Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland

First off... Happy New Year y'all! I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable celebration :-)

Actual date of this event: 21 December

Do you still have a Christmas hangover? They say the best cure for a hangover is to keep the party going!

Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park is one fun party! But it will most definitely give you some type of hangover! Let's see if I can breeze through this without me yearning to go back this weekend for one last round!

{mmm mmm Hot Mulled Wine! mmm mmm mmm mmm Hot Mulled Wine with Cinnamon Whisky!!}

Every winter, a big chunk of Hyde Park (the area where my folks and I wondered what they did with all that wide open space) is transformed into a massive family friendly festival! It has everything any person at any age would want. Entry is free but everything inside is not... except toilets. Thank the Lord!

{the distance from the western side to the eastern side is about 1.5 miles, but technically the street that runs down the middle divides it into two parks: Kensington Gardens on the left and Hyde Park on the right}

Luke and I visited Winter Wonderland for the first time with his family over Thanksgiving week, which was the first weekend it was open. We had a great time, but didn't stay for long. Luke and I only had one weekend in London in December, so it was a must to go back and check out the whole park. The weather was absolutely terrible that day - super windy and super rainy - but we decided to suck it up. Also, we figured no one would want to go out in that weather, so it wouldn't be crowded. Well, we were wrong. As soon as we stepped off the tube, we could tell the usual London herd was still in tact. Our evening at Winter Wonderland went a little something like this:
We dodged the crowds while walking passed stalls and stalls of Christmas goodies.

We stopped in "a few" bars for beer to "get out of the rain". Yes, we will go with the rain excuse.

There was even a carousel bar which we stayed on for one rotation and then got bored.

I stopped for hot mulled wine. A few times.

We (I really mean Luke) had lots of sausage!

We debated purchasing some tokens for a ride or a fun house, but determined beer was more important.

{it was no Cedar Point, but some of these rides were legit!}

{I love this little red bus ride... it was so cute!}

We came across the Bavarian Village, which was a massive tent full of tables with singing drunkards, food stands, beer stands, and dancing elves. Literally. We noticed you could get 1 liter of beer with a souvenir mug, but quickly realized the mugs were plastic - such a waste! Luckily, we could turn them in and receive our deposit back.

We walked around for a bit, as the weather simmered down, to enjoy a fantastic event!

{Luke loves "pengins"}

{this "reindeer" riding was so lame... it barely spun around}

{you could roast marshmallows for 3GBP}

{its really embarrassing they put Belgium Waffles not Belgian Waffles}

After a long time of standing, we found an indoor two-level bar with a view of the ice rink. Apparently, if you'd like to ice skate you must sign up way in advance, and you only get an hour on the rink. The rink was full of water, not ice!

Around 9:30pm, just before closing, Luke wanted one more sausage as we made our way back to the exit. The crowds had died down quite a bit.

Good-bye, Winter Wonderland!!! Until next year!!

I am DEFINITELY a fan of London around Christmas time!!! Will you join us next year??

RANDOM FACT:
All London Public Transportation is shut down on Christmas Day. For New Year's Eve, the underground was free from 11:45pm until 4:30am (usually it shuts down from around 12:30am until 4:30am).



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