Results matching “Christmas”

In December, I treated myself to the Festive Afternoon Tea at The Lobby Lounge at the Corinthia Hotel in London. The hotel is a five-star hotel located on Whitehall and just yards away from Embankment tube station and the Hungerford foot bridge. I had this tea just after Christmas as this was the only slot that I could get into with my schedule, but it still felt like Christmas at the hotel. The lobby was decorated with white and silver snow-covered trees, baubles in glass vases as centrepieces on tables and white roses. The large glass-domed ceiling and chandelier added to the grandeur of the hotel.  

The Lobby Lounge

The tables for two on the outer ring overlooked the windows that pointed to an inner courtyard. The tables were arranged with leather chairs facing angled toward the centre of the room. Each table was made to feel private with a frosted and decorated Christmas tree between each. 

Christmas in the Lobby Lounge

I had champagne to start, and the sandwiches followed. Sandwiches included smoked salmon with cream cheese, beef with mustard, egg mayonnaise, and goat's cheese with cucumber. After we had our fill of sandwiches (we were offered seconds), we ordered our choice of tea. I ordered the 'Afternoon at the Palace' tea, which was an easy-going special blend available at the hotel. My partner had the 'English Rose' as the 'Madagascan Vanilla' tea was out of stock. The rose tea tasted fragrant of roses, and it was enjoyable.

There is not a lot of room at the tables, but the staff had this covered. An extra smaller table was brought to hold our two teapots, and our festive pastries and scones arrived on a three-tier stand that could sit on the floor.

Festive tea on three tiers

The scones came with miniature pots of clotted cream and strawberry jam and raspberry jam. The scones tasted nice and were fresh, but I felt that they were a little too small and I wished that I had put a little less jam on my first one.

Scones with clotted cream and jam

The festive fancies had Christmas names, but I could not recall which each fancy was named. The first plate of festive fancies included a macaroon which I thought tasted a little like pumpkin but was told that it was Christmas pudding. I'm not fond of Christmas pudding, but the macaroon tasted nice. The other items included an apple-flavoured mousse, a coffee-flavoured biscuit with a Christmas-print chocolate on top, and a slice of lemon pastry. The lemon was my favourite.

A selection of festive fancies

The other plate of festive treats included a chocolate-cherry slice, another coffee-chocolate pastry, an orange bun, and a snowflake white chocolate mousse. 

Festive fancies

Festive tea fancies

Overall, the afternoon tea was a success - mainly for the ambience and the friendliness of the staff. The champagne hit the right spot, but I've had nicer tea. The pastries were not my favourite that I have had in my afternoon tea experience, but they were some of the prettiest that I have seen. The lemon pastry was my favourite, and I ended up leaving three of the others because I simply did not care for the taste. I loved the decoration and attention to detail.

Earlier this month, I went on the Christmas Cookie Tour of Inns, held in the Amish Country in Ohio. The tour involves a stop at one of twelve inns or hotels as designated on the map. At each stop, the visitor can look at some of the facilities and rooms that are designated as on display; each of these hotels were decorated for the holidays.

Visitors could help themselves to snacks and drinks at each stop, and many of these followed the holiday theme. In addition to free snacks, those visiting with tickets could also pick up a free special cookie at each hotel. The cookies were individually-wrapped, and the tour book contained a recipe for each cookie. The tour theme this year was 'gingerbread'. Many of the cookies contained ginger, and at each stop, the visitor could find a special gingerbread man. Some of the hotels also had gingerbread houses, and the visitor could vote for their favourite one.

Cookies

Barn Inn

Barn Inn is located near Millersburg, Ohio. The inn is a converted barn and former home of the Honey Run Dairy Company and contains its original beams. The barn was restored in 1997. The rooms on display were decorated with Christmas trees. In the main lobby above the doorway and shelving on the top along the ceiling were various Christmas items, such as a sleigh. The chandelier in the lobby had Christmas baubles hanging off of it. A neat idea seen in the hallway on the top follow, behind the gingerbread man, is a Christmas wreath made with deer antlers painted silver.   (Cookie: Gingerbread). 

The Barn Inn

The Barn Inn also included a wonderful table setting. I thought that this would be perfect afternoon tea. (I asked if they did do afternoon tea here, but they do not.) The table was decorated with a gingerbread and reindeer centrepiece with tinsel and baubles. Each setting included a gingerbread cupcake and a miniature gingerbread house over the side of the teacup. I loved this idea.

The Barn Inn

Ferngully Creek Cabins

These secluded cabins are located a few minutes from Berlin and Millersburg, Ohio. They are just off the main road and are located in a quiet grove of trees. The tour included visiting a couple of the different cabins to see how they were decorated. Each cabin contained all amenities needed for visitors expecting a relaxing trip: a kitchen/lounge, bedrooms, television, fireplace, Jacuzzi, and comfortable-looking bedrooms. The fluffy snowmen stood around the Jacuzzi was a cute touch in one of the cabins. Another cabin contained a Christmas display with trees and snowmen above the interior front door. One of the cabins had a large porch. (Cookie: Butterscotch Gingerbread)

Ferngully Creek

Hannah's House

Hannah's House is a five-room Victorian house located near Berlin, Ohio in a wooded area with waterfalls at the back of the house. When we visited, we parked up the road and waited for a horse-drawn wagon to take us and several other visitors to the house. We had a snowy horse-drawn ride down a lane and through a wooded area. The main dining room table in the house is laid with Royal Albert plates. (Cookie: Peanut Butter Oatmeal)

Hannah's House

Berlin Hotel and Suites

The Berlin Hotel and Suites has a movie theatre, fitness room, indoor pool, hot tub, sauna, and racketball court. We did not spend long looking around the hotel. The tree in the main lobby is decorated with lime green and red ornaments (a modern twist to Christmas), and I enjoyed the cute gingerbread house on the lobby desk. (Cookie: Pumpkin Ginger Chocolate Chip)

Berlin Hotel & Suites

Guggisberg Swiss Inn

Guggisberg Swiss Inn is located near Charm, Ohio. A duck pond is located at the back of the inn, and the Amish Country Riding Stables are located on site; guests can take horseback rides with this company and wintertime horse-drawn sleigh rides. The inn resembles a Swiss chalet with a high ceiling in the lobby with a carved wooden clock and stuffed bear. (Cookie: Orange Jello)

Guggisberg Swiss Inn

Comfort Suites Berlin

Comfort Suites Berlin is located in Berlin, Ohio. The rooms we visited were decorated with Christmas throws and cushions on the beds and lights and pine branches throughout the room. The lobby was particularly nicely-decorated with a fireplace, Christmas trees, and other decorations. (Cookie: Pennsylvania Dutch Light Ginger)

Comfort Suites Berlin

Lodging on the Square

Lodging on the Square is located in the middle of Berlin, Ohio, with all of the tourist shops on the doorstep. (Cookie: Swiss Treat Bar)

Lodging on the Square

Berlin Grande

The Berlin Grande hotel is a four-storey hotel with modern design. Most of the decor was dark red and white with dark wood furnishings. The lobby was very large, and they served up warm cookies along with other nibbles and drink. We saw a choice of three different types of rooms, and they also have special rooms that pets can stay in. (Cookie: Red Raspberry Top)

Berlin Grande

Carlisle Inn Walnut Creek

Rooms at the Carlisle Inn in Walnut Creek are all decorated differently. The hotel has multiple stories with nice views. There were several areas throughout the hotel that were decorated Christmassy. (Cookie: Maple Snickerdoodle)

Carlisle Inn Walnut Creek

Wallhouse Hotel

Wallhouse Hotel is a new hotel with modern, energy-saving rooms and earth-friendly design. The hotel is located near Walnut Creek, Ohio. The decor uses lime green and grey and white colours. While I do like the colour combination and used it for my UK reception party, I think that is a bit strange for a setting in the Amish country. (Cookie: Holiday Ginger)

Wallhouse Hotel

Grapevine House

Grapevine House is accommodation located in Winesburg, Ohio. The accommodation contains different options - a house, converted barn. There are various amnieties on offer, and some of the rooms come with a living area and kitchen. A large porch spans the side of the house at the back, and there is a sculpted garden area. The rooms all looked comfortable and attention to detail was made to make the rooms and areas look Christmassy. One neat idea was a pair of old-fashioned ice skates making up the centrepiece of a wreath and a small bag of Christmas sweets tied onto the door knob for one of the rooms. (Cookie: Fudge Nut Bar)

Grapevine House

For more information about the tour, visit http://www.christmascookietour.com.

At the beginning of December, I made a trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan. I posted some photographs in the previous post of my trip: A Start to the Christmas Season in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Located in this town is the world's largest Christmas store, Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland. The Christmas store covers over seven acres, including landscaped gardens decorated with Christmas lights and Christmas items. A memorial chapel, the Silent Night chapel, is also included on site and is dedicated to the song and contains boards of the song written in different languages around the chapel. The interior of the store is also decorated with Christmas displays along the ceiling and above. When visiting, there's so much to see but do not forget to look above eye level at the displays.

I love glass ornaments, and I took a few photographs of these in the shop. Any subject that you could think of for any person would be made into an ornament: cameras, mobile phones, laptops, animals, and so on. Ornaments were grouped into several categories, such as by colour, by interest, by country, by animal/bird, by theme, and by job.

Exterior display

Happy holidays to everyone!

This year, Piccadilly Circus's Eros statue has been decorated for Christmas. The statue was sculpted by Alfred Gilbert and is not of Eros but of Eros' brother Anteros for Shafestbury Memorial; the figure points down Shafestbury Avenue. This Christmas, the statue is surrounded by a snowglobe that contains 'snow' blowing around inside of it. 

Eros snowglobe

Eros snowglobe

Up the road in Leicester Square, a Christmas funfair has been set up with a carousel, a ferris wheel, and several games and food kiosks. 

Leicester Square Christmas

Leicester Square Christmas

Trafalgar Square's decorated up for Christmas with the usual large Christmas tree. 

Trafalgar Square Christmas tree

Christmas trees for sale in east London

Last year, Lego created an advent calendar out of Lego bricks and installed it at Covent Garden for the public to enjoy throughout December; each day, a Lego window in the advent calendar was opened to reveal a Christmas item made out of Lego bricks. (My blog entry about it is here: Lego Advent Calendar in Covent Garden.) This year, Lego returned to Covent Garden in London with a large snow globe filled with London buildings that the public could walk around and inside in order to admire.

Lego snow globe featuring London's iconic buildings

The wintery London scene was created using 120,000 Lego bricks. Visitors to the snow globe can also count the red Santa figures in the scene and post their answer on the social media website. Apparently, the snow globe could blow the snow around, but this was not working when I visited it, and all of the fake snow was at the bottom.

Lego London Eye, Millennium Dome (the O2), and the Shard

Lego buildings

The iconic Lego buildings included the Shard, Big Ben, the Gherkin, Covent Garden, the Globe theatre, Nelson's Column, Battersea Power Station, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral,  the O2, and cable car towers.

A view of the snow globe

This was the last weekend to enjoy the Lego snow globe in Covent Garden. Today was the first chace that I had to see it, and the weather was not the best with the rain, but many others were also out to enjoy the attraction and to count the red Santa Lego figurines. Due to the weather, I sadly wasn't able to get many photographs as the snow globe had droplets of water stuck to it, but the detail on the London buildings and the little figurines was well worth seeing.

Two girls enjoy the London Lego buildings inside the snow globe

I'm looking forward to seeing what Lego have in store for us in Covent Garden next Christmas. Last year was the advent calendar and the year before (in St. Pancras station) was a giant Lego Christmas tree. Will they come up with another interactive Lego Christmas or winter scene or a giant Lego Christmas sculpture of some sort?

At the end of November, I visited Frankenmuth in Michigan. This was approximately a four-and-a-half journey from my parents', and it marked the beginning of the Christmas season. Frankenmuth is a tourist town, and it has the largest Christmas shop in the world amongst other attractions. I spent about three days here. This is probably enough time to see nearly everything, though there are more attractions open in the summer - such as a riverboat and other boat tours. The river freezes in the winter, so these river tours are not available until spring.

Looking down the main street in Frankenmuth

One of the highlights was a horse carriage ride. The ride is set at a fixed price, and the carriage can accommodate up to four adults. (They say that up to six can fit in a carriage, but perhaps they mean children as well as adults.) We rode on the carriage at dusk and took advantage of seeing the beautiful Christmas lights. 

Horse-drawn carriage

One of the prettiest buildings in Frankenmuth is the Bavarian Inn. A clock tower rings a melody of bells at each quarter of an hour and wooden figures come out on display on the clock tower on the hour. The Bavarian Inn has several restaurants inside it and a large gift shop in the basement. 

Bavarian Inn

Bavarian Inn and clock tower

I had dinner at the Bavarian Inn one evening. The speciality seemed to be chicken dinners, which consisted of chicken and potato and gravy. The food on offer had a Germanic theme. For dessert, I had pumpkin ice cream.

Pumpkin ice cream

We were lucky with the weather in Michigan. The weather was cold, but we did not have any rain. 

Crab apples

The frozen river

The frozen river from the covered bridge

I walked across the covered bridge and got some photographs of the frozen river.

Covered bridge

Covered bridge

In addition to the Bavarian Inn, another restaurant (Zhender's) serves chicken dinners and is one of the largest restaurants with several dining rooms and shops and bakeries on the basement level. We also ate here one evening, and the dessert was especially nice: peppermint ice cream and a chocolate brownie.

Zhender's sign

Another place to eat in Frankenmuth is Tiffany's, an old-fashioned bar with beautiful lamps, stained-glass windows, wood paneling, and painted ceilings. The bar area on the floor even has ceramic tiles created into a trough; I'm assuming that this is easier to clean and any drinks that are spilled go down the drains in the trough. It is worth stepping inside for a drink or a meal to see the decor.

Tiffany's stained glass window

Interior of Tiffany's

Gift shops of many varieties and sweet shops (fudge, taffy, ice cream and so on) are in abundance. In many shops, you can watch fudge being made and taffy being made.

Taffy being made

Frankenmuth has a brewery and a couple of wineries. In one shop, chocolates and wines can be paired together and bought. The company also operate small boat trips and a chocolate-and-wine-tasting boat trip. If it had been spring or summer, I would have gone on this. However, the chocolate-and-wine-tasting is available in the winter. 

Chocolate and wine sampling

Christmas decorations and wreath outside a shop

Christmas-themed cupcakes

Iced Christmas sugar cookies

The Cheese Haus is a popular shop. The shop has free samples, and visitors can try and buy chocolate cheese.

Cheese Haus sculpture

Cheeses

Another attraction in Frankenmuth is the Michigan Military and Space Museum. The museum contains stories about different soldiers (pilots, nurses, and so on) in one of the different wars from World War I to the war in Afghanistan. The museum shows items used by these people and also contains the largest display of medals. The people had all come from or lived in Michigan at some point.

Tank outside the Michigan Military and Space Museum

Christmas tree

Christmas lights

On the first night, Frankenmuth's River Place shopping area hosted an evening of candle-lit Christmas carols, free cookies, and hot chocolate to kick off the holiday season. 

Candle carol ceremony

I hope that you have enjoyed my photographs of Frankenmuth.

This year's Christmas window displays in London tie in with the branding of the company and also tie in with traditional Christmas. I felt that this year's window displays were more interesting than the previous year's. I have taken a few photographs of Selfridge's, John Lewis, and the Liberty department store windows in London.

Selfridge's department store focused on traditional Christmas scenes, such as those miniature holiday villages that some put up over the holidays, with a twist. The scenes feature small people (elves and Santas) in a setting with model houses and trains and a larger-than-life product placement. For example, a large shoe or pair of headphones or a brand name purse is amongst the setting. I've photographed some of the window displays to show below.

The corner window display at Selfridge's, which is the most interesting, contains a village made out of gingerbread and a train made out of vintage packaging. 

The Liberty department store window displays feature several products, such as these colour-coded products.

John Lewis's window displays followed their advertising this year with their well-received bear and hare commercial (http://www.johnlewis.com/inspiration-and-advice/az-of-christmas/bear-and-hare). The window displays feature the woodland creatures made out of items sold at the store, such as birds made from scissors and a brown bear made from baskets and pillows and a fox made out of cleaners.

This year's window displays are certainly creative.

The Christmas season in London has arrived for 2013, and as usual, there are many decorations and Christmas lights. This year, Oxford Street has new Christmas lights that are shaped in round balls and purple-blue in colour. Last year, Marmite sponsored the Christmas lights with an interactive display on Oxford Street. I prefer this year's decorations on Oxford Street, even though they simple and not as imaginative as the Marmite tie-in with social media and technology.

This year, the Marks and Spencer store on Oxford Street replaced their Christmas lights with several flowery lights on the corner of their store. These were pretty, but they seemed more summery than wintery to me.

Selfridges also went out to add their lights to their shop front as well as decorations above the main door on Oxford Street.

Carnaby Street also invested in new Christmas decorations this year. Last year, their Christmas lights had a rock and roll music theme which tied into the street's rock 'n' roll history in the 1960s. This year, the designers of the lights went to the birds with bright red robins and encouraged visitors to use Twitter. I have enjoyed the Carnaby Street decorations for the past few years as they are always creative.

The Liberty department store's decorations were similar as previous years with Christmas trees upon the timber-framed side and a purple glow.

Regent Street had the same Christmas lights as last year's with the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' theme.

However, around Oxford Circus, the lights advertised 'Mr. Peabody and Sherman', which is a film coming out in 2014, and these covered up some of the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' boards immediately around Oxford Circus.

Additionally this year, some of London's iconic red buses contain a lit-up "Christmas is coming" message, which is sponsored by Sky.

Boots' shop in the middle of Oxford Street has new Christmas lights this year. I do not remember seeing Christmas lights on their shop before, unless they were strands of white lights perhaps. Their lights look festive.

St. Christopher's Place off of Oxford Street has replaced their brightly-coloured metallic giant baubles with white snowflake giant baubles this year.

I always enjoy seeing the Christmas lights in London every year, and it's worth going to see the window displays as well if you do not mind the crowds. I went on a weeknight, and although it was busy, I did not feel it was particularly unbearable.