Life in London – December 2009

So 2009 has gone by already and I’m looking forward to all the great things 2010 has to offer in London. Before we rush into all that, let’s have a look at what was happening during December, and it was a good one, so here are some highlights.

London looked beautiful with all the bright Christmas street lights and the real effort that went into the shop windows. My prizes went to Carnaby Street’s peace, love and pink reindeer decorations and Selfridges panto windows (see below for more about panto) as they both had a little eccentricity about them as you can see in these photos.

Panto Decorations at Selfridges

Decorations & Lights on Carnaby Street

Other great Christmas events included the numerous ice rinks, the carol singing and pantomime. Temporary ice rinks can be found in some of the loveliest locations around London, at the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace and, my favourite, Somerset House. The courtyard lends itself perfectly as a setting for an ice rink – see the photo – and they also had a great Christmas present fair by the students of Camberwell Art College which meant the items were a bit different eg a notebook for jotting down great ideas made up of backs of envelopes!

Ice Rink at Somerset House

Carol singing was everywhere, in churches, at the Albert Hall, in the street from the Salvation Army and in Trafalgar Square in front of the famous Christmas tree from Norway. I went to have a sing along in Trafalgar Square and it looked and felt really festive.

Christmas Carols at Trafalgar Square

Last but not least in the Christmas traditions to mention is pantomime (oh not it’s not – oh yes it is!). Hope that last bit makes sense as these are famous panto lines along with ‘boo hiss’ and ‘behind you’ which every audience must shout out. I went to the local Notting Hill panto at the Tabernacle directed by Alfie Allen (brother of Lily) and it was suitably chaotic and fun with the full range of strange over the top costumes, a vague plot and a corny script – just what it should be!

Christmas is a great time for concerts so I continued the Allen family theme and went to see Lily at the Brixton Academy in what she said was her last solo concert. It was snowing all the way there but well worth the effort and her bouncy songs and easy manner made for a fun show.

December was a vintage month for theatre going for me and I notched up 5 in just over a week. London has an amazing variety of plays on at any time of the year and, although some are really pricey, you can find bargains or small theatres to help out the pocket. My big ones were ‘Inherit the Wind’ starring Kevin Spacey and ‘The Misanthrope’ starring Keira Knightley. There’s been a trend for major film stars to play in the West End and makes for even more theatrical excitement. I also saw: a good one act play in a small back room of a pub as my friend was directing it; a new play by Kwame Kwei Armah in the Black and White season at the Tricycle Theatre; and, the panto of course.

London always has amazing exhibitions so I try to get to at least one a month and in December it was Moctezuma at the British Museum. I learned a lot about the Spanish invasion and his demise and although I knew a bit about this already, there’s always more to find out. The British Museum has one of the most beautiful interiors of any museum and I’ve attached a photo so you can see this. It’s costs nothing to go into the main collections and they only charge for special events which means you can go and see the world’s treasures for free anytime you fancy. How brilliant is that? I aim to go more often in 2010.

Moctezuma exhibition at the British Museum

Wishing you all the best for 2010!
Sue
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk

Related posts:

1. Life in London – December
2. Life in London – November 2009
3. Life in London – October 2009
4. Life in London – August 2010
5. Life in London – June 2010