Here’s the final part of my UK Photo Diary, focusing on Christmas decorations in and around London that I found during my trip in November 2023. To be honest, this was a part of my trip I was looking forward to: Going around—especially in the evening—and scoping out some of London’s best decorations, but to be honest, I pretty much failed miserably at it. I was just not feeling 100% on this trip (the time change kicked my butt), so I was often back in my hotel room each day in the late afternoon, with no energy to go out and hunt down places like Seven Dials, Carnaby Street, and Liberty London. The posh department stores (Harrods, Selfridges) which I visited were too crowded to take photos without getting people’s faces in the photos, so that was out, too.
So here is what I got. It ain’t much, but it’s all mine, and I’m sharing it nonetheless. As always, click on the images to see them larger on your screen and in a slide show for each individual gallery.
Let’s start with …
I think I read somewhere that this year (or maybe it was last year) was a major makeover for Covent Garden’s Christmas decorations. I’ve been here in years past, and the color scheme was silver and green; many years ago, it was also red and gold, but minus the big bells. I actually prefer the red and gold and I like the big bells.
I was following a lot of “visit London” type accounts on Instagram before I went on my trip, and one of them had info on a double-decker, open-top bus tour to see the Christmas lights. I signed up for it for Wednesday evening, November 15th, and dressed as warm as I could and went to the meeting point, which was luckily within walking distance of my hotel (near the London Eye). It was a 90-minute tour, which ended up being extremely disappointing. The first half of it was taken up by sitting in rush-hour traffic (which the tour guide said was unusual for the time of day), the second half’s highlights were driving by Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly, up Regent Street (the hanging angels and stars), and a brief drive-by of Hyde Park, where Winter Wonderland was still being set up to open the following Friday. It was pretty much a waste of time and money, and when the bus came back to its starting point, I hightailed it out of there, breaking the land speed record for a short, 68-year-old white man walking back to his London hotel … I was desperately seeking warmth. I deserve a medal for the Olympic-level speed-walking I did.
On Saturday, November 18th, I took a short Tube ride to the newish Battersea Power Station, which was, of course, all decked out for Christmas. It’s certainly a beautiful space and I was glad I visited. I will say that the Tube and just about everywhere I went on my last full day in London were absolutely mobbed with people, except Battersea, but I was there pretty early in the day (before noon).
One of the first things I saw when i got to Battersea Power Station was this young couple with a huge stuffed dog. It was a bit rainy that day, but I found the image of this woman toting around this dog fascinating and kind of touching.
Here’s just a whole mess of Christmas photos I took in my travels in London from Monday, November 13th through Saturday, November 18th, everything else from bookstores to Forntum & Mason, from Sky Garden to the Old Vic, from shopping palaces like Harrods, Selfridges, Burlington Arcade and the posh street behind it (the blimp is on Cartier, the bear ornaments on a tree in front of Ralph Lauren), and finally the tree at Hays Galleria, and the decorations outside of The Ritz Hotel on Piccadilly (the very last photo and my favorite).
And then there was the Christmas tree at Heathrow Terminal 5, the last decoration I saw before I boarded my British Airways flight home, on Sunday, November 19th.
Click here to see UK Photo Diary Part 01, here for Part 02, and here for Part 03.
Merry Christmas!
@innocent-bystander.com 
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