Finally a chance to see what everyone's been talking about - the Oxford St Christmas lights and shop displays ... (depressingly, the above photos were taken at 4.45 on a Sunday afternoon).
Despite the number of people telling me that Christmas "just makes sense in the Northern Hemisphere" it's strange how long it's taken to get into the Christmas spirit here. The lack of sunshine has made me realise that all my Christmas reference points involve long summer evenings and warm weather. However - better late than never - Christmas sprit belatedly arrived at about 7pm on Christmas Eve at Christmas carols at the Royal Albert Hall with the Mozart Festival Orchestra (and a fantastically heavy-handed organist), followed by a midnight service at St Pauls. We sleepily trudged off to bed via some mulled wine and Christmas mince pies. Mulled wine definitely makes more sense over here.
Then on Christmas Day came the inaugural British Christmas dinner taste test. After enduring what has felt like weeks of jibes from UK workmates about what "Antipodeans" eat at Christmas time (apparently we stand around a BBQ in shorts and jandals pushing burnt sausages around the hotplate) I was ready to test the "true Christmas" fare of brussel sprouts, turkey and pigs in blankets. Despite very much wanting to find fault with these most British of Christmas institutions, Regan cooked up a storm and so now I will have to resort to teasing my workmates using that other fail-safe option - the weather.
Merry Christmas everyone
M (S is currently in NZ sampling lamb and sunshine)
