Christmas – HilaryStyle

November 6, 2018November 5, 2018

12 Ways to Celebrate the Festive Season in London

Things to do in London at Christmas #londonchristmas

Already picturesque, London, is made even more so during the festive season when fanciful holiday decorations adorn the entire city. Winter activities take on an even more magical feel when they take place in such a historic and iconic destination.

Christmas in London #londonchristmas — St. Pancras International

London was a marvelous place for our family to celebrate the season and we made it our mission to see as many of the city’s decorative displays as we could.

Things to do in London For Christmas #londonchristmas — Waterloo Place

There were so many highlights on this trip including ice skating at the Tower of London, visiting Father Christmas in his Hever Castle grotto, Hogwarts in the snow, and Windsor Castle’s evening production of A Christmas Carol.

Things to do at Christmas Time in London #londonchristmas — Carnaby Street

Here are some ideas and tips for holiday fun in and around London Town.

Christmas Displays

With almost no street left undressed you won’t have to go far to find gorgeous holiday lights and Christmas displays in fact you’re guaranteed to come upon them no matter where you choose to explore.

Oxford Street

Oxford Street will be lit from November 6, 2018. I rather liked this blurry photo of Oxford Street, which I snapped from a moving taxi cab.

Carnaby Street

Carnaby’s 2018 holiday display is already lit and has a Bohemian Rhapsody theme. Last year’s theme was a tropical Christmas.

Covent Garden

Things to do in London at Christmas Time #londonchristmas — Convent Garden London

Covent Garden will be turning their lights on November 13, 2018. Though this photo doesn’t do it justice trust me when I tell you Covent Garden’s decor is well worth a visit.

Regent Street

Regent Street’s lights will be lit on November 15, 2018. The median running down the center of Regent Street makes for a handy spot to snap a photo or two!

The Seven Dials

The Seven Dials will be lit on November 15, 2018.

The Royal Exchange

The Royal Exchange was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1571, and is the heart of The City of London. I was interested to learn it’s one of the locations where a herald proclaims a new monarch’s reign.

The Royal Exchange will be lit on November 21, 2018.

Neal’s Yard

The Strand

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is home to The National Gallery, Nelson’s Column, and other iconic London landmarks. Since 1947 the people of Norway have donated a giant Christmas tree to the people of Britain in recognition of their support during WWII.

Trafalgar Square’s tree will be lit in early December.

The National Gallery

I finally checked The National Gallery off my list. After taking my time to wander the halls of this lovely museum I spent quite a bit of time admiring the beautiful Christmas tree in the main hall.

Entrance to the National Gallery is free of charge.

The Leadenhall Market

The Leadenhall Market, located in the heart of the City of London, is a popular destination and has been since it was established in 1321. You might recognize it as the entrance to Diagon Alley in the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Try going after-hours or on a holiday to avoid the crowds.

Ice Skating at The Tower of London

For me no visit to London would be complete without a trip to the Tower of London. We didn’t make it inside the Tower this time, but we did go ice skating in the moat, which we all agreed was a magical experience.

Tower of London Ice Skating

The Tower Of London ice skating is open from November 23 through January 6. This is a very popular activity, and I highly suggest booking as early as possible. The Tower offers many special events throughout the year, so check the website to see what’s on.

Christmas Street Art

A guided walking tour was a great way to see and learn about the street art scene in London, and I was delighted to see that even the street art embraced the spirit of the holiday season.

Things to do in London at Christmas time #londonstreetart — Artist: Graffiti_Life Shoreditch High Street

Artist: unknown Shoreditch

Artist: Bambi Neal’s Yard

Artist: Stik South Bank

You might also be interested in: Shoreditch Street Art Tour & Masterclass

Christmas Markets

A festive holiday market, delicious treats, lovely views of the London Eye and St. Paul’s, art installations, and even a skate park are all waiting for you along the South Bank.

South Bank Winter Market

St. Paul’s Cathedral

South Bank Art Installation

South Bank

The Southbank Winter Festival is open November 9 through December 27, 2018.

Christmas Afternoon Tea

If, like us, you’re coming from a place where afternoon tea isn’t the norm, then you’ll want to partake in this lovely tradition at least once. We enjoyed a festive afternoon tea on Christmas Day at the Corinthia, one of our favorite hotels, where we indulged in tea, delicious sandwiches, and desserts almost too pretty to eat.

Corinthia Hotel

Corinthia Hotel Afternoon Tea

Corinthia Afternoon Tea London

Afternoon Tea Corinthia Hotel

Corinthia Hotel

Corinthia Hotel Letter to Santa

Corinthia Hotel Lobby

Peggy Porschen Cake Shop

Touted by multiple sources as having the “best cupcakes in the world” a visit to Peggy Porschen Cakes was high on my list. We sampled holiday themed cupcakes and cocoa, and both were delicious.

Peggy Porschen

Peggy Porschen Cupcake

Christmas Shopping

Holiday shopping opportunities in London are plentiful and way too numerous to list in this post, but I managed to find treasures along Regent Street, at the iconic Liberty of London, and Selfridges. The later of which also has an amazing Food Hall where you can pick up delicious treats and artisan foods to take home, or if you prefer there are various dine in options as well.

Selfridges

Liberty of London

Hunter Store Regent Street

Harrods

Victoria & Albert Museum

There are many things to see and do at the world’s leading museum of art and design making the Victoria and Albert a place worth coming back to time and again. We were delighted to discover this amazing singing Christmas tree by artist Ed Devlin during our most recent visit.

Visitors to the museum were invited to write words on a slip of paper, which was then entered into the tree’s software so they could be sung aloud by the tree.

You might also be interested in: Three Days in London Family Style

Festive Day Trips

With two full weeks to explore we took advantage of the gift of time with multiple day trips outside the city.

WB Studios The Making of Harry Potter – Hogwarts in the Snow

Our entire family loves the Harry Potter movies and we loved our visit to the Warner Brothers Studios The Making of Harry Potter. During the festive season the Studio is transformed into a magical winter wonderland.

Hogwarts in the Snow runs from Saturday, November 17 – Sunday, January 27. Tickets must be purchased in advance online.

WB Studios London: The Making of Harry Potter

Hever Castle

Hever Castle (childhood home of Anne Boleyn), in nearby Edenbridge, was a magical place to visit during the winter season. The Castle is decorated both inside and out with a different theme each year.

Last year’s theme was Christmas carols and activities included a magical 12 Days of Christmas Trail and a vintage fairground, which was complete with carousel, fun house, and Coconut Shy. Our visit to Father Christmas in his Christmas grotto on the castle grounds was really quite enchanting, and very different from what we’ve experienced here in the United States.

Christmas at Hever Castle runs November 24 – December 9 (Wed-Sun) and December 10 – 24 daily.

You might also be interested in: Visiting Hever Castle Childhood Home of Anne Boleyn

Windsor Castle

Windsor makes for a perfect day trip from London, especially during the holidays when the entire town and castle are decorated for the season. We attended a special evening presentation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol performed in the Waterloo Room of Windsor Castle, during our visit and it was a night we’ll never forget.

Day trips from London #londonchristmas — Town of Windsor

The play was performed by just 8 actors who along with limited props, mood lighting and music managed to transport us all to 1840s London. The play concluded around the base of the most magnificent Christmas tree I’ve ever seen.

Things to do in London at Christmas Time #londonchristmas #windsorcastle — Christmas at Windsor Castle Christmas tree in St George’s Hall, Windsor Castle Royal Collection Trust / (c) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017

Christmas festivities at the castle will take place from Saturday, December, 1 2018 – Sunday, January 6, 2019. This year’s special performance will be The Princess and the Pantomime. Check the website for performance dates and to purchase tickets.

You might also be interested in: A Christmas Carol at Windsor Castle

New Years Eve Fireworks

Our last hurrah on this trip, and one I highly recommend, was the spectacular London New Year’s Eve Fireworks show. The fireworks are set off from the London eye, so our assigned viewing area, the Waterloo Bridge, wasn’t too shabby.

New Year's Eve in London #londonnewyearseve — NYE Fireworks over the River Thames

Bring cash for London’s NYE food vendors

Trying to stay warm on Waterloo Bridge NYE London

Advance purchase tickets, at £10 per person, are required. The event sells out, so plan ahead. Dress extra warm and bring cash for the food vendors on the bridge.

Even More Holiday Decor…

As you can see we found a multitude of ways to celebrate the season during our two weeks in London. Do you travel for Christmas, or do you prefer to stay home for the holidays?

Hever Castle

Things to do in London at Christmas Time #windsorchristmas

Windsor Castle

Bath Abbey

Things to do in London at Christmas Time #instaCocoa

Cocoa in London

Things to do in London at Christmas Time #Christmasinkent

Crown House

Borough Market

Leadenhall Market

Things to do in London at Christmas Time #Corinthiahotel

Corinthia Hotel Holiday Display

Mince Pie

Things to do in London at Christmas Time #dumdumdonuts

Dum Dum Donuts Shoreditch

Things to do in London at Christmas Time #selfridges

Selfridges Holiday Window

Things to do in London at Christmas Time #stpancras

St. Pancras International Christmas Tree

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December 25, 2017January 7, 2018

Merry Xmas from Hilarystyle!

Merry Christmas Venice Beach Los Angeles California

I love receiving mail, don’t you? Not email, I’m talking about the old-fashioned paper kind that gets delivered to your postbox by a mailperson. I love to send it, and I love to receive it, but the truth is I’m sending and receiving almost no mail these days with one major exception: Holiday cards!

Venice Art Walls Xmas Graffiti Los Angeles California — Merry Christmas from Venice Beach!

Every December I look forward to finding cards from friends and family near and far in my mailbox. I love to see how much everyone has changed over the past year and reading about what everyone is up to.

No matter how techy the world gets, I will still send an annual holiday card, and I plan to do so for the foreseeable future. However, I will admit to agonizing over getting it done.

For this year’s card, the boys are posing at the Venice Beach Art Walls, and in front of one of James Goldcrown’s newest #bleedinghearts Walls. There are a few of these Love Walls around town and I love how much joy they bring.

Bah Humbug

Even though Tim refuses to be on the card, and I refuse to be on it without him, that would be weird, I try to make sure the card represents us as family.

Christmas Cards Past — The last time Tim and I were on the card… Elliot wasn’t even born!

That’s why this year’s theme is centered around a love of street and public art! Our family has spent a large part of the last year creating, exploring and photographing art, which is why it made perfect sense that our card represent all of those things.

Outtakes

In my attempt to capture the perfect shot the boys and I visited some of our favorite areas of town, and I feel like we got two great photos! Two is great considering the antics, which ensued, and the location of the sun, which was definitely working against us.

James Goldcrown Love Wall Los Angeles California

Last year I lucked out, I told the kids we were just practicing, and I got what I felt was the “perfect” shot on my very first try! As you can see from the outtakes above this year didn’t go quite as smoothly, and after torturing both myself and the boys in my attempt to get ANY decent shot, I realized that last year’s greatness was in large part because that image is a silhouette. No weird faces, closed eyes, or silliness, at least none that anyone can see.

In preparation for this year’s card we actually tried our hand (finally) at creating our very own “graffiti” on the Venice Beach Art Walls! We had an amazing time spray-painting our beachy yet Christmassy mural then the boys posed while I took their photo!

We’re definitely hooked on wall painting, and will absolutely be creating more “masterpieces” in the very near future! I know posting here isn’t exactly the same as sending real snail mail, but I don’t have your address, so this will have to do.

Wherever you are and however you celebrate, we wish you the merriest of Christmases and a happy New Year!

Love, Hilary, Tim, Simon & Elliot

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December 23, 2016November 30, 2017

Oh Christmas Tree

I haven’t always celebrated Christmas, but I’ve always loved it! The twinkling lights, those annoyingly hard to unwrap, but oh so worth the trouble, miniature candy canes, hot cocoa with marshmallows, Christmas Carols, those stop motion holiday tv specials and the list goes on… But the thing I loved the most was, and still is, the Christmas Tree. We didn’t have a tree in my childhood home, but a highlight every season was visiting my neighbor’s homes and helping to hang their ornaments. I recall there being many homemade items and loved watching them unwrap and remember each one.

Now years later I’ve built quite an ornament collection of my own, each with their own memory attached. Every year I look forward to opening up the boxes and taking out what I’ve come to think of as little treasures. Each one a precious reminder of some beloved character, far away place or special moment in our lives. Not only that, but many happy things have taken place around our Christmas tree, not the least of which was Tim’s proposal of marriage, but wait, before we get to that, there was another tree…

That First Christmas Tree

The first ornaments I purchased were for Tim, who I was dating at the time, he was having a party and mentioned that everyone should bring an ornament. I wasn’t exactly sure what to purchase, so decided on some silver snowflakes and a silver bell. The silver bell representing my favorite Christmas movie, It’s A Wonderful Life! A premonition maybe?

What I didn’t know was that the whole party was planned to impress me! I guess he’d been listening when I mentioned my love of Christmas Trees? When I arrived at the party I saw that he’d decorated the most amazing tree I’d ever seen. It was the perfect shape and covered with lights, bows and sparkling ornaments. In my eyes It couldn’t have been more perfect!

I found out later that he’d gone out and purchased everything on the tree just for the party, and I only found out this year that he’d spent an entire paycheck on that first tree! Of course there was also mistletoe at that party and somehow we managed to find ourselves under it at the very same time… imagine that!

Now 18 or so trees later, we’ve still got those original silver snowflakes and the bell along with many of those first ornaments.

Over the years I’ve continued to collect memories and ornaments in almost every major city we’ve visited: Raggedy Anne and Andy in Portland, Oregon were some of the first along with a Yellow Cab in New York City. I picked up Fleur-de-lis ornaments in Paris, Versailles and New Orleans. In Ireland I found a harp and in Scotland a Scottie, Nessie and a set of pipes! Of course London has its place on the tree along with Victoria, Lisbon, Toledo, Rome, Glasgow, Kyoto, and Hawaii. Also just a few of our favorite characters making appearances are Hello Kitty, Spiderman, Captain America, and Spongebob.

Each year I go to the tree lot in the hopes of finding a replica of that first perfect tree. While I don’t always come home with my ideal tree I know that once I cover it with all of our treasures, old and new and surround it with the people I love, “this year’s” tree will be the most beautiful tree yet.

Here’s to finding your “perfect tree!”

Happy Holidays! xo

December 2, 2016November 30, 2017

40,000 Problems… A Holiday Gift Guide

Wait! What? Who has 40,000 problems and what kind of gift guide is this anyway?

No, I’m not gifting you 40,000 problems, but now that I’ve got your attention…

I love to take photos, but I don’t love to delete them, and until recently that wasn’t a problem, until it was. A big one! Sitting in my hotel room in the middle of the trip of a lifetime the storage was full on both my phone and my computer and I was suddenly unable to upload anymore photos.

What initially felt like memories too precious to delete now felt like 40,000 tedious problems that had to be sorted. Now! That was a few months ago, and I’ve now deleted thousands of photos, but I still have a long way to go.

My love of snapping pictures hasn’t gone anywhere, so even though I’ve learned my lesson about hitting the delete button, new photos are added daily, making this a two steps forward one step back kind of thing.

So, how is this a gift guide?

Well, with all these photos their must be some worth keeping and sharing, right?

One solution to all these “problems” has been to find new ways to display and store my photos off the computer. In my quest to do so I’ve sent, displayed, framed, published and gifted photos. With as many photo companies to choose from as there are photos on my hard drive it can be hard to know which one to use.

Are you considering giving photos gifts this year? If so, here is what I hope is a helpful guide to some of what I’ve learned:

Consider Frames Instead of Flowers

Consider sending an enlarged photo of you and your loved one, or of a mutual favorite place instead of flowers when friends or loved ones are under the weather or for a holiday gift this year. Ordering beautifully framed prints from companies like Shutterfly can be very affordable, especially if you take advantage of promotions, and they will last forever.

For an even more budget friendly option there’s IKEA. Their frames come in all sizes and colors, some priced as low as $1.49, which you can use to frame photos you print yourself or have printed at your local drugstore. I personally use these to frame my son’s art and its great!

Teen Decor

Anyone whose ever tried knows teens are incredibly difficult to shop for, however, they love to take photos. Consider having some of their favorite snaps printed. Using an app called Mixtiles we chose some of my son’s favorite photos and had them enlarged and mounted on removable foam squares. The entire process is done on the phone, takes minutes and according to the FAQ the tiles can be rearranged as many as two dozen times each.

Snail Mail

Postcards: Looking for something a little lower budget? Everyone loves to receive snail mail (so long as it’s not a bill)! I’ve been using the LaLaLab app to send postcards to friends and family directly from my phone using photos I took myself and its super fun! It’s a great way to say thank you, I miss you, or just hello. What a nice surprise to open your mailbox and find a personalized postcard with photos from a recent visit or fun moment.

Holiday cards: I love sending holiday cards every year and I love receiving them! Each one is like a little gift and I know many people feel the same. I never feel organized enough to hire someone and usually take my own photo. This year I tricked my boys and told them our photo shoot was just a practice session. I got the photos I needed in 15 minutes!! This year’s card is still under wraps, this one is from 2014.

Moving cards: Don’t forget to send moving cards. I know its better to give than to receive, but… There are many great websites and designs to choose from and I usually go with the one having the best sale! This year I used Minted to print my holiday cards and Tiny Prints for our moving announcement.

Photo Books

Creating an album of people or memories is the best way to get those files off your computer and they make wonderful gifts too. I’ve been trying out a number of different photo book companies in all different price ranges and skill levels. Here is some of what I’ve learned so far:

Mpix – Premium Panoramic Photo Book starting at $49.99

This was the most expensive of the books, but with a linen hardcover and lay flat pages it’s also the nicest. I created the book on my computer and once I learned their system was really able to make the book my own, creating custom layouts and adding text. The quality of the paper and prints is excellent.

LaLaLab. – Photo Book $30.00

Offering a range of photo products the LaLaLab. app couldn’t be easier to use. Choose your product, choose your photos, personalize, and purchase! That’s it! If you’re looking to edit, alter or add text this is not the app for you. While the book did come out nicely, I’m not sure it’s $30 quality.

Chatbooks – Custom Photo Book starting at $12

The cute compact size of these books is a definite plus, however I’m not sure it’s the right company for my needs. I ended up adding a lot of pages, which made it somewhat cost prohibitive. I found their app complicated and the end result less than what I was hoping for. Chatbooks offers a subscription service which would be the perfect gift for a teenager or grandparents who might not be so concerned with all the fine details.

Mosaic – Photo Book $20 plus shipping

Created from your phone and delivered in just 4 days, Mosaic couldn’t be simpler and makes a great gift, especially if you are short on time! Chose 20 photos, rearrange them if you’d like, choose the background color, review and press order. I used Mosaic to create a memento of a girls weekend to New Orleans.

With so many photos left to sort, I’ll be making more books in the future. I’m planning on trying out Apple’s new book formats, along with Blurb, Montage, Mixbook and the Mpix softcover version. Do you have too many photos on your computer? How do you manage them? Will you be giving photo gifts this holiday season? If so, which companies do you love?

December 25, 2015November 30, 2017

The Christmas Edition: I Made A List…

…but I didn’t have time to check it twice?! It’s the Holiday Season and there is always so much to do… I call it Making Christmas and If you’ve ever seen The Nightmare Before Christmas you’ll recognize this as one of the songs in the movie. Very much like the characters from the movie, the entire time I am “making Christmas” I am humming this tune.

I haven’t always celebrated Christmas and while at this point I would like to consider myself a pro at making the magic happen, just like Jack Skellington, I was pretty dazzled by Christmas when I first discovered it, and I still am! The giving, the glitter, the twinkling lights (you know I love the twinkling lights), family, friends, baked goods, christmas stockings…

Making Christmas! Making Christmas! La La La La La La La La!

This year’s holiday card photo was taken in Lisbon, Portugal in the Belem neighborhood. As soon as I saw this heart sculpture I knew this would be our holiday photo!

Like many families we visit Santa at our local mall every year. Over the years we’ve developed a simple strategy to avoid the long lines: 1) We go early in the season 2) We get in line about 10 minutes before Santa comes back from his lunch break! This year, there were only three families in line ahead of us and I got not only this nice photo with Santa, but a pretty nice one without him too! Too bad I didn’t need a holiday card pic! I love to take out all the photos from previous years and lay them all in a row. It’s so fun seeing how much the kids have grown! I’m grateful to Simon for being such a good sport!

Because I already had the photo I was able to order our cards earlier than normal this year… I was even able to include the Santa photos in with the family holiday cards. I was so excited to find this travel design on the Minted website!

We have a lot of ornaments and I want to find the perfect tree to display them. I’m not great at this, so Tim chooses for me. He’s pretty good at it! This year we had a tough time finding a tree and I am guessing its because of the drought we are having here in California. We went to a number of places before finding “the one”.

Tim and I have been collecting ornaments from our travels for the past 18 years! One of my favorite Christmas activities is taking them out of their boxes. Don’t laugh, but its like greeting old friends. There are the wedding ornaments my sister gave me when we got engaged, the snowflakes I gave Tim when we were dating, and of course the many ornaments we’ve picked up from around the world! This year we added a number of beautiful memories from our trips to New Orleans, Portugal, Spain, England and Disneyland! I put together a mini tree to showcase all the new ones!

When holidays collide! I grew up celebrating Chanukah, but hadn’t done so in many years. Last year we decided to host a Chanukah Party and it was big success. Year number two cemented the deal! Chanukah is now an official part of our holiday season! Latkes anyone!

I’m lumping shopping, wrapping and holiday specials together, because I have to admit I jumped on the online shopping bandwagon this year. With the exception of a few items, almost everything was purchased online making me more available to spend time with the boys.

I realized my little one had never seen The Nightmare Before Christmas. He really enjoyed it and so did the rest of us. Its still just as fabulous as ever! I shopped and wrapped while watching holiday specials. Thank you ABC Family!

Tis the season for party dresses, glitter, dancing…There’s no better way to celebrate the holidays than spending time with friends and family. Lucky for us we had lots of fun opportunities to celebrate!

Okay, we didn’t get to do this project, but I had every intention of making it happen! We ran out of time. Maybe next year?

One word: Instacart. Yep, I did all my holiday grocery shopping online this year and I loved it! Not sure what time it saved me, since we didn’t get to the craft… But not dragging all those groceries into the house was a nice bonus.

Making cookies for Santa is one of my absolute favorite Christmas activities! There are certain things that just have to happen, like hearing Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and making Santa’s Cookies. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without them! Also, Santa is very particular about “her” cookies!

Whether it’s going for a run, seeing a movie or dinner with the girls building in some time for myself is definitely on my list!

Of course we always take a photo in front of the tree. The boys are usually wearing matching pjs which they like to stay in all day on Christmas! This year we took the picture on Christmas Eve. Check!

It’s Christmas Eve and I’ve finally made it to the end of my list… As you can see there are still a few unchecked boxes. I guess relaxing will have to be first on my list of Things To Do Tomorrow… Merry Christmas!

October 2, 2015November 30, 2017

Buon Natale da Roma! Merry Christmas From Rome!

Fed up with doing all the holiday decorating, shopping, present wrapping and cooking when it seemed as though no one actually cared about any of it. I decided I was over it! “That’s it! I’m quitting Christmas!”, I announced to my family!

The following year we spent Christmas in Rome! “Don’t worry. Santa will find you wherever we are.” I told the boys and it was true! 😉

If you’re wondering, the holiday season is a great time to visit Rome. Fantastic even! The Christmas and holiday decorations are beyond compare, the weather is temperate and the lines are short. In fact with the exception of a few places there were almost no lines for anything. It turned out to be the simplest and best Christmas I think we’ve ever had.

The Holiday Decor

I think I can safely say that I have never visited a city with more holiday decorations than Rome! There was scarcely a corner left untouched by festivity. It’s simply spectacular! Where you might think that the streets would be deserted on the eve of a major holiday, it was the exact opposite. The amount of people who are out and about strolling and enjoying the lights and atmosphere is simply amazing.

#nowthatsatalltree — Visiting the Colosseum was a highlight of our visit!

#spanishstepscresh — Creshes were everywhere this one is on the Spanish Steps

#festivityeverywhere — Decorations like this were around just about every corner

#romedoesitright — These lights were incredibly impressive and stretched for blocks and blocks.

#walkingtheredcarpet — Many streets had red carpets on them!

#westinexcelsior — Trees in front of the hotel

photo 4 (1) — The Westin Excelsior Christmas Tree

The Christmas Market in the Piazza Navona

We visited the Christmas market in Piazza Navona one evening and had such a lovely time. There were all sorts of holiday themed treats and it was incredibly festive. We picked up a tiny tree for our hotel room and each of us picked out two mini ornaments to decorate it with. A small strand of lights and a little angel tree topper finished it off! We set it up on our hotel room desk! When it was time to leave we brought all of our ornaments home with us and we hang them on our tree every year!

Piazza Navona is also a great place to explore during the day. There is a beautiful fountain and many cafes where you can people watch and grab a coffee.

The Vatican

No trip to Rome would be complete without a trip to the Vatican and it was especially lovely decorated for the holiday season. Not only were their multiple creches on the inside of St. Peter’s, but a large portion of St. Peter’s Square was filled with the biggest nativity scene I’ve ever seen. No pun intended!

#wasthereanydoubt — an iphone4 can’t do this justice, but you get the idea

#spiralstaircasexmas — This tree was nice surprise when entering the building for our Sistine Chapel tour

#sunsetovervaticancity — Looking out from St. Peters

#thebiggestnativityscene — We visited on Christmas eve and it was so crowded. duh!

Via dei Condotti

Complete with red carpet and “crystal chandeliers” the Via Dei Condotti was all dressed up for the holidays! One of Rome’s most fashionable streets it is located at the foot of the Spanish Steps. Many of fashion’s biggest names have shops here, Dior, Gucci, Valentino, Armani, Jimmy Choo, and Prada, to name just a few. It’s no surprise that the holiday decorations on this street were nothing short of stunning.

Santa? Is that you?

Traditionally we have our big holiday meal on Christmas Eve. Rather then go out for dinner we decided it would be more fun to order room service! After all we were taking a break from the usual holiday traditions this year! A little while later when the food arrived, Elliot, who was only 31/2 at the time, heard the knock at the door and yelled out, “It’s Santa!”

Yep! The holiday magic had followed us to Rome! I think we enjoyed that Christmas Eve dinner more than any other. At least I know I did!

Later that evening after the boys were asleep Santa stealthily put the tiny packages she had hidden in my suitcase as well as the Italian candy she’d discovered during the week into the boys stockings also hidden in the suitcase. Under the tiny tree they went!