Tag Archives: Illuminations

Christmastime in Vienna

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Christmastime in Vienna

Is there a better build-up to Christmas than visiting a European Christmas Market? If so, I’d like to know what it is. Maybe it’s all that Glühwein and Orange Punch that I can’t pass by that helps, but even as a devout atheist I can’t help but respect the Austrians for adhering to the meaning of Christmas more than I do.

I absolutely love Austria at Christmastime, especially in places like the Tyrol, but if you like to add some culture to your bratwurst and beer, then Vienna is hard to beat.

When we were here the week before Christmas in 2016, it even snowed to give it the magical icing on the Christmas cake.

There’s no point in waffling on about what market is where, I’ll just let the pictures do the talking. As for the culture, I’ll be dealing with all that later – hopefully.

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Originally posted 2019-11-27 15:12:00.

The Lights of London

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The Lights of London

With people’s increasing awareness of the environment, not to mention the cost and unreliability of future energy supplies, I wonder how much longer cities like London will be able to use energy in the form of unnecessary illuminations. So, before the lights start flickering, let’s enjoy these spectacles while we can.

The music I’ve chosen for this post is by Sade, one of my favourite female singers of all time. In this song, called Pearls, she sings about the harshness of life in Africa, and although she was born in Nigeria, Sade was brought up in Essex before moving to London.

Is it any wonder that so many migrants want to come to London for a better life? – but for many, those brand-new shoes will hurt every bit as much as they did in Africa – no matter how many lights are still twinkling down onto those streets paved with gold.

GALLERY 1 (LANDSCAPE IMAGES)

GALLERY 2 (PORTRAIT IMAGES)

POSTED – DECEMBER 2021

Originally posted 2021-12-29 17:06:24.

Christmas at Kew

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Christmas at Kew

Kew Gardens has one of the world’s greatest collection of plants, and you can get an idea of what there is to see by taking a look at my post Kew Gardens – an Introduction, but there are other things on offer too, and one of the highlights of the year is Christmas at Kew.

Christmas at Kew involves a trail around the gardens that will enchant people of all ages. Each November, a range of multi-coloured lights are switched on to illuminate, not only the natural world of Kew, but also a variety of art installations that together give people a feel-good factor that only Christmas can bring.

If you feel like getting into the Christmas spirit then you can find all the relevant details from their website below.

https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/christmas-at-kew

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Originally posted 2018-11-20 16:38:47.

London’s Christmas Lights

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London's Christmas Lights

You might have noticed that I haven’t called this post ‘Christmas Shopping in London’ and that’s because Easymalc don’t do shopping in London at Christmastime, in fact I don’t do Christmas shopping anywhere – and come to think of it, I don’t do shopping anywhere at any time.

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, you may well wonder why I’m bothering to write anything at all about the subject, especially as I’m not a lover of the over-commercialisation of this time of the year either.

Well, the first reason is that whether I like it or not, the second week in November is when the Christmas lights start to be turned on in London, and the second reason is that Easymalc’s household has been having a family day out up in ‘The Smoke’ at Christmastime for a few years now, and both my wife and daughter have a different concept of wandering along Oxford street to me, and so I content myself with taking a few pictures of the lights and pop into a hostelry or two while they’re wasting their time in the shops.

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Originally posted 2019-11-12 14:00:02.