts nearly every evening in December. The decorations... Covent Garden Santa and his reindeer  - made from Lego!  

How to do Christmas in Germany

For years my German friend Claudia had invited me to come and stay for Christmas.  And for years I would politely decline because 1) I had other plans and 2) couldn't get the time off work.  Finally, in 2011 I phoned (Claudia isn't on the internet..) and said "does that invitation for Christmas still stand as if so I'd like to come this year".  And that's how I found myself in Heiligenstadt in Northern Bavaria over the Christmas holidays. I've spent Christmas in other countries...Costa Rica, Nepal and England spring quickly to mind but this is the first time I had actually experienced a traditional Christmas in a family home. Due to respect for Claudia and her mum's privacy there won't be any pictures of them on here. So if you were in Germany over the Christmas holidays what would you do first?  Have some glühwein (mulled wine) you say? Thought so!  So off we went to the Nuremberg Christmas market. Claudia used to live in Nuremberg so I am