Friday, December 25, 2009

What should I do for Christmas Eve? Hmm...I think I'll go to LONDON!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! Its officially Christmas morning here in Botley! I'm shocked I'm still up, it was a long, adventurous, glorious, wonderful, never-forgettable day today. :D

http://picasaweb.google.com/bloggeraeriole/OxfordDec09?authkey=Gv1sRgCJeh58XX-KCM0QE#

Hopefully the site above works. Its just a few of the pictures I took of London.

This afternoon seven of us and two babies ventured off to London to spend the day there. It was Steven, Loralie, and Dalia; Paul (Steven's brother who works at KBC), his wife Ruth, and their baby Micah; Eileen and Keith (Ruth's parents and our guides through London). and myself. We started off around 12 this afternoon. We drove to the coach station, then we took the coach straight into London. It was about an hour or so drive in the coach. Once we got into London we went straight to Hyde Park. That is the first picture you see. It is a famous park owned by the Queen. Good ol' Lizzy! It's so kind of her to let the world play in her backyard. :)

We walked through the park and into a mini theme park called "Winter Wonderland". It had all sorts of rides and was splattered with stands from different parts of Europe. Most of these stands were filled with food and candies, but some were filled with jewelry. My favorite ones were filled with art of different kinds. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of those though. In the "Winter Wonderland" there was also ice skating which many people seemed to enjoy. I thought about heading out there, until the ambulance showed up and took some immobile body away.. Yeah.. no thank-you.

We walked out of the wonderland and onto Oxford Street which is a popular, poshy street filled with shops. The kind of shops no one can afford, but you still enjoy looking at their displays, and coveting all the things you can't buy.. wait..what? All through London there are different statues. Some make sense, but some, some are just plain stupid. There was one that had huge statues of horses and donkeys and it was a memorial for all the animals in the war because, "they didn't have a choice." Um..really? And like the decapitated horse head, no idea what that means, but it was amusing to say the least.

So we did a lot of window shopping and picture taking. In one of the pictures there is a department store called Marks&Spencers. We stopped in there for awhile to have refreshments. Most of the department stores here have cafes in them. That's nice. So when you get worn out from shopping, you can take a break, and you're ready for your second wind. I like that idea. After we left M&S, we continued on down the various roads of London enjoying the hustle and bustle of the world around us.

You'll see in one of the pictures a huge gingerbread house. Yep, that's right, I said a huge gingerbread house. Ruth has never had one in her life. So I guess to make up for all the years she didn't have one, she bought the biggest one in the world. Makes perfect sense. ;) This gingerbread house, complete with a nativity scene and all might I add, was originally priced at 220 pounds, but the guys at the cafe took it for 25 pounds. Good deal right!?! Ruth was proud. :D

The Christmas tree picture is a gift from Norway. Apparently every year the people of Norway give London a Christmas tree to say 'thank-you' for their help in the war. This tree was in Trafalgar Square. That's so nice of the Norwegians don't ya think??

The picture of the art museum is something I'll have to come back and check out! I love art museums and to have to just walk by this one was killer! But we were racing to catch the coach back to Oxford, so I'll guess I'll just have to come back. Aww shucks ;)

The last picture is a horrible picture, but I had to put something up of Buckingham Palace! I'll go again sometime during the day and it'll be much better! I really took this picture for my sister Audriana. She told me to take a picture of where the Queen lives and to take a picture of the Queen too. I told her when the Queen and I have our tea date I'll be sure to ask her to take a picture with me too. :P

Anyway, I hope the picture site works and I hope you enjoy them. Everyone enjoy themselves today and be safe and have a very Merry Wonderful Happy Christ-centered Christmas!


5 comments:

  1. Glad you had a memorable and wonderful Christmas eve! Merry Christmas from all of us! Love you

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  2. The pictures were great, they put a smile on my face, especially the ones with you in them playing tourist!

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  3. Glad you liked them! did the gets get a chance to look at them? I love you! merry christmas!

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  4. Aeriole, I LOVED the pics, especially some of your commentary on them. "Come again?" HAHAHA Love you and Merry Christmas!

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  5. I see that tree in Trafalgar Square on the webcam! :) Makes me happy. I'm glad you had such a wonderful time.

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