Christmas Without the Fam - What's a Monkey to Do?

As you may know (or maybe not), we decided to stay in London for Christmas. All of our friends here were out of town or with family. So we were pretty much on our own, gulp.

The holiday got off to a bad start because (oh shit) I effed up our Christmas Eve reservations. I accidentally made a LUNCH reservation at Hix in Soho, instead of a dinner reservation. Yeah so Dave had to work, lunch was not a possibility. OK, it's fine. 

I just need a last minute dinner reservation in London on Christmas Eve, no problem - yeah right. I ended up with a Christmas miracle reservation at 36 by Nigel Mendham. Thank god for someone else's last minute cancellation. The meal was good and the wine was better - a £50 2007 Joseph Faiveley burgundy = happiness. The restaurant even had traditional English Christmas “crackers” for us. I had honestly never heard of these before, but then I am German and Irish.

So (for those of you non-English, or perhaps just ignorant to the ways of the English like me) they are small Christmas packages that make a popping noise when you pull them open. Fun, sort of. Then inside the cracker is a paper crown, a bad joke, and some small prize.

I got a crown and toe nail clippers. Effing sweet!

Dave got a crown and a plastic fancy pen, NICE.

And don’t think we are totally selfish a-holes, all dinners out and hotels. On Christmas Day I woke up at the crack-of-ass dawn (ya know, about 7:45am at this northern latitude), and went to do my usual Tuesday volunteer shift at the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. After all, the dogs don’t know it’s Christmas – they just want some love and a walk.As an aside, I recently read Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island. One of the things he describes is the English propensity to get quite excited over the smallest of luxuries. For example tea: really tea is just slightly tasty brown water to which, you add some milk. Then you drink this with a scone of some other bready-type-of-thing with raisins or even sultanas (if you are really going crazy). The English go mad over their afternoon tea with a giddy gasp of “oohhhhhh tea”, Mr. Bryson’s words – not mine. Mind you, this is a good thing! If you can’t find an appreciation for the simplest pleasures in life, you are probably a bit sad. So I can understand the excitement over the whole Christmas cracker-thing having read Mr. Bryson’s observations. I mean, the crackers we got were really funny - but kind of lame.

In case you are wondering a typical shift for me includes lots of cleaning floors, comforting stressed dogs, teaching basic commands, giving treats, and walking dogs. Today we had special donated Christmas treats to give to each of the pups, as shown in that photo over there on the left! (Insert yet another shameless plug for donations to my London Marathon fundraising effort here.) It was an unforgettable way to spend Christmas morning for sure. Dave joined me a bit later that morning for dog walking in the rain, what a trooper.

Working at the home with a bucket of soapy water for cleaning, ew.

\It cleared up after my shift was over, so Dave and I walked all the way from the home back to the Savoy Hotel where we stayed for the holiday (the Tube was closed for Christmas). Uhm this is a bit further than you might think, and really not recommended due to the city’s propensity for sudden rainstorms. However, we were lucky this fine Christmas afternoon, and we had a sunny and peaceful walk along the Thames. It was such a joy to be in London, walking in the sun and taking in the views, without the usual crazy commotion and traffic.

We had Christmas dinner reservations at Bar Boulud at 8:00pm. We tried our best NOT to drink the entire afternoon beforehand, but it was raining and everything was closed for Christmas (except for pubs). What to do, what to do? Apparently, find an uber-cheezy casino and play games! We were BIG winners on the Toss the 10 Pence game. This thing is a complete rip-off and totally addictive.

You cheap plastic watches will be mine!

The satisfaction of victory, priceless.

BTW - I got that dinner dress at a used clothing store for £5.

Dessert at Bar Boulud.

On Boxing Day (December 26^th), we had to check-out of the gorgeous Savoy Hotel - only after treating ourselves to breakfast in bed. Normally, I am wayyyyy to cheap to spend $40 on hotel coffee, bagels, juice, and fruit, but WTF it was Boxing Day after all.

Dave was meant to live like this.

We spent the rest of the day avoiding the shopping areas and sales like the plague, and instead went for a run and cooked up some chili. 

So despite missing my family and dog this holiday, I really tried to put it aside and just be happy enjoying the peace and quiet of what is probably my last Christmas in London (*Insert melancholy sigh here*).

As an aside, one of the Wireless connections coming up in my list at the cafe I am at right now is called “Olly the Hung Horse”. I love this person, whoever it is. I almost spit my tea out seeing that one, right after gasping “ohhhhh tea”.