Boxing Day at Buckingham Palace
Boxing Day, also known as St. Stephen's Day, is the following day after Christmas Day, December 26. Like Christmas Day it is also a national holiday in England. It is also celebrated in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The name goes back to medieval times, more than 800 years ago, when alms boxes were placed at the back of every church to collect money for the poor.
Historians say the holiday developed because servants were required to work on Christmas Day, but took the following day off. As servants prepared to leave to visit their families, their employers would present them with Christmas boxes.
We decided to utilize this day as most Brits do, to spend time together as a family. We decided to go see the Changing of the Guards ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the official residence of Her Majesty the Queen .
Changing the Guard is one of the oldest and most familiar ceremonies associated with Buckingham Palace. The proper name of the ceremony known as 'Changing the Guard' is actually Guard Mounting. In this process a New Guard exchanges duty with the Old Guard, drawn from one of the regiments of Foot Guards.
The handover is accompanied by a Guards band. The music played ranges from traditional military marches to songs from the shows and even familiar pop songs. Since 1660, Household Troops have guarded the Sovereign and the Royal Palaces.
It was a very interesting ceremony, there is nothing else like it! While we didn't have the best view it was worth experiencing. We hope to take guests who are interested there to see it as well.
Celebrity Sighting on Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve day we decided to run a few quick errands and catch an early lunch on the high street (what the Brits call the main street) in Hampstead. We ate lunch at a popular family friendly Italian restaurant called Carlucci's. Once we got Sophie in her high chair and settled down to look at the menu, I realized that I recognized the couple sitting a few tables away. I read all the local papers to keep up on the community news since we don't have a "tele" (television) and had just read a story on movie director/producer Tim Burton (creater of the Nightmare Before Christmas and most recently the Corpse Bride to name a few) and his partner actress Helena Bonham Carter (the voice of the corpse bride, and in Fight Club, Planet of the Apes, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and lots more). They live in Belsize Park, the community right next to Hampstead where we live. The article mentioned they had a 2-year old, close to Sophie's age, and he was there with him. I am sure they love living in England because the Brits keep to themselves, so there is no "flocking" to celebrities (Sting lives up in Highgate, not to far from us either, and Madonna of course lives in London also). I was tempted to go up and ask for their autograph, but since they were having family time I decided to act like a Brit and refrained myself. 
I swear I saw Billy Bob Thornton walking down the street a few weeks ago in Belsize Park also, but I was waiting for a bus and didn't have time to follow/stalk him, but I am SURE it was him, bummer I didn't have a camera phone on me!
Christmas Time in London
VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM
We started today with another visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum, this time to see a specific exhibition on the wardrobe of Queen Maud, the British Princess who became Queen Consort of the newly independent Norway in 1905. Daughter of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, Maud was renowned for her fashionable style. Her clothes document an extraordinary era of fashion history, from the decorative but elaborate dress of the Victorian era to the streamlined chic of the 1930s. Her wardrobe comprised royal robes, sporting wear and accessories. This display includes some 50 outfits ranging from her wedding trousseau of 1896 to the latest Worth designs purchased just months before her death in 1938. The display really was beautiful! Sophie loved looking at the gowns too--we think we may have a fashion diva-to-be on our hands...The exhibition unfortunately ends in January.
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
Next, we went to the Natural History Museum and watched people ice skate and browsed through their outdoor Christmas Fair. The architecture of this building is goregous and they had all the trees surrounding it wrapped in lights--it really created a holiday atmosphere, even with no snow and articial ice looming in the scene.
HARROD'S
Onward we went for some window shopping finally ended up at the world famous Harrod's department store. Harrods covers 4.5 acres, with over 1 million square feet of selling space. The energy of store comes across in the unexpected. Perhaps opera singers performing arias up the Egyptian Escalators, Joan Collins signing her latest book or Donatella Versace launching her newest fragrance in person. Harrods has remained London's premier retail outlet for over 155 years. At Harrods, truly anything is possible!
At Harrod's we had a mission--find Sophie a Christmas stocking! We knew that Harrod's was the place to search and we were right! They had a huge selection of holiday items. We were thankful that they already had all of their seasonal products at 50% off since the stocking was obnoxiously expensive, but it was very unique and a keepsake for life. The after Christmas sales in England include 50% or more off almost everything in the stores including furniture, jewerly, as well as all the seasonal items, clothing, etc. I was told that people started "queuing" (getting in line) at 5:30 a.m. when the stores didn't open until 9 a.m.! The crowds sound unbearable and only for hard core shoppers!
WINDOW SHOPPING/CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
Next we walked to Oxford Street to view the holiday lights and do some more window shopping. Oxford Street is Britian's busiest high street and is the heart of London's West End shopping. We were very impressed with the lights, the incredible window displays for the department stores, and the overall atmosphere. It was quite busy, but an exciting place to be with shoppers, talented street performers such as steel drummers from Africa, and unique holiday light displays throughout the streets. Our pictures don't do it justice. It was a great ending to another fantastic day in London!
A Visit to the Kenwood House
On this day we decided to stick a little closer to home and check out the Kenwood House which is located at the edge of the Hampstead Heath, the park that we live nearby. Being only a 30 minute walk from our flat, this mansion was definately worth the walk. The house was remodelled by Robert Adam between 1764-73. We are told the gardens are stunning in summer. The house contains the most important private collection of paintings ever given to the nation, the Iveagh Bequest. It includes paintings by Rembrandt, Turner, Reynolds, Gainsborough and others. There were gorgeous! Sophie was even enjoying seeing them and pointing out all the animals in them. And, admission is free, fantastic! In addition, they had some festive gifts and seasonal fare on sale. We bought some delicious lemon curd to put on our biscuits (aka cookies).
Afterwards we went outside to the ponds at the Kenwood House to feed the birds. I read that this was one of the top places in London to do so. There were a pair of swans with a youngster, some mallards, coots, and lots of gulls of course, similar to what we have in the states. Jer even got the swans to come out of the water and talk the bread from his hand! Sophie loved this, and the gulls squacking and fighting over the food. 
If we had known what a gem the Kenwood House was, we would have visited sooner. We will definately be back again.
Christmas Shopping and Caroling at Trafalgar Square
To experience Christmas in London to the fullest, we are attempting to experience a lot of the popular activities in London.
We started out this outing with some shopping at the Covent Garden Market. There were lots of standard shops and some specialty shops including a traditional toyshop (Benjamin Pollock) which dates back to the 1880s, now currently owned by actors Peter and Christopher Baldwin (didn't see them though). While small, it had some great toys like puppets and cardboard theatres, music boxes, jack-in-the-boxes, tops, etc. There were also some vendor booths area in the market as well. Festive and interesting.
Next we made our way to Trafalgar Square. Each year since 1947 the Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square has been a gift to the people of London from Oslo, Norway. The Norwegian Spruce was about 25 meters high and was decorated in all white lights (about 500). Sophie loved it, and actually loves all Christmas trees this year. We knew most of the Christmas carols that were sung by a group on stage, some we didn't. It was a bit chilly, so we didn't stay more than 30 minutes, but it was a great experience and a good way to get in the Christmas spirit.
Afterwards we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Leiceister Square where there was also carnival going on. Sophie and her daddy rode the merry-go-round after dinner and then it was a 30 minute ride on the tube home, a short walk, and then to bed at our flat.
Our Weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland
Jeremy had some work in Scotland so we made a long weekend out of it. After arriving in Edinburgh we made our way to the most famous of the Scottish castles, the Edinburgh Castle. It is one of the primary tourist attractions in town. The history of the castle and of Scotland's royalty was very interesting. The castle is located on an extinct volcano and has amazing views of the city. It is a must see in Edinburgh.
The castle is located at the end of the "Royal Mile" and the Palace of Holyroodhouse (official residence of her Majesty the Queen) at the other end. In between there are lots of shops, restaurants, pubs, and other interesting things to see such as the Museum of Childhood, a great thing for adults and kids alike (Sophie loved it!).
The Palace of Holyroodhouse is where the Queen resides while in Scotland. Jer and I were able to listen to the entire narrated audio tour while Sophie took a little nap! There was gorgeous surroundings and even more interesting history of royalty once again. No cameras are allowed inside the palace, which was disappointing, but it is gorgeous! I could live there if forced.
We also got a chance to enjoy the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Most of the museums have free entry, as did this one. The architecture of the building itself was beautiful and the portraits of the royal Scots amazing. They also had some nice sculptures in the main foyer area. Sophie didn't enjoy this as much as her parents, but with so many museums in town we felt we need to view at least one of them. Again, cameras were not allowed in this facility.
Princes Street is also famous in Edinburgh. We were not very impressed. This street is just shops and is very commercialized. They do boast of the oldest independent department store in the world, called Jenna's which I was told compares to Harrods in London. But, most of the shops on this street we have in London and in the US! There were three Pizza Huts within six blocks of each other, but of course there were Starbuck's as well!
There were some markets being held due to Christmas. One market was geared towards the locals and was small but interesting to see. Sophie got to see an owl from a falcon center which she loved and is still telling the story about. The traditional German market we went to was much more diverse with some real unique items. We did buy Sophie a traditional kilt from Scotland while we were there and a few other gifts for family and friends.
Finally, on the final day of the trip we went from Edinburgh to Crieff via taxi. It was great to see the Scotland countryside. I have never seen so many farms and sheep in a one hour drive in my life. The countryside was beautiful and very pristine. Lots of castles along the way as well. While Jer had to head to a meeting and tour at the Famous Grouse Distillery (whiskey), Sophie and I enjoyed ourselves at the Crieff Hydro hotel. It was a beautiful and expensive hotel. The rooms are best described as "grand". The grounds were emmaculate and included lots of activities including horse back riding, mountain biking, tennis, etc. They even offered pony rides for kids Sophie's age, but she refused to wear the safety helmet and only got to pet the pony, bummer!
While Scotland was still "domestic" for us, it definately has a feel of being a seperate country with it's own traditions and culture. The accents are unbelievable! We would definately recommend Edinburgh to others. We had a great trip "up north". More photos from this trip are on our photo website. Cheers!
Want more photos?
In an attempt to share more photos and maximize the use of all of the equipment I sent to London, you can now view even more exciting photos of the Welsand's at http://welsand.shutterfly.com link to the site is on the right. Please let me know what you think. Thanks! Cheers
Father Christmas at Kew Gardens
This Saturday we spent the entire day at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew in south London. They are considered the most complete public gardens in the world. They display about 40,000 different kinds of plants. This is the place for garden and plant lovers!
"Father Christmas" (England's version of Santa) was also making a special appearance at the gardens for Christmas, so we thought it would be a great family day. This was not at all what we expected. Instead of children going to see Santa one by one and sit on his lap, ask what they want for Christmas, and get their picture taken, this was a group experience. Father Christmas talked to the children for less than 10 minutes in general and off you go. Very interesting. I, of course, had to research the difference between Father Christmas and Santa.
There were also carriage rides around the Garden which we enjoyed with Sophie as well. A great and quick way to see more of the gardens. We did this last year with Sophie in White Bear Lake when it was 15 below zero. Much nicer this year being in the 40's! 
While it was the winter season and not much is blooming at the Kew Gardens it was still breathtakingly beautiful. There were lots of holly bushes, very common here, which made it feel festive. There were also peacock's (Sophie's favorite), and lots of other birds to view as well. The main buildings/sites include the Temperate House, Palm House, and Pagoda.
Our favorite site at the Garden was the Temperate House. In with all of the beautiful plants and flowers (feels similar but much, much larger to the Como Conservatory in St. Paul) are unbelievable sculptures of glass by Dale Chihuly. You can view many of the pieces at Kew! I was familiar with his work before this, but it really is amazing. His work is displayed throughout the gardens, which really adds to this experience.
The Palm House had some great sculptures outside and amazing grounds of grass and flower gardens and housed lots of exotic plants. And the Pagoda is interesting as well. Though influenced by the Orient, this Pagoda was definately built by the English.
Overall, this was a beautiful place to view and one day was not enough for us. We will definately be back to view it in the other seasons as well.
Boxing Day, also known as St. Stephen's Day, is the following day after Christmas Day, December 26. Like Christmas Day it is also a national holiday in England. It is also celebrated in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The name goes back to medieval times, more than 800 years ago, when alms boxes were placed at the back of every church to collect money for the poor. 
Changing the Guard is one of the oldest and most familiar ceremonies associated with Buckingham Palace. The proper name of the ceremony known as 'Changing the Guard' is actually Guard Mounting. In this process a New Guard exchanges duty with the Old Guard, drawn from one of the regiments of Foot Guards. 
