My family came to London for a week, and we stayed in a lovely flat in the city. The first day my family arrived we braved the rain and wind storms and shopped around the famous department store, Harrods and went for Afternoon Tea.
The next day we began Christmas Eve with a ride on the London Eye.
We walked through some Christmas markets and sampled roasted chestnuts and mulled wine and crossed the Thames River just in time to see the sunset.
We continued through the city to some shopping areas.
After stopping into a pub for some traditional food we kept admiring the Christmas displays until we reached Hyde Park. The annual Hyde Park Winter Wonderland was in full swing. I don't have any photos, but it was a huge Christmas carnival! Soon after we arrived it started to rain quite heavily, so we called it a day and headed back to the flat to spend Christmas Eve in front of the fire.
Our Christmas Day began with mass at Westminster Cathedral. Then we began the trek across London to visit Charles Dickens' house and museum since it is open on Christmas Day! We listened to a reading of A Christmas Carol and enjoyed some mince pies (a staple during Christmas here) at the museum. We found a nice Thai restaurant that was open and then made our way across London back to the flat.
We spent Boxing Day at a football (soccer) game! Boxing Day is a big day for going to watch your favorite football team here. We had a nice walk to the stadium through Chelsea, a very posh area of London, and spent the day at the stadium getting a tour and enjoying a Premier League game between Chelsea and Swansea.
The next day we took the train to Colchester, so I could show the family around the university and town. We met up with Liam and his mom and we all had a nice dinner at a local pub.
The last few days of the trip were spent sightseeing all around the city, below is a slideshow!