{"id":2644,"date":"2016-12-06T17:15:57","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T17:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/?p=2644"},"modified":"2016-12-06T17:41:56","modified_gmt":"2016-12-06T17:41:56","slug":"twinkly-lights-winter-wonderland-and-badgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/?p=2644","title":{"rendered":"Twinkly Lights, Winter Wonderland, and Badgers"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is another one of them there consolidated update posts.
\nJust so’s you know.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

First up, a few photos which didn’t make it into the last post, but which I quite liked.<\/p>\n

Greenwich looking all sparkly,
\nGreenwich is crawling with markets – There’s the big mostly covered one which takes up the inside of a ‘block’, but there’s also this one, which worms it’s way back into a forgotten\/unused space between buildings.
\nThen there’s another one which pops up on weekends.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Cutty Sark about to set sail for Christmas deliveries on strange foreign shores,<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And a strange visitor to Earl’s Court.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

The Barmy Badger has a number of long-term residents, probably because it’s a nice place.
\nNo on-site bar, so it’s pretty quiet, and a damn good kitchen for a hostel.<\/p>\n

Naturally the gas ignition doesn’t work – That seems to be the norm for many\u00a0gas stoves.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

View from the room.
\nI’m in a different room to last time, on the other side of the building and with one fewer flight of stairs, which is no bad thing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This one has an ensuite bathroom, though there are hot water pressure issues at time; Best guess is that a couple of other bathrooms have pump-assisted showers, so if there’s someone using both of them there’s nothing left.<\/p>\n

Also, triple-decker bunks, which I’ve not seen in many years.
\nMiddle one is mine – The floor-level option was already taken.<\/em><\/p>\n

The existing crew were a guy from France, one from London, and a Canadian – A couple of Australian backpackers showed up later.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Getting in … Took some figuring out.
\nIt’s far enough up that I can’t climb in directly, and a running leap seems ill-advised.
\nMy best technique involves stepping up and getting a knee in, followed by some tricky shifting of balance, but seems to work.<\/p>\n

One of the Australian backpackers\u00a0may<\/em> have fallen off the top bunk; There was a sizable crash at 1am and some muttering from floor level.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Did some wandering around as part of the ‘getting things done’ process, and found myself wandering through Trafalgar Square, where they’ve replaced the giant blue rooster of a few years ago with what I’m assuming is a tribute to Even Cowgirls Get The Blues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Saw the Changing of the Guard at Horse Guards Parade more or less by accident; I was looking to cut through to the next road, but they were ushering people out of the way, and into viewing areas, so I hung around to see why.<\/p>\n

Does anyone else think the London Eye looks like it’s lurking behind the building in this shot?
\nIt looks like it’s up to something.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Various photographers in action; Folk get yelled at if they cross the line of the chain.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tried to get a picture of the guy in the blue jacket taking a selfie, but the phone is not fast.
\nI\u00a0did<\/strong> get him looking dynamic in his post-selfie stance though.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And Giant Disapproving Techno-Owls; In times of trouble, they transform into giant fighting robot owls.
\nTrue story.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Somewhere on this wander, probably in Leicester Square\u00a0(wasn’t paying attention at the time, and was heading ‘Generally\u00a0East’)<\/em>, I went through a little Christmas Market, so it seem that’s not just a Greenwich thing.
\nGot to try raclette<\/a> from a little kiosk, and it was everything I thought the gooey melted cheese on bread could be.<\/p>\n

\n

Winter Wonderland<\/a> is a thing they set up in Hyde Park, and I had some time to kill, so I eventually wandered around it.
\nI say eventually<\/em> because their mobile site lacks a map showing where the bloody site is within Hyde Park, and Hyde Park is on the large side; Just a map of the layout of rides and stalls and suchlike, and some advice on which roads\/tube lines to travel by, neither of which are that much use if you walked from Earl’s Court.<\/p>\n

It’s a Christmas Themed fair, with booze.
\nLost count of the number of Mulled Wine\u00a0\/\u00a0Gl\u00fchwein vendors, for the authentic Northern Christmas experience.
\nAlso places where you could get the traditional Christmas Churros, and of course a festive Shwarma.<\/p>\n

Might have to go back and photograph the festive Schwarma place.<\/p>\n

The enormous animatronic fellow pictured here stood guard over the Bavarian Village; There was nothing there specifically called “Von Strudel’s Cliche Hut”, but, as they say, it’s the vibe.<\/p>\n

\"from<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For all that it’s easy to take the piss out of, Winter Wonderland was fun just to wander around in;
\nThe site is huge, and the little paths wind around, so you’re constantly finding a new row of stalls selling Christmas Crap, or another Mulled Churro Bratwurst vendor\u00a0(I’m pretty sure I spotted one of those)<\/em>, or yet another fun-house\u00a0(those things seem to be really popular here)<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is another one of them there consolidated update posts. Just so’s you know. First up, a few photos which didn’t make it into the last post, but which I quite liked. Greenwich looking all sparkly, Greenwich is crawling with markets – There’s the big mostly covered one which takes up the inside of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dont-forget-to-breathe"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3O6N9-GE","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2644"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2651,"href":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2644\/revisions\/2651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoarde.net\/craigblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}