Good Day Sweet Friends!

I’m currently in London enjoying Christmas with my friend Julia. Alert readers will recall that I was in London back in October with my buddy KZ and we had a very large time seeing all the tourist spots and several wonderful shows. I enjoyed London so much that I applied for a house sit over Christmas and NYE.  I’m staying in a lovely little apartment in Crouch End (north London) with two kitties – Simon and Bingley. The small town square is just outside my window with its clock tower that chimes every hour on the hour. Holiday lights and decor only add to the charm of this small community.

Julia and I have spent our afternoons and evenings seeing plays and movies, going to several London Christmas markets and museums, and in general enjoying all the festive holiday lights and fun. Since I hit all the tourist highlights on my last visit, this time we are just wandering and enjoying people watching, eating street food, and catching a show or three. We enjoyed a beautiful Hanukkah celebration at the Jewish museum as well as the Albert & Victoria Museum where a wonderful exhibit on civil rights was being held.

We saw King Charles III (loved it!), Made in Dagenham, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. We’ve also been on a little movie binge and have seen Imitation Game, Hunger Games, Night Crawler, and Big Eyes. I especially loved Big Eyes since it was partially filmed in Hawaii! It was great seeing bits of Honolulu in the movie when I’m so far away.

Christmas Eve, Julia and I went to the Dickens Museum. The museum is one of Charles Dickens’ London homes and it was completely decked for a Victorian Christmas. We sampled Christmas pudding, mince pies, mulled cider, sang Christmas carols, made Victorian Christmas cards, and listened to readings from A Christmas Carol. It was a lovely way to spend Christmas Eve.

Afterwards, we returned to Crouch End and had dinner at a local Thai restaurant. The food was warm and yummy with lots of veggies and coconut milk! We returned to the flat to wrap up in blankets, hunker down with the cats and watched movies until about 1 AM. As the clock tower chimed midnight, there were many people in the streets yelling Merry Christmas and toasting each other.

Christmas morning, I made vegan banana & peanut butter french toast with maple syrup. Yup, it was fantastic! We ate slowly and drank coffee all morning. We opened our gifts to one another and I am thrilled to have received a small water color that Julie painted. She is quite a gifted painter and performing artist! My water color is on a small piece of cardboard making it even more unique. I also received a pair of gloves/mittens that I love, a set of chakra crystals and a large amethyst crystal. Each gift is unique and special, like my friend. Plus they are all small and easily packable, a definite must for me.

We stayed in all day since the trains weren’t running and watched movies – Elf, Scrooged, Despicable Me, Stephen Hawkings Universe, and a few others I think.  After so many, it’s hard to remember! For dinner, we made a vegan shepherd’s pie with lentils, mushrooms, onion, garlic, carrots, fennel and parsnips, along with roasted cauliflower and brussel sprouts. OMG!!!! It was fantastic!! I added thyme, fresh parsley and some red wine to the mix before putting it in the oven and it was delish!

The day after Christmas is Boxing Day in London. Boxing Day has nothing to do with the sport. My understanding is the name comes from a time when employers gave employees/servants gift boxes the day after Christmas. It was a day off for many plus a gift box from their employer. I also heard that it was the traditional day to open the alms boxes in the church that had grown heavy from Christmas charity. For these reasons, it has become known as Boxing Day; but today it is more like Black Friday in the States. It’s more of a shopping day than anything else. Most department stores are open, but other businesses are still closed; the trains however are running, so we ventured out for a marathon movie day!

We went to Leicester Square where there are four different movie theatres and we saw Big Eyes and Night Crawler. Both were excellent films. Night Crawler was disturbing on many levels and both Julia and I were drained when we left. We decided to feed our troubles at Spice Market! I’ve eaten at Spice Market in NYC and loved it, and the London restaurant was just as good. It’s part of the W Hotel so the music and lighting is typical NYC/W Hotel – mod techno music and lighting. The food was heavenly and just what we needed to lift our spirits.

I returned to the flat, put on my PJ’s and fell into bed with the cats. It’s nice to cuddle up with the kitties under a warm blanket. I miss so many things, mostly family and friends of course, but also having a home and pets. House sitting is nice because I am able to enjoy a home and pets even if they are not mine.

Today, Julia and I are going to see a children’s play and will probably have dinner in the city after that.  I have another week here, so we are trying to pace ourselves and not spend too much money. London is an expensive city especially if you are always converting pounds to dollars in your head! Jeez!! It’s killing me. Oh well, I’m not paying for a hotel so that’s good.

I hope you are enjoying your holiday with family and friends. Hold them close and tight dear friends; you never know who will be here next year and who will have moved on.

Cheers!