Results matching “Christmas”

Happy holidays to all of my readers, and I hope that you have a fun day with family and friends. The cupcakes immediately below were my creation from three Christmases ago when I last went to America in the beginning of December. I helped my mother bake and decorate these. I wish I could have been at home this year for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it's been a busy year, and from the 30th of November, everything has suddenly and unexpectedly taken a different turn, despite my forward planning. So, everything has been up in the air for me. Christmas could not be any further from my mind right now.

I am not going to lie. The last few Christmases have not been the best for me. Last year, I was also concerned about what was going to happen as my contract was up for renewal, and I'd worked so hard over the past couple of years that I was physically and mentally exhausted, but I had some down-time too, and I got ill as soon as my body started to relax. The year before was not special, and I could not relax. The year before that was also uncertainty with working at a company that was wrong for me and thinking about that over the holidays.

So, despite my best efforts, I've really been struggling with Christmas over the past few years. Christmas Day has never been my favourite holiday, but I love Thanksgiving and the run-up to Christmas. I love seeing the lights and the decorations, and I like the older Christmas music and the films. I like the seasonal food and drink as well. I love the Christmas tree and decorating it, wrapping gifts with Christmas music playing, and memories.

In the new year, I will be taking some time off my blog to focus on other areas in my life as things have taken a sudden and unexpected turn at short notice. However, I will return and post more as soon as I start to feel settled again. This is really not how I expected to be spending this Christmas, with moving and already feeling unsettled.

I hope that next year brings better times as I would love to have an easier time and be able to appreciate more without the worry. It would be good to arrange some time to go see my friends and family as well.

Last weekend, I went to The Chesterfield Mayfair to try its Winter Wonderland afternoon tea. The hotel is located in Mayfair and is a short walk to shops and to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. Expectations were high as The Chesterfield Mayfair is one of the best places in London to have afternoon tea as it has won awards from The Tea Guild three years in a row. It did not disappoint. 

I was shown to the Conservatory to have afternoon tea, which was the perfect setting and decorated for winter (see photographs below).

To start, each Winter Wonderland afternoon tea came with a shot of mulled wine. The mulled wine complemented the winter theme to get us in the mood for the festive tea.

I ordered champagne with the afternoon tea, and I had the choice between brut, rosé, and Blanc De Blancs. I selected the Blanc De Blancs option, which is a sweeter white champagne.

The tea that I selected is a seasonal option for the Winter Wonderland afternoon tea and is known as the Chesterfield Christmas Blend. The tea was described as black Assam tea blended with ginger, orange peel, cloves, and herbs. The tea was delicious with a subtle 'festive' flavour.

After the tea was brought, the three-tier afternoon tea stand arrived with the sandwiches, scones, and pastries. 

Last but not least, it was time to try the pastries. The pastries included mulled wine macaroon, Christmas tree chocolate pot, cranberry and vanilla cheesecake, snowman ginger cupcake, a fruit tart, and slice of chocolate Yule log.

The mulled wine macaroon was particularly delicious and perhaps my favourite pastry with this afternoon tea. The texture and flavour of the macaroon was perfect and I'd suggest that the quality of the macaroon was equal to the best macaroon brands based in London. 

The Christmas tree chocolate pot was delicious and the tree shortbread went well with the chocolate mousse (mixed with chocolate sponge). I loved the creativity of this pastry served in a little plant pot.

The fruit tart had a sweet and tangy taste, topped with cranberries, a raspberry, a strawberry, and a blackberry. This was delicious, and I must admit that fruit tarts with afternoon tea are usually my favourite pastry. This did not disappoint and I loved the tangy and sweet combination.

I am not a fan of cheesecake, but this was a subtle cheesecake with cranberry flavour and a biscuit base. I think cheesecake lovers would appreciate this.

The chocolate Yule log was my least favourite of the pastries. Thankfully, the chocolate was not too rich or over-powering. I think that I simply preferred the other pastries.

At the end of my afternoon tea, I got to pick a golden envelope. This means that I will be back for afternoon tea at some point next year so that I can see what I won. Each visitor who has the Winter Wonderland afternoon tea has the chance to pick a golden envelope which may reveal free champagne, a discount, or a hotel room. However, the envelope must remain sealed until the next visit before the end of September next year.

For those interested in Winter Wonderland afternoon tea at The Chesterfield Mayfair, visit before the 4th of January. Afternoon tea can be enjoyed between 1:00 and 5:30 daily. For more information, visit the website at http://www.chesterfieldmayfair.com/afternoon-tea

This year, the Cannaught hotel in Mayfair has presented a Christmas tree designed by Damien Hirst. The tree is decorated with various medical supplies from pills to syringes to scissors to medicine bottles. The items on the tree are moulded into Christmas imagery; the strings of pills become snowmen or are decorated with the word 'Noel'. The star on top of the tree is created with scapels placed together in a star shape. 

According to Hirst, he used medical supplies to decorate the Christmas tree to symbolise the hope that science and medicine can give to the world (1). Additional photographs of the tree and close-ups of the decorations are pictured below.

1) Hirst, Damien. Cannaught Christmas Tree. http://www.damienhirst.com/news/2015/connaught-christmas-tree [December 21, 2015]

It's Christmas season again in London. It feels like we have already just had Christmas because the time has gone quickly. I've had such a busy year with moving house and a working month-to-month on a busy job with a lot of overtime. A few weekends ago, I had a quick wander across London to see some of London's Christmas lights and window displays. I love walking around the city at this time of the year to see the decorations.

Cartier in Mayfair

The journey begins at Oxford Street where the same lights as last year have been used (covered here). These lights are gold and silver orbs ranging in different sizes, and they do look magical. The John Lewis and Debenhams department stores also have the same lights. (I did not take photographs of the John Lewis window display this year as I felt that it was not 'special'.)

Boots on Oxford Street is always decorated, but this year's lights are new and colourful, featuring stars and baubles and wishing shoppers a "Merry Christmas".

St. Christopher's Place is a small area of shopping just north from Oxford Street. This year's lights are large disco balls and gianty red and white baubles with snowflakes. I thought that these were very pretty.

Here's another giant bauble light.

Selfridges rarely disappoints, and this year's window and lights were themed around the moon. Christmas this year is the same day as the full moon, so this has proved popular in advertising. John Lewis' Christmas advertisement this year featured the man on the moon, which also supported AgeUK charity for older people. Selfridge's included a lit-up moon above the entrance, and the light projected onto it was animated.

The highlight of the window displays this year included the 'Star Wars' theme with the costume that Rey (Daisy Ridley) wore and a life-size replica of the droid BB-8. This is near the shop entrance. 

The other windows featured scenes inspired by the planets, the zodiac symbols, and mythology (as mythology does tie in to the planets). I am sure that I picked out Mars and Apollo. The side windows to the store featured facts about space, the moon, and so on. The large corner window on the western side featured a model of our solar system. However, I felt that the windows were slightly underwhelming this year.

Across the street, Marks and Spencer's boasted new lights. These are projected onto the building and animated with different colours, featuring a large bow on the front of the building. 

Meanwhile, Liberty department store featured a little bit of nostalgia. Their window displays are always packed but never themed as much.

Regent Street has new lights this year, and I have covered them here.

Carnaby Street always feature new lights. I covered their party lights here. They are nearly always my favourite area to look at for Christmas lights in London. 

In addition, be sure to check out the giant plug on the wall of one of the buildings as it is always decorated too.

Next up is Choccywoccydoodah, who always do chocolate sculptures for Christmas. Their small shop off Carnaby Street is always packed.

Mayfair's decorations were the same this year with the blue arches on South Molton Street and the feathery lights on New Bond Street. The Stella McCarntney shop also used the same bright lights, but Cartier's was different (see the top of the post).

Many of the shops in Mayfair have outside decorations trimmed with pine.

Fortnum and Mason's Christmas window displays were gorgeous, featuring many of their items. This looked like the perfect items for Christmas.

I loved the gold Christmas pudding and the pudding with the silver and gold almonds pouring out of it.

Their shop from was dressed with the standard Christmas trees.

The Strand also had Christmas lights down it this year.

Last but not least, Covent Garden retained its giant silver reindeer that was used in previous years. It also retained the Lego sculpture; this year's was Santa's Express train. You can read my post about it here.

The mistletoe lights in Covent Garden market are new this year, and you can read my post about them here.

I have included some posts from previous years with Christmas lights and window displays:

2012 Christmas lights and window displays

2012 Marmite Oxford Street lights

2013 Christmas lights and Eros snowglobe

2013 Christmas lights

2014 London's Christmas lights 

This year, Regent Street in London has new Christmas lights, and they are stunning ones this year when compared to the rather dull set used in the past three or four years. The new Christmas lights are inspired by watchmaking and photographs, which bring back Regent Street's heritage. Cinematography was first shown on Regent Street in 1896 while Regent Street was known for its watches.

The Christmas lights are designed by ACT Lighting Design, and they are known as "Timeless Elegance". The lights depict unassembled giant gears and cogs hanging between the buildings on the street. Proected animated imagery are cast onto them to give the effect of movement.

View more photographs of the Christmas lights below.

On Tuesday, I was invited along to a Christmas carols concert at Southwark Cathedral. This was sponsored by 'Feed the Minds' charity who support education for disadvantaged people so that they can better their lives and the lives of others. The service included a stop off at Bread Ahead Bakery in Borough Market, next door to the cathedral, for mulled wine and mince pies.

On our walk across London Bridge, I noticed that the Shard was lit up for the holiday season. It would transform from solid white to solid green to solid red and then to white, red, and green at once.

The first stop off was Bread Ahead bakery, a favourite of Borough Market. We had mulled wine and mince pies while we waited for the carols.

The service was packed, so we had to get one of the seats on the transcept for a side-on view, which meant that I could not take any photographs during the service as there was not anything that interesting to photograph, and the carollers formed a semi-circle and had their backs to the transcepts. 

The carollers sang some songs on their own, and we were also encouraged to sing other songs. The songs included a mix of Christmas hymns from other countries as well as religious and traditional favourites such as "We Three Kings", "O Come All Ye Faithfull", "The Holly and the Ivy", and "Hard the Herald Angels Sing" before we finished with the favourite and catchy tune of "Jingle Bells".

At the end, we were each presented with a beautiful ornament hand-made by South Indian women that had been supported by the 'Feed the Minds' charity. The ornaments were made with palm leaves and came in different shapes and sizes and colours. They reminded me of bows.

I have never been to a Christmas carol service in London before, but it is a fun way to celebrate the Christmas season and see the cathedral decorated for Christmas. Many charity carol events and carol-singing in general can be enjoyed at several cathedrals across London over the Christmas season.

This post focuses on a walk around west London in order to see Christmas lights, windows, and decorations. Many of the displays and decorations change each year, so it's always worth a walk around to see the new decorations. The walk that I normally follow is described in this post, and the walk can be completed in an afternoon. The best time is to plan to be around Oxford or Regent Street at 3:30-4:00 as London starts to get dark at about 3:30.

Factor in a little extra time for doing a little bit of Christmas shopping or grabbing a hot chocolate and mince pie. This walk assumes that you start at Covent Garden and finishes around Green Park. I've captured a map from Google and plotted the route using red lines.

I started just before 2:00 in the afternoon at Covent Garden, although you could start at Waterloo train station and go to the Christmas shops along the Thames before walking across Hungerford foot bridge to Covent Garden. Each year, South Bank on the southern bank of the Thames (above Waterloo Station) hosts a small Christmas market and food market. There are also amusement rides and entertainment in the evenings.

Back to Covent Garden. I recommend seeing Covent Garden when it's still light as many of the decorations are outside. The interior of the hall does contain decorations as well, but it's dark enough to still see any lights. Covent Garden is easy to access from a number of tube stations; we walked from Holborn (Central and Piccadilly lines), but I've typically used Charing Cross station (Northern line) before we moved. There's also Covent Garden station (Piccadilly line).

Covent Garden (stop 1) has many decorations to see. Look out for the large Christmas tree, the decorations inside the covered market hall, the annual Lego sculpture, a giant reindeer decoration, and real reindeer. The real reindeer are only available to see at certain times.

An optional diversion is to walk north of the market into the area known as Seven Dials (stop 2). To get there, start at Covent Garden north and go from James Street to Neal Street. There are a lot of smaller shops along here, including a nice shop selling teas and shops selling make-up and skincare products. At the top of the street is London's largest science fiction/fantasy/board game shop, Forbidden Planet. Then head back down Monmouth Street to the roundabout where the seven streets meet, giving the area its name. The area always has its own Christmas lights. 

When you have returned to the top of Covent Garden, turn right to King's Street. At the end, turn right up Garrick Street. You'll notice a shop selling sweets from America and other countries across the road and a small alleyway with the pub "Lamb and Flag" at the end and virtually across from it. Follow this road to the end, then wait to cross on Cranbourn Street. (You'll see a statue here dedicated to Agatha Christie). In front of you is Leicester Square underground station. 

Continue walking past the station and into Leicester Square (stop 3) where the cinemas are located. You will also see the square itself, and a Christmas market with a few games is normally set up inside along with a ferris wheel. Some decorations are normally hung from the trees here.

From Leicester Square, make your way through the square to the far side and down the small alley known as St. Martin's Road, which leads to Trafalgar Square (stop 4). Trafalgar Square is the location of London's largest Christmas tree. Each year since 1947 as a recognition of support during the second World War, Norway present England with a Norwegian Spruce Christmas tree. Trafalgar Square is home to the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. The church in the square, known as St. Martin-in-the-Fields, is charming and does have Christmas carol singing on select evenings. After seeing the Christmas tree, head back to Leicester Square.

From Leicester Square, walk to Piccadilly Circus (stop 5). The directions are to turn left and walk past the Swiss glockenspiel (clock), which chimes and plays at certain times in the day. Keep walking past the large fountain featuring raising horses, which is known as the Four Bronze Horses of Helios. On the opposite side of the road is the large building Trocadero which was a fabulous multi-floor gaming building in its glory days but was shut a couple of years ago and is now virtually empty. There are lights along this small stretch of road as well, and they are giant snowflakes (at the time of writing this).

Straight ahead is Piccadilly Circus and the statue in the middle, known as Eros (cupid). You will also see the radiant glow from the advertising board next to it. Typically, the statue of Eros features decorations. In a previous year, it was a snow globe. Last year, it was a pile of gifts. This year, I did not notice any decorations, but they may not be up yet.

Once you have seen all that you want to see in Piccadilly Circus, the next stop is to locate Piccadilly Street (stop 6), which is one of the streets from the Piccadilly Circus roundabout. Regent Street is the busy street with the golden-coloured rows of buildings that curve around to the right. Piccadilly Street is the street immediately to the left. Cross the road to head down this street.

Piccadilly Street has several nice shops and cafes along it. The first stop is St. James Piccadilly Church (stop 7) where many market stalls are set up. Feel free to have a quick browse here for Christmas gifts. You will then pass the BAFTA (British Academy of Film & Television) building, Princes Arcade (a small covered street for botique shops), and an excellent book store known as Hatchards. Next to the bookstore is Fortnum & Mason (stop 8) department store. Look at the window displays, which are always amazing during Christmas. Also, feel free to step inside to the food hall and other areas for gifts. The Parlour on the first floor is excellent if you wish to take refreshments, ice cream, or afternoon tea. (You can read my review of their afternoon tea here.)

If you are lucky to arrive at the right time, you may see the giant clock display on the fascade of Fortnum & Mason. The chimes play and the figures move on the hour. After leaving the department store, cross the road to the other side. In front of you is the Royal Academy of Arts. Next to it is Burlington Arcade (stop 9), and it is worth a view as it is decorated for the holidays. Feel free to buy macaroons at Laudree, which is at the entrance of Burlington Arcade. When you're done, turn around and head back the way you came but do not cross the road.

Once you have returned to Piccadilly Circus, turn to the left without crossing the road. Regent Street (stop 10) is in front of you. This is a busy street with large buildings that curve to the right. Excellent photographs can be taken down the street from near where the underground entrance is located. This street always has pleasant lights, and there are new lights this year.

Walk down Regent Street to stop in some of the shops. In my view, the right-hand side of the road is probably the best bet, but both sides of the road offer good views and shops. Hamley's Toy store, Molton Brown, Ferrari, and a large range of clothing stores are available. Hamley's Toy Store (stop 10) is located on the right-hand side of the road and is always popular at this time of year with visitors and its window displays. 

Keep your eye open for a small road on the right, just past Hamley's, known as Foubert's Place. Turn onto this road and walk down a couple of blocks to Carnaby Street (stop 11). This is a street not to miss. The Christmas lights will be instantly noticeable, and I love Carnaby Street's Christmas lights. They are different every year; this year's are giant pink party disco balls. Carnaby Street is worth a look around with some nice shops and restaurants in Kingly Court, which is a right turn onto Carnaby Street.

If you have been to Kingly Court, turn left and walk up Carnaby Street. Another gem is Choccywoccydoodah (stop 12). To get there, turn right on Foubert's Place (opposite the direction of Regent Street) and about two blocks and on the corner is Choccywoccydoodah. The chocolate shop is normally popular, but the gift shop at the front has many amazing chocolate sculptures and cakes. This may be a good idea for gifts. They also have a small cafe upstairs, but there's always been a queue when I've walked past.

Once you have visited Choccywoccydoodah, walk back the way you came to Carnaby Street. Turn right, which is actually Great Marlborough Street. Here you will find the back of Liberty department store (stop 13) and its chocolate shop. It's worth a visit to the department store, but the store is a little difficult to navigate. Before entering the store, turn your back to it and take some photographs of the Carnaby Christmas lights. This is my favouirte angle to view the lights.

Make sure you view the front of Liberty department store in order to see the window displays and the decorations on the front of the timber-framed building. They normally have Christmas trees and lights. The best view is to cross the road onto Argyll Street.

When you've finished at Liberty, head up Argyll Street until you come to Oxford Street (stop 14). You can turn to the right and walk up Oxford Street to look in shops if you wish, but the tour continues with turning left toward the underground station. This is probably London's busiest area, so head past Oxford Circus underground and cross the road. You should be at the section of Regent Street and Oxford Street now, and this area on the south side of Oxford Street and right-hand side of Regent Street (looking south) is good for photographs.

Oxford Street does have different lights some years, but the past couple of years have seen fold and pale blue orb lights. Continue to walk down the street and also check out the lights on Debenham's, John Lewis, Boots, House of Fraser, and other shops. Oxford Street has so much to offer in terms of shopping. The windows are worth checking out too.

Before going too far up Oxford Street, make sure you do not miss St. Christopher's Place (stop 15). This little alley is hard to see if you do not know it is there. It's located next to The Body Shop, and look out for the angel with wings holding an orb high up (pictured below). This fellow is always in place, and the alley is so small that only one person can enter or leave at a time. Don't worry, though, as the street does open up once you enter from Oxford Street. Glance down the street and you will see Christmas decorations and a small parade of shops.

After you have looked around, head back to Oxford Street and turn right. Soon, you will come to Selfridges department store (stop 16). Have a look at the window displays along the front of the building. The largest and most-featured display is the last window on the corner of the building. Marks & Spencer's across the road and next to Selfridges also has nice Christmas lights. Make sure that you cross the road to get some photographs as the Christmas lights and decorations are above eye level upon Selfridge's. Make sure that you have a look inside and stop in the food hall if you wish.

Once you've looked in Selfridge's, cross the road to be on the opposite side on Oxford Street and walk up to Bond Street station. Walk just past the station to find South Molton Street (stop 17), which is covered with Christmas lights and contains a pedestrianised shopping street. Continue walking down this street to the end where you come to Brook Street. Turn left and then turn right onto New Bond Street (stop 18). 

You are now heading into Mayfair (stop 19), and the shops and window displays with high fashion brands are beautiful along here. The street is also covered in Christmas lights. Stella McCartney's shop normally had a lot of lights, and feel free to walk around around this area. For Berkeley Square, turn left onto Bruton Place.  

Continue walking south on New Bond Street where it eventually joins Piccadilly Street. You will be near the Ritz and Green Park station if you cross the road and turn right. 

This covers my Christmas lights and decorations tour of west London, but I have not covered everything. Winter Wonderland, Harrods and Knightsbridge also have nice lights and displays.

If you do not mind the walk, continue past Green Park station until you come to Hyde Park Corner Station, right after Green Park on the left hand side. Cross over the road to the entrance to the station and you will soon see lights and the Christmas market for Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. This is always busy, especially at the weekends, and you can spend almost a day here on its own. There's a Christmas Market, food and drink stalls, rides, ice skating, and many other attractions. Last year, I went to the Ice Sculptures and Ice Bar.

To see Harrods (for the windows), continue walking past Hyde Park station, but make sure you cross the road as the road forks here and you'll need to turn off at Brompton Road after Knightsbridge station. 

Harrods and Winter Wonderland are both on the Piccadilly line if you prefer to get the tube from Green Park station.

Let me know what you thought of the London Christmas lights this year.

After visiting Bath Christmas Markets, I had most of a day to spend in Bristol to do some shopping and watch  the latest and last film from The Hunger Games books. I stayed in a hotel in central Bristol, but I still didn't get to wander around all of the city as there just was not enough time to fit in everything.

We arrived in the evening and headed out for a night showing of the film at Cabot Circus. I took some photographs of the Christmas lights and a small Christmas market in Bristol on our way to the cinema.

They were also selling the chocolate tools and other chocolates that I saw when I went to Nuremberg Christmas Markets last year, which I covered here.

The next morning, we headed straight to St. Nicholas Market off of Corn Street. This covered market has a little bit of everything, and this was not my first visit to the markets. 

There's a little bit of everything, and one of the highlights is the food markets toward the back. These can get quite popular with locals. A photograph of some of the food stalls is below, and the food smelled so good. We would have had something if we had not had a buffet breakfast at the hotel.

I bought a Himalayan salt lamp at St. Nicks. I've actually been wanting to buy one of these salt lamps for a long time as I love the glow produced from them, and they are also meant to improve air quality. If they do live up to the hype, then that's a bonus, but I love the calming pinkish-orange glow.

We walked around the shops at the Galleries mall, which is a shopping centre that I've known in Bristol for so many years now. This is the cheaper part of Bristol, but there's still quite a few shops to visit here that are worth visiting. On the other side of the Galleries is Broadmead, where the Christmas market is located, and Cabot Circus. This whole area of Bristol has been re-generated in the past few years.

After visiting some of the shops, the rain started to pour. Before leaving Bristol, we decided to get some food. I wanted to visit Zero Degrees microbrewery and restaurant. It's hard to believe, but my last visit was in late 2004 or early 2005, so that was ten years ago. I last visited with colleagues when I worked in Bristol, and since then, they have expanded and opened a branch in Reading before opening others in Cardiff and Blackheath. Pizzas were always on the menu, and the pizza 'flavours' were a little unique in those days.

We walked up Christmas Steps in order to get to ZeroDegrees.

First, we ordered garlic doughballs to start. These were delicious and we had garlic butter and oil to dip them in.

We also ordered cocktails. I cannot remember what we had now as it's taken me a couple of weeks to write this post (and so much has happened since then), but they tasted nice. Of course, this place started as a Microbrewery and was probably a trend-setter in this genre of restaurant. I don't drink beer or ale, but for those who do, I recommend ordering this. They also offer flavoured beers.

The pizza 'flavours' have gotten more traditional and less wacky, and there's more on the menu than I remembered from ten years ago. I ordered the "American Hot", which seems to be a standard of my favourite pizza, which was always the toppings I orded in America (minus onions): pepperoni and jalepeno. I love onion with this too, and do bear in mind that the hot peppers are chilis and not jalepenos.

The bloke is not a fan of pizza, so he ordered sausage and mash.

I loved the lights on the ceiling, which reminded me of marbles. We also had an amazing view from our seat which looked down Christmas Steps.

I had a nice time in Bristol but wished that I had gotten to do a little more wandering around some of the areas that I did not get to. Cribbs Causeway would have also been nice to get to. ZeroDegrees is okay for a venue, but the food was not as good as other restaurants.

The day after Thanksgiving, I headed out early to drive to Bath to go to the Christmas market and to have lunch at The Pump Rooms. Each year for a couple of weeks from the end of November, the Christmas Market comes to Bath. I lived in Bath for over two years and I remembered that I enjoyed walking through the market on my way back to my flat. This was ten years ago now, and in those days, it was not quite as busy as it is today. There are a few more stalls compared to previous years, and I used to make a visit each year after I moved away from Bath. However, I had not been for the past two years and the last time I visited the market was in 2011. 

The market was busy, of course, but this was not the busiest I've seen it. Saturdays are too busy, and I remember how difficult it was to navigate the markets close to ten years ago on the weekends. For those planning to go, remember to visit during the week and note that the market is quieter in the morning.

I used to park in Royal Victoria Park, which used to be free and behind where my flat was. Now, they charge for parking there, so I use the parking next to the park and the mini golf. This year was the first year that I have also noticed an ice rink come to Bath. (It's located in Royal Victoria Park opposite the Royal Crescent in case you're curious.)

We started at the lower part of the markets and walked our way up, trying free samples of cheeses, chutneys, jams, brownies, and alcohol. I bought some marshmallow Vodka, cheese, brownies, fudge, and macaroons. I always end up buying cheeses from the company (pictured below), and they make a good mature cheddar.

A nice fudge shop is located just outside the cathedral, and Bath is also famous for its 'Bath buns'. (Despite living in Bath for over two years, I've actually never tried one!) 

Sally Lunn's is a cafe that serves the traditional bun, and it's very much a touristy attraction, but I've never been there. I keep telling myself to visit next time I go to Bath, but I have not got around to it yet.

This year, they were also selling mulled wine or hot apple drink at the market. Had I not eaten before, I would have bought some of it.

For the first time, we also noticed the chocolate tools and other chocolate items for sale at a Christmas Market in the UK. The first time that I saw these was in Germany last year when we went to Nuremburg Christms Market, which I covered here. These are very much a novelty item. In Nuremburg, I bought a chocolate wrench, but it ended up breaking in my luggage on the way back to England.

We also bought a wreath, but it was a Christmas wreath we bought and not one of the pretty ones pictured below, but these were so tempting to buy as well.

Every so often, a group of carol-singers would sing outside Bath Abbey.

We had lunch in The Pump Rooms. I'd reserved a table for us as this venue was another venue I had never visited despite living in Bath for over two years. The Pump Rooms were mentioned in Jane Austen's books as she was a frequent visitor to them when she visited Bath. Also, they are next to the Roman Baths attraction, which I have visited a couple of times. The waters are meant to contain healing properties and made this spa town famous with Victorians and also with people seeking treatment in its hospitals that used the water.

To start, I ordered one of the Christmas cocktails, a Christmas martini. It was meant to come with a mini mince pie, but it did not.

We had the set Christmas menu, which we could have as a two or a three-course option. To start, I had the leek and potato soup which came with a cheddar and thyme muffin and croutons. 

The bloke had game pâté which was served with grilled sourdough and chutney.

I had free range turkey, served with cranberry sauce and a Bath sausage while the bloke had the braised brisket of beef with mushrooms and bacon.

Our mains were served with carrots, cabbage, and roast potato. I admit that after having turkey the day before for Thanksgiving, I was a little 'turkied' out! It's not my favourite meat as it can be a little bit dry and not have that much of a taste.

The bloke skipped dessert, but I tried the chocolate bread and butter pudding.

The meal was finished off with tea of coffee, and we should have had a mini mince pie again, but these were not provided for some reason. I cannot complain about the food at The Pump Rooms because it was good, but the service was non-existent. Staff were friendly, but we were just 'left' and didn't get to order other items, plus some of the items were forgotten. Staff should be more attentive to detail and attentive to guests. I do understand that The Pump Rooms are popular, and when we visited, there was a queue of people waiting to get a table as some of the guests are "walk-in". A lot of people were having afternoon tea when we visited at lunch (we had a 13:00 booking), but others were also having lunch.

After our meal, we continued to look around the shops and I noted what had changed between my last visit in 2011. I noticed that a lot of the shops that I loved that were toward the top of the town had moved down at the bottom, closer to the train station, which used to be the 'cheap' end until it was re-developed. And the cafe in Milsom Place where I would sometimes have a nice breakfast was closed and being built on while a couple of new chain restaurants were now located next door and around the corner.

After we were done browsing around, we went to Bristol to stay the night. Bath Christmas Market is my favourite market in England because the stalls are unique and sell many items that cannot be bought elsewhere. Some items are made locally, and there are over 170 stalls to look at. The market really does have something for everyone and it's unique items unlike some Christmas markets where they tend to all sell the same type of item. The Christmas market is only running until Sunday the 13th of December, so be quick. Otherwise, you can always plan ahead and visit next year.

Carnaby Street's Christmas lights have always been my favourite Christmas lights in London because they are creative and they change to a new theme each year. In the past, they have been robins, Santa, and Rolling Stones (rock and roll). This year's theme is "Christmas Party" and transforms Carnaby Street into a giant dance floor complete with massive pink disco balls and stars. Early each November, Carnaby Street hosts its own shopping party with discounts at the businesses in the area, and this coincides with its Christmas lights switch-on. These lights should not be missed.

Head over to Carnaby Street to see the Christmas lights before they are taken down in early January.