Winter Wonderland 2012

On the first of December, I dragged himself out do do something Christmassy. For it was the first of December and my house was too much of a wreck to even consider Christmas (this left the cleaning and tree wresting to Sunday, with a hangover, which in hindsight I should have foreseen). Anyway, it was time to get squashed, get muddy in a park line up in the cold for the toilets and buy beer in plastic cups ... that festival in the midst of winter, Winter Wonderland Hyde Park.

If you've never been, essentially it's a German market, circus, fun fair, Santa land and ice rink all in the middle of London; free to get in, with loads of stuff to spend all your pennies on inside. Like beer halls and mulled wine. Yeah, we were totally up for the cultural stuff. What a shame, we got waylaid by the food and booze, as is our way.



For some reason I decided to dress up as an extra from Allo Allo in Heyday swing trousers, cropped leather jacket, high heeled DMs and beret. Wrong country fail.

Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once.

And then a little Christmas magic happened- His Lordship discovered a drink he had never shoved down his neck before. Can you believe such a thing? Fricken miracle on 34th Regent's Street. Amazeballs. It was hot egg nog, or to be more specific, my hot egg nog; and he had to drink quite a lot of it to be absolutely positive he enjoyed it.

Mine!

 This amazing discovery was made in the ice rink themed pub, the girliest and sweetest in decor and I must say my favourite. The bars and restaurants have much improved in terms of seating and access this year - we found heated, indoor seats and the decor in there was super cute. Win!

But we are fickle sorts and soon tired of that pub, wandering off in search of the legend that was the Bavarian Village...

Quoth My Husband: 'Every village needs an idiot'.

In terms of improvement on last year, it was a similar tale. The beer hall had been replaced by a two floor behemoth with a full outside village of shops and hilarious cover bands outside. The covers on Gangnam Style and The Macarena, with all the passing tipsy shoppers joining in like some kind of kitsch flashmob, were tops.

There were streamlined bar lines, so even at the busiest points you could get food and drink quickly and if not a table then at least a place to lean. Heating has been improved and although still raucous, it was heaps more comfortable than last year. I may have tried mulled wine, white mulled wine, mulled cider and another mulled wine. But it's OK, I have named my ubiquitous leopard print scarf 'Moderation' and can thus sup away madly, but always in Moderation. Which leads to my only criticism... please, please Winter Wonderland people, install enough ladies loos! Queuing is cool outside a night club, not a portapotty.

Final bar - perhaps it should have been the first... we went to the Carousel Bar. I got no decent photos, soz... it goes round and round you know, which could explain why I was distracted and kept jumping on and off it like a kid instead of taking photos. I didn't see anyone fall off, but then again it was only 6pm. It has 10p penny falls machines inside! Which is just right if you have a purse full of 'day out' change.

Anyway, it all gets a bit fuzzy after that. The photos too. Winter Wonderland appears to have improved year on year and although madly crowded as ever, it's well worth  visit. Be warned, although free to get in, it is very easy to spend your pennies on all things mulled and spinny-round, however if like us you make a big day of it, it's worth it to my mind.

More info on Winter Wonderland may be found here.