While our very own K.A. Laity may hate Christmas music, I’m not a huge fan of doing anything holiday spirit-esque before December 1st.
I’ve gone to a few Christmas lighting things in Covent Garden and Carnaby Street, but the thought of nibbling a mince pie and sipping mulled wine makes me a bit ill. I mean, it’s still NOVEMBER.
Unfortunately the folks in the UK don’t celebrate their own Thanksgiving, for obvious reasons, but part of me is thinking that they should just invent a Thanksgiving sometime mid-November just so we all have a break from waking up the morning after Halloween and having it be like Christmas Eve for the next 60 odd days.
However!
The only time this November that I have been even slightly interested anything Christmas and/or winter related is the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.
Last week hundreds of members of the UK press (and subsequently their screaming and easily excitable spawn) were invited for a preview of the wintery theme park that takes over Hyde Park every Christmas, and BitchBuzz’s Charlotta and I headed down for some wintery fun. (And, obviously, the mulled wine.)
The highlights for me were the 95.8 Capital FM Giant Wheel (wonder how much they paid to have that be the name of the wheel), the doughnuts, the singing moose, and of course, the ice skating.
If you’re looking for a Christmasy-fun place to take your kids this holiday season, Winter Wonderland is definitely the place. Of, if you don’t have children, there are definitely apects of Winter Wonderland that are totally date-worthy.
But, if you hate kids, I would suggest going to Winter Wonderland not on a weekend, and not at a time where the kids roam. However, if you can’t avoid the kids, I’d suggest grabbing some mulled wine, a couple fresh doughnuts, and then just sitting and enjoying the fantastic lights.
There are plenty of bars at Winter Wonderland, so I’m sure you could make the most of it!
Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park is open from 10am to 10pm from the 21st of November through the 3rd of January 2010. Entry is free, and you can also buy advance tickets for skating, the Observation Wheel, the circus and the illusion show.
Main image © Charlotta Hedman for BitchBuzz.com