Christmas Markets - London

The gals trip to London in late November coincided with the opening of all the annual Christmas markets and all the associated festivities. Our first stop was to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. We have been to a handful of Christmas Markets, and we were expecting lots of stalls where you can buy gifts, food (both as gifts and to eat while you shop), beer and mulled wine / cider. 

Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland

Apparently, Winter Wonderland is not really a Christmas market. It was basically a state fair/carnival decorated for the holidays. There were Ferris wheels, roller coasters, and virtually every spinning, twisting, and upside-downing ride designed to make you sick as quickly as possible. 

Oh, hell no! 

The ride above had everyone locked into swings that hoisted you far above the streetlights (at the bottom of the picture) as it "spin(s) you right 'round, baby, right 'round like a record player, right 'round, 'round, 'round" 

They're not even at the top of the pole yet!! Yikes!!!

I think the weirdest rides, though, were the two different Christmas haunted houses. I tried to get a picture of these glorious masterpieces, but they just came out all blurry. Maybe because of the Christmas ghosts??? 

Giant beer tent

There were, however, a few stalwarts of the traditional Christmas market. Such as the mulled wine, festival-type fried food, and a German beer tent. This beer tent came complete with an animatronic, singing German dude and his pet bird. He was truly frightening.  

Giant, signing German dude

The second night we went across the Thames to the South Bank and checked out much smaller, yet more traditional Christmas markets. The best view at these markets, though, were back across the river at the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Sorry the photos are blurry, I took them with my iPhone and it doesn't do so well in low-light conditions. 

Blurry Big Ben

The streets of London are done up so prettily for Christmas. They had a different motif for each main stretch of road, and this is just one of many. I liked this photo as you can see a couple of iconic red phone booths in the bottom right of the shot. So pretty! 

Oxford Street Christmas lights

And no gals trip to London would be complete without a quick browse in Harrod's. I especially liked their festive-themed window displays. There were so many displays, but I only stopped to take a picture of a few. These two were my favorites. 

Harrod's window display

Harrod's Window display

Christmas in London is definitely worth seeing. But unless you have children, I would skip the Winter Wonderland!