In Search of Christmas

Yesterday was the first day of my Christmas holiday, and J and I decided to leave the flat in search of all things Christmas.

We started off the day at the Victoria & Albert Museum, which houses an absolutely amazing collection of all things cultural, including sculpture and art and artifacts from all over the world. We gazed at amazing jewels and marveled at the gilt snuffboxes that had once belonged to Napoleon. Talk about sensory overload.

Afterward, we headed over to the ice rink at the Natural History Museum and sipped the most delicious hot chocolate ever in the Cafe Bar as we watched the skaters glide across the ice. But the skaters didn't glide so much as cling to the sides for dear life. I couldn't figure out why someone would pay 13 pounds to cling to a low wall to avoid falling on cold hard ice for an hour. We were thinking of joining in on the fun, until we realized that the ice was overcrowded with inexperienced skaters with flailing arms, and it probably wouldn't be that fun dodging about to avoid getting poked in the eye by a wayward arm.

Ice Rink with the Natural History Museum in the background

View of the ice rink from the Cafe Bar

And now, I must spend all day making chocolate truffles and sugar cookies for my neighbors in exchange for the French champagne and Dutch biscuits we've received from them. I'm off and baking now!