Christmas in London

One of the reasons we wanted to live in Italy was to be able to travel throughout Europe. Italy seemed centrally located and Umbria is in the center of Italy. We have travelled a lot within Italy this year, but for Christmas we decided to leave Italy and venture forth to London to meet friends from the US. I must say that London is stunning this time of year. The street lights were mainly white with some red and blue accents. The lights seemed cheery as opposed to manic.  

When I was a young girl, Carnaby Street was a famous, "happening" place. Photos of Carnaby street in the 60"s

It was fun to see it now with its charming shops and whimsical decorations.

If I had to sum up in one word the feeling of Christmas in London it would be "refined." Christmas is, of course, commercialized here, much more so than in Italy. Even commercialised, London is an elegant, walkable and delightful city.

We were very lucky to spend Christmas with our friends Tony and Erin. They had a good friend who is a professional chef, who invited us to her cottage for our Christmas dinner. It was so charming. It felt like I was in a PBS series. The weather in London was sunny and cold. It was also, by the way, filled with Italian tourists. London at Christmas should be on everybody's bucket list.