London at Christmas

Posted on by Ian C.

Unexpectedly we were back in England recently, and spent a few days in London. We did lots of touristy stuff, starting with an evening walk along the River Thames past the Houses of Parliament and as far as the London Eye, when we first arrived …

The next morning we took the same walk back to the London Eye, and rode it for great views over London:

We also walked to Buckingham Palace (it’s not open for visiting at this time of year!):

In the evening we toured Regent Street and nearby, checking out the Christmas lights (we also took of tour bus but the views from that were not great) …

Our last day in London, we visited the recently converted Battersea Power Station, now a big indoor shopping mall, with a lift ride up one of the chimneys for another set of great views over the city! Growing up about ten miles away this building was iconic – fascinating to learn that for the early years it had only two chimneys!

Winter Garden Fire Rescue Annual Santa Run 2023

Posted on by Ian C.

Since we moved to Stanton Estates, we’ve been included in the Santa Run route that the fire department does throughout Winter Garden, over a few nights approaching the holidays … our homes location means that we see the run pass behind us (visible from the upstairs rear balcony) and then a few minutes later they run down the street in front! This year I grabbed a few seconds of video of each pass:

Our house was on the first night this year (all the routes for 2023 are listed here):