A Very Merry London- Our First Christmas Overseas

After travelling for four and a half months, I think we can safely say we have met people from all over the world. In the lead up to Christmas our conversations started to change tune a little though- instead of 'where are you going' we spoke more about 'where are you from'; Christmas was on everybody's minds and so we started to hear stories about what Christmas was like in other parts of the world. Jose, the Spanish (Canary Islands) guy we worked with in Oban, told us how they celebrated the story of the Three Wise Men on the 6th of January rather than Christmas Day and Santa Claus; likewise Argentinians celebrated the Three Wise Men, and I had a fun conversation with Augusto from Argentina while we were in Oban comparing how I used to leave carrots out for reindeer as a child and he used to leave food for the Camels that carried the Three Kings. We learnt from a lady on our day trip to the tiny isle of Kerrera that Austrians celebrate the 24th of December, and believe in an angel that delivers presents and then they all sing around the Christmas tree with their families. And by far my favourite Christmas story we have heard of has to be from when we were back in Barcelona, and how the Catalunians believe in the log that excretes presents when beaten with a stick. And so after hearing all of these stories, it was only fitting that our first Christmas overseas was a very international one, shared with people from all over the world. So this post is dedicated to the week we spent in London over the Christmas period and how we celebrated Christmas on the other side of the world.

Although we may have once been dreaming of a white Christmas, we ended up in London where chances of snow were pretty slim. It turns out the whole of Europe hasn't been as cold as expected for this time of year, and so even friends staying in the alps of Germany didn't get snow on Christmas. We returned to London to stay at the hostel we had spent two weeks at earlier in our travels- we wanted to see what London was like over the Christmas period, and plus we ended up filling in for our friend Grace and working at the hostel in Victoria for a few days to cover our accommodation while we were there. We only had 2 hours of work between us to do each night, and even though it meant I did clean on Christmas (only for about 45 minutes), it was over and done with in no time.

With accommodations sorted, it left time for us to experience London at it's best- when the streets were filled with Christmas decorations, where outdoor ice skating rinks were set up, and where Winter Wonderland had taken over Hyde Park. There was definitely a nice feeling being there at that time of year. We spent time battling the crowds last minute Christmas shopping on Oxford Street, before bailing out from the crowds and heading to Camden to find something for each other in the shops there. At least I got the chance to wander around the lights of Oxford Street, Regent Street and Carnaby Street since I was still out shopping when the sun sets at 4pm:


We visited markets of all descriptions again, since that was one of the best bits we found about London in the first place, and even battled on in the typical London rain.

And last but not least, we visited Hyde Park on Christmas Eve to see the huge Winter Wonderland display that had taken over the park- the whole area was filled with Christmas markets, food stalls, German-style bars selling gluwein (my new favourite) and beer, rides and ice skating (which I wasn't sad to say we didn't get to do because all the tickets were booked out!). It was the perfect way to get in the mood for Christmas the next day.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Christmas of 2012 seemed the like the Christmas that kept on giving- because of the time difference back home and skyping both of our families, it felt like Christmas was actually a two-day event this year. In the lead up to Christmas I was missing home (or probably the prospect of Christmas day feasts) more than I thought, and so it was nice to be able to celebrate it with everyone back home. When Christmas morning finally arrived in London time, we had our own little celebration- Mike and I had pancakes and strawberries for breakfast (so it felt like summer at home), then we exchanged presents (I got mike a nice shirt from a cool shop called Spitalfields, and he got me a headband that I wanted, a necklace from Camden markets, and tickets to see the Lion King!).

Since it was rainy we settled in for a day of movies with a picnic spread we had bought with a couple of people from the hostel- first we watched the Christmas classic the Santa Claus, then we counteracted the gooey feeling by watching Kill Bill. Because nothing says Christmas like Uma Thurman with a Samurai sword. That night we were treated to a huge traditional feast with everyone from the hostel as we had our own little 'Orphan Christmas': it just do happened that an Italian guest is also a chef, and so he spent the day de-boning two huge turkeys, covering them in a delicious basting, and stuffing them with bread and roast vegetables. The dinner was DELICIOUS- which is saying something, considering I'm not normally the biggest fan of turkey. We shared Christmas with other staff from the hostel, along with guests from Italy, Spain, China, Singapore and Hong Kong, and finished off the night with bottles of wine. Definitely a memorable Christmas.

We spent another two days in London after Christmas, and we went and saw a matinee of the Lion King on the 27th which was fantastic! Tickets were all but gone and so we managed to snag some last minute seats in the downstairs stalls. This turned out to be great because a lot of the performers came through the crowd in our section to make their way onto the stage- at one point there was an 'elephant' going down our aisle. Afterwards I couldn't get songs like 'hakuna mattata' out of my head, definitely the sign of a good time.

"Do you want to go to the seaside?"

BRIGHTON BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Brighton, the city known as 'London by the sea', was where had a little pre-Christmas break before we spent the festive season in London. We had been planning to see Brighton but hadn't managed to find the time yet. But when Mike realised that a band we really liked, The Xx, were playing in Brighton on the 20th of December and that we could still get tickets, we immediately jumped at the chance to make the trip.

We travelled down from Manchester to Brighton, via London, on a long 8 hour day of travel. The good thing was we managed to get cheap bus tickets with megabus and so the journey only cost us about £8 each. We arrived about half an hour late and got off the bus to pouring rain and huge sea breezes that were whipping the rain in our faces. Not exactly what we pictured when we thought of a little seaside town, but I guess when it's known as London by the Sea we should have known to expect rain. We managed to find the little b&b by the waterfront, Ainsley House, that we had booked online for a good deal and after showering and wringing out our soaking clothes our time in Brighton was a lot better.

Brighton is a unique little place known for the distinct groups of people it attracts. There's the holiday makers who hit the town in the summer time to enjoy the amusements of Brighton Pier, lay on the 'sandy' (aka little pebble) beaches and visit the quintessential ice cream stalls and milkshake stands that line the seaside. Then there's the gay community, who dominate a certain section of the town where shop windows proudly display the gay pride flag, and shops sell 'men's toys' right on display in the window. It's funny that these two things go together in the one place, but somehow Brighton is quirky enough to make it all work.

On our first day in Brighton we were met with torrential rain that really 'put a dampener' on how a seaside town should be enjoyed. Luckily we had been looking forward to seeing the Hobbit since it had been released and so we took refuge indoors at a little independent cinema to see the Hobbit in 3D. The film was awesome, and plus It goes for 3 hours so that was an easy way to fill in the day. That night we got to see the Xx perform at a place right opposite Brighton Beach, and what a performance it was. Since it was just before Christmas they even did a cool, alternative version of Wham's 'Last Christmas' that was pretty special. They are a band we have been wanting to see for a long time and they surely didn't disappoint.

By our second day the rains had cleared up a bit and we at least got to see the main sights of Brighton without getting blown away. Without a doubt the most notorious thing about Brighton is the Brighton Pier, an amusement and games area along the length of the pier on the beach. Brighton Pier is a longstanding feature of the area and is filled with rides, video games and stalls selling ice creams and fish and chips and all things summery. Since it was winter things weren't really the same, but we did still manage to get some nice photos. The best part we found in Brighton was actually the shopping and cafe district away from the main bit of town. While one side of Brighton is full of the chain stores you can find all over the UK, these few little streets were filled with alternative clothes stores (there was a shoe shop called 'Vegan Shoes' just to give an idea), cafes and lots of vegetarian food shops. It was definitely an area that had a nice feel to it, and we happily spent the day exploring the shops and tasting the foods. By afternoon it was time to catch our bus to London and so we said goodbye to the little town of Brighton. It may not have been the best time of year to be there but luckily the sun at least made an appearance for us, and we managed to see some live music that left all of our friends back home envious. It's a hard life over here, but someone's gotta do it.

All You Need is Love....And Christmas

"Don't get stabbed in the North". This was the reaction we got from someone in Oban when we told him about our plan to travel from Scotland to London, stopping at a couple of places in England along the way. He was from South London and it was pretty fair to say he'd been raised to think people up North were of a different breed altogether (I think they see Northerners in the same way Australians see Tasmanians). So with this comparison in mind and his words of advice still ringing in our ears we made our way to the Northern cities of Liverpool and Manchester. And all I can say is I'm glad we didn't get put off by the stereotypes. Over 5 days we found two very different yet welcoming cities, some very heavy northern accents, a little bit of Beatlemania and the warm fuzzy feeling of Christmas. So this is what we found in the two cities as we traveled through in the week before Christmas.

LIVERPOOL

Liverpool- the city famous for the birth of the Beatles, the most successful football team in the history of the UK, and the almost inaudible Scouse accent. We stayed in Liverpool for two nights over the weekend and got to experience the city bustling full of people. The city centre of Liverpool is basically one huge shopping mall, with shops lining all the streets and linking them altogether until it reaches the waterfront district of Albert Dock.

By day the streets were packed with people doing their Christmas shopping. By night time the bar area centered around the famous Cavern Club (where the Beatles had their first ever gig) was a different scene altogether, and we realised that Northerners of all ages must know how to party- the streets were packed with people stumbling between clubs and about half of them were middle aged people wearing Christmas costumes. We tried to convince ourselves that they are just there for work christmas parties.....

But we actually managed to find some cool little bars for a couple of drinks- a place called Leaf on Bold street that had swing style music on the Saturday night, and a bar called Heebie Jeebies on Sunday night which was really cool. As more people arrived Mike realised that big groups of girls would turn up with just one or two guys among them who were, shall we say, men with good style who liked to dance. Nonetheless the drinks were cheap and the music was good for dancing. Along with the bars we frequented a few pubs in Liverpool, lured in by their cheap pub food on offer. We had a hearty Sunday roast with free dessert for under £9 for the both of us, as well as cheap lunches where we could get 2 for the price of 1. The weather was quite rainy and terrible the second day we were there so food and a place to be dry indoors was a bit of a highlight...(definitely a sign we are traveling in the winter time!)

But food and drinks aside, the main reason we had come to Liverpool was to experience a bit of Beatlemania since this was the city where it all began. We visited the Beatles story museum which had a great exhibition about how the band started, had fame and then the fights that brought it all to an end.

It was a winters day and yet the museum was really full- it made me realise that no modern band can really compete with the legacy of the Beatles. I mean here we were, two Australians, who travelled to Liverpool just to see this stuff, and I can't say there's too many other bands who would attract people like that. Part of the Beatles story was a little 4D movie as well, with an animated film that had the music of the Beatles and fun effects like strawberry scent in the air when the song Strawberry Fields played, and bubbles blowing throughout the little cinema for Yellow Submarine. After we had finished we went to hunt down some of the sights made famous by the songs of Beatles. We caught a public bus to find the old chrildren's home that inspired the song 'Strawberry Fields'. We hopped on to ask the driver which stop would be closest to Strawberry Fields, and we were met by a less than happy Scouse man who said 'don't know where that is' in a grumpy voice. Good bus driver there. In the end we found it and then also Penny Lane, though I have to say it want quite as cheery as the song makes out because by the time we got there it was nearly 4pm, and over here that's when it's dark and cold!

MANCHESTER
It wasn't really feeling like Christmas this year- that was until we got to Manchester. The festive spirit was well and truly alive in the people of Manchester (who are known as Mancunians). The entire city was filled with Christmas decorations and said that wasn't enough to make us feel all Christmassy inside, Manchester also hosts a massive German-style Christmas markets over 8 different sights of the city. The Christmas markets are renowned as the best in the UK, and were even voted in the top 10 Christmas markets of the world. Mike and I spent the day happily wondering through all the different market areas, sampling the free cheese tasters (where we realised pesto cheese is one of the tastiest cheeses ever), being overwhelmed by all the incredible smells of cooking bratwurst and a giant roast pig, looking at all the Christmas decoration stalls, and then making the tough decision of what food we would taste. In the end we shared a homemade apple strudel with warm apple custard that was definitely a winter warmer. We were well and truly feeling the Christmas spirit- especially because I found a kitsch Christmas jumper with reindeer on it.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the Northern Quarter of Manchester, known as the up and coming district filled with quirky shops as vintage stalls, cute bars and good food. At night time we decided to go for round 2 at the Christmas markets to sample some mulled wine, and so along with a friend we had made named Holly (another Aussie of course) we went to sample some delicious gluhwein. Afterwards we went to find a bar in the Northerm Quarter and ended up at a cool little place called The Terrace, where we enjoyed some mulled ciders to warm the night up. It was definitely a lot warmer than it and been up in Scotland though!

After Manchester we visited Brighton and then headed to London, where we just spent our first Winter Christmas, complete with roast turkey and christmas movies. More on that next time though...