And I walked into a kitchen overflowing with the smells of Thanksgiving foods. My group of friends had decided we were having Thanksgiving, in our communal kitchen, in a country where they don't celebrate the holiday. It was great. Instead of turkey we had rotisserie chickens. There wasn't any cranberry. But there were yams and marshmallows, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, asparagus and wine. Lots of wine. It was the best meal I had eaten in London, and I shared it with my closest friends.
After our Thanksgiving meal, we took the bus to Hyde Park where Winter Wonderland has set up camp. Apparently it's not Christmas-time in London unless Winter Wonderland has come to Hyde Park. We strapped on ice skates and made it on the ice, built around a park gazebo with fairy lights above. It was kind of magical. (I refused to skate unless I was holding someone's hand. My friends were quite amused and put up with me, laughing at the California girl who had never been ice skating.)
After forty minutes I stumbled off the rink, and wandered around the wonderland. I'm going to have to go back, I didn't have much time to enjoy the attractions as it closed at 10, but I did get to see most of it. The Christmas carneval is complete with roller coasters, an iconic ferris wheel, a Christmas market, and so many stands selling bratwurst and mince pies and gingerbread and mulled wine. I could spend an entire evening there.
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