Where did the time go? I don't know how this has happened so quickly, but it's nearly Christmas again. It feels like only yesterday I was discussing "Yultide" with my sister. That was last Christmas. It really feels as though only a week, max, has passed since then.
I know you guys across the Atlantic wait till after Thanksgiving to kick off your festivities, but here, Christmas starts the day after Halloween :)
Something that started as an (initially failed) experiment between 2005-2007 has grown to be one of the main Christmas activities in London. I'm talking about the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.
So successful has it been that it's inspired many such similar "German Christmas Market" style pop-ups around other parts of London and all around the country. There's a pretty successful one along the South Bank of the Thames, there's one at Westfield and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and I remember at least one in Glasgow when I was last there.
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I've been there once already this year. I went in day time, when it has a completely different vibe from when it's cold and dark. I picked the daytime because I wanted to grab some photos. At night, it's often colder and more crowded - so it feels more festive. The expensive hot drinks (I mean temperature, not alcoholic content) also make a lot more sense then.
The giant of Winter Wonderland has gone a little high-tech this year, sporting a fancy pair of virtual reality goggles. :)
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The crowd control also seems a lot better this year. It may just be because I went in daytime when it wasn't all that crowded though. I'd have to go a few more times to make that judgement I suppose.
Some of the displays are a little odd, as always. There's a particular one that looks more like a Halloween setup. There's so much detail there, that I notice something new every year. Talking of which, this year was the first time I noticed the signs pointing you in the direction of the major attractions such as the ice rink. Apparently it's been there all along.
There's a lot of Christmas music happening right now. Naturally, at the Winter Wonderland, it was Christmas music after Christmas music - a nice mix of traditional hymns and modern pop songs. I tried to sing along to some of them, as you do, but it dawned on me that I didn't actually fully know all the lyrics to a single Christmas Carol.
I'm not the only one! You may not either, and not know it!
Honestly, try this out. Pick a song that you think you know, and google the lyrics. Are you 100% accurate? Probably not.
I thought that at least I knew the words to "Jingle Bells". Apparently not. I had been singing it wrong this entire time! Something that I've been singing nearly all my life. Here's what I've been saying (embarrassingly enough). My wrong lyrics in italics.
[Verse 1]
Dashing through the snow | Riding through the snow π
In a one-horse open sleigh | In a one-man open sleighπ
O'er the fields we go | Round and round we go π€£
Laughing all the way
Bells on bobtails ring | crap. I didn't actually know π
Making spirits bright | yakiti blah blah blah π
What fun it is to ride and sing | Oh what fun it is to ride πππ
A sleighing song tonight | In a one-man open sleighπ€·ββοΈ
[Chorus]
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh, hey | In a one-man open sleigh, hey!πΊπΊ
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh | In a one-man open sleigh, hey!πΊ
Wait! wait! It get's worse. Apparently there's a second verse :)
[Verse 2]
A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon, Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my side
The horse was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
He got into a drifted bank
And then we got upsot
How did you do? Did you get all the words right? Did you know there is a second verse? Anyway, it's like that for basically all the Christmas songs that I thought I knew haha. Oh well. At least now I know I don't know anything, so now I know something ;)
Cheers, I'll drink to that.
References
Jingle Bells lyrics provided by: Metrolyrics
Wait, what? gif provided by: Gify
Peace and Love βπΏ
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