London Highlights

My family spent Christmas in London this year, and it was truly wonderful. That city already bursts with magic, and when you layer Christmas on top of it, it makes for wintertime perfection. We loved doing some things four of the six of us had done before (like visit St. Paul’s for a church service on Christmas Day followed by a Charles Dickens-themed walking tour and high tea at The Ritz), and also enjoyed discovering some new things the city has to offer.

A few of the new things we found and loved:

• Liberty department store (which I can’t recommend highly enough, with its Anthro-like feel, but more old school in the best way)
• Seeing some new (to us) decorated streets, including Bond Street
• Cath Kidston (a Vera Bradley-meets-Kate Spade store full of adorableness for kids and adults alike)
• Itsu (a fast food healthy, Asian restaurant started by the brilliant folks behind Pret A Manger)
• Blanchette (a delectable French tapas-style restaurant in Soho where we enjoyed our last dinner of the trip)

There are honestly so many great things we did (and delicious things we ate!) that it’s hard to cover, but I’ll let some photos do the talking. Enjoy!:

We stayed in the Westminster area, so we passed Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey every time we left our hotel. So lovely (especially against the full moon we had on our first night there — Christmas Eve):

Christmas Day tea at The Ritz was unforgettable (and so delicious!):

Skating at Somerset House:

Such pretty lights and decorations all over the city!:

We saw three great shows, including Elf the Musical. (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was my favorite of our line-up.):

Sunday roast was on our to-eat list. Yum!:

You can’t go to London without stopping in at the oh-so-narrow Twinings tea shop:

Liberty department store (I think I could live here):

We loved exploring Kensington Palace:

Whoa — Santa still comes even when you’re in London for Christmas!:

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!