Time for one last trip to end the decade, this time to ride the new Giant Wheel and visit the Magical Ice Kingdom at Winter Wonderland.
Time for one last trip to end the decade, this time to ride the new Giant Wheel and visit the Magical Ice Kingdom at Winter Wonderland.
I managed to squeeze one final trip into the decade over the Christmas break, with another visit to Winter Wonderland. This time I managed to get on the new Giant Wheel, and take a look at this year's Magical Ice Kingdom.
A different London terminus to normal - a festive looking Waterloo this time.
I had a bit of spare time, so I walked across Green Park towards Hyde Park Corner to meet up with my friend Margaret.
There was just a small crowd in the entrance queue, and it didn't take long to get through the security bag check and into the event.
We stopped off to watch the ice skating for a bit - some people were better than others at staying on their feet around Hyde Park's famous bandstand!
Time for a quick look round the Christmas market
Heading in to the fair, we made for the ferris wheel
The wheel is the brand new City Star owned by the Göbel German show family
At £11, a ride on the wheel certainly wasn't cheap
It did, however, offer great views over the fair and London beyond
Towards Marble Arch
Back on ground level, we headed into the Bavarian Village in search of lunch
I ended up back at one of my favourite stalls, Mr Bratwurst
Can't really beat currywurst at Winter Wonderland!
Sufficently full, we heading out of the village to put on some extra layers of clothing ...
... our next destination was decidedly chilly ...
... We were going inside The Magical Ice Kingdom
This year's theme was Dicken's classic Victorian tale, A Christmas Carol
Inside the temperate was a frosty -10°C - my hands were freezing even inside my gloves!
The ice sculptures captured scenes from the story of Scrooge and his encounters with the ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future
This year's Ice Kingdom was very entertaining, with some brilliantly carved ice sculptures. Walking through scenes from the well known story and the generally Christmassy theme worked spectacularly well.
Even though it was spectacular, it was still nice to get out of The Magical Ice Kingdom and back into the relative "warmth" of a late December London afternoon
It didn't take long for darkness to fall as I left Winter Wonderland for the final time this year and took a stroll up Oxford Street to catch a tube