Winter arrived and so did our first taste of London snow. We had now experienced all four seasons in the northern hemisphere and were really surprised and how quickly things have passed by. The number of months remaining on our visa have started to dwindle and soon we will need to make the decision about renewing our stay or heading back home.
As the weather started to get colder, Mei's UK colleagues are finally admitting that the temperature is low enough to stop teasing her for wearing layers of down jacket, thermals, scarf, hat and gloves.
Snow in London
After the disappointment of not seeing a white Christmas, we woke up one Sunday to see the streets completely covered in snow. And by pure luck it is fortunate that we are not travelling to Europe this weekend, given the sudden 'cold snap' that has resulted in airport closures around the continent and even dumped white powder on the Colosseum.
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| The street looks like a ski field |
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| The car park could be an ice skating rink |
Maltby Street, Southwark
One of the Saturday morning delights is to take a walk to
Maltby Street in Southwark to eat St John Bakery's vanilla custard and jam donuts. It is only about a 15 minute stroll from Borough Market. We did end up going to Borough Market again for the roast pork roll (from
Roast To Go), and also had a deliciously warming mulled apple drink to keep our fingers toasty.
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| St John Bakery Company - off Tanner Street |
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| Lots of little donuts |
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| Donut time! |
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| Ice sculpture at the base of the pipes |
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| Street art |
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| Tower Bridge - part of the scenery during our walk |
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| Roast pork from Roast To Go at Borough Market |
National History Museum
Wrapped up in a new beanie, scarf, ski jacket, mittens - we decided to spend the afternoon across town in South Kensington inside the grand (and warm) National History Museum. Highlights of the trip included seeing the famous dinosaur exhibit, the priceless gemstones, a slice of tree trunk belonging to the Red Sequoia that was over 1300 years old based on the number of tree rings. The most interesting thing we saw definitely had to be the meteorite section where a tiny tube held white dust that was made from the 'matter that dated back to the creation of the solar system' - wow.
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| All rugged up |
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| My favourite 'Family Tree', courtesy of the NHM website |
Saki Restaurant, South Kensington
After the museum we ate dinner at the nearby Japanese restaurant, Saki. We finished around 6pm and when we left we were greeted by the first flakes of snow that we had seen in London. A novelty (that we are sure will wear off once it starts to disrupt transport and any travel plans) but one that we enjoyed whilst walking home, seeing the cars along the streets start to turn white and both of us glad that we had thought ahead with the purchase of snow boots a couple of months ago.
Australia Day in London
Australia Day (26th January) coincided with the timing of Chinese New Year. We met up with some expat friends (thanks to Wai for the photos) at
Waxy O'Connors in Soho to enjoy the double celebration.
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| Chinese New Year decorations - Chinatown |
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| Celebrating Australia Day |
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| Group photo - think we were supposed to put on a funny face? |
Australia Day in London was also quite eventful at Mei's work. Being one of 3 Aussies in the division and her boss has a Sydney born wife; there were home-made Anzac Day biscuits and lamingtons, tim-tams and pizza shapes from the Australia Shop in Covent Garden on offer.
Il Bordello, Wapping
On the food front, we discovered a great Italian restaurant in Wapping - Il Bordello.
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| Mei's pasta |
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| Grilled calamari |
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| Olie's pasta with sea scallops |
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Winter arrived and so did our first taste of London snow. We had now experienced all four seasons in the northern hemisphere and were really surprised and how quickly things have passed by. The number of months remaining on our visa have started to dwindle and soon we will need to make the decision about renewing our stay or heading back home.
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