Why: It's nearly Xmas..and I love the Xmas Feeling.
Where: Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park and then Bar Boulud
When: Tuesday 22 November 2011
What happened: The weather had finally got a little chilly and we wrapped up warm, but that just added to the feel of Xmas.
We met near Knightsbridge station, I was on there early, Ian showed up not too long after, and surprised my with white foam all over his head, like he had been:
a) in a foam party, or
b) rolling around in fake snow from the Harvey Nichols store front.
It was very festive and made me chuckle...so off we headed to Hyde Park.
I had been there last year, however, when we approached the entrance, it looked gorgeous...so many lights it got me in the mood. Big Santa's everywhere, polar bears, penguins and no kids :) I suppose we did go at 7pm, but it was great to have the place to ourselves, the big kids that we were.
What happened next: It's free to get in, but please make sure you have money once in there...We walked around and saw this slide that you sit in sacks and slide down...prob lasts 10secs..it was empty, and I wonder why, it was £4 a ride..seriously!
So, off for a stroll around the place, it definitely was bigger than I remembered, and reminded me of the Kings Hall I went to as a child to go to Funderland. But after wanting to try and win large Teddy's for £3, which I didn't really want, we went to the Bavarian Beer house bar. £5 for a beer, or £8 for a stein. This seemed more rewarding. There were a few German girls next to us, swaying and umpa paahing paahing and a guy on the key board singing random covers. Shame there wasn't a band, but it was Tuesday...however the place was quite busy.
After our beers, and another stroll and a few attempted throws to get a ball in milk barrel which we didn't win, I convinced Ian to go on the Power Tower. I have never laughed so much in ages as Ian had to keep his eyes closed, missing out on gorgeous views..well he looked once or twice. It was funny.
After a warm gluevine we headed to the Extreme Circus. We were last in, so we got given the front row disabled seats :), much to the displeasure of those behind us who thought they had a clear view. The acts were pretty good and for £8 a ticket for a show that lasted 45mins, it was more value for money than all the other rides. It involved rotating wheels, and some talented gymnasts and a lady who was lying on her back on a motorbike juggling fire and stuff with her feet, pretty impressive. However, the highlight was 3 guys in a cage that reminded me of a metal gerbil ball, spinning around simultaneously on motor bikes. They did try and make us have pictures with them afterwards for more cash, and sell us balloons, but we left pretty sharpish.
The ice rink looked wicked, and was massive, prob biggest in london that is outside, and had a live band playing in the middle of it. I was quite impressed, but saved the skating for another day.
On the way out, we tried to get another gluevine, however the guys in the huts were shutting down, but handed us over one for free...a very nice way to end the night, but this added to us then taking silly pictures with plastic animals and santas...loved it.
Why not rating: 6/10,
due to value for money...I wanted to do so much more, i.e horror house, and so on, but thought I needed to save it for another time. If it was cheaper, people would be queuing up more to do the rides and they would prob make more money too.
Continued: Then....walking back to the tube, we saw a some guys hanging outside a cozy looking swanky bar, Bar Boulud, we asked what it was like inside, thinking wearing jeans and trainers we wouldn't get in. They said its great, go have a look.
The bouncers let us and in, yay, and we found 2 seats at the bar. It was quite packed and we were lucky to get the seats. We were still a bit peckish as had only shared a large sausage from Winter Wonderland, so we took a look at the menu. The prices seemed reasonable for the bar bites. It was a swanky bar, and I loved the sound of snails in blankets..or "Barbajaun D'Escargot" and pork with piscachhio in brioche (pork pie) or "Curvelas Lyonnase en Broiche", so we went to order, then looked at the wine list, it was pretty extensive and expensive.
Suddenly over came Gavin Mado, the Bar Manager, and smiled at us, and recommended after seeing our predicament, the house red, which was better than every house red I had drank in a ages. He told us about some specialty cocktail drinks he made. One was a frozen ball of ice and in it was a full white rose, then you had to pour in the cocktail he concocted around the ice ball and sip it slowly. I tried it and every now and then I tipped it back too much and got a cold nose, as the drink was very refreshing and I wanted more.
Gavin was great craic and I would recommend anyone to go there just to have a giggle with him and sample his cocktails. We were made to feel very welcome and it was another unplanned pleasant surprise ending to the evening. We left in time to get the the tube home smiling.
Additional Why not rating: 8/10
Where: Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park and then Bar Boulud
When: Tuesday 22 November 2011
What happened: The weather had finally got a little chilly and we wrapped up warm, but that just added to the feel of Xmas.
We met near Knightsbridge station, I was on there early, Ian showed up not too long after, and surprised my with white foam all over his head, like he had been:
a) in a foam party, or
b) rolling around in fake snow from the Harvey Nichols store front.
It was very festive and made me chuckle...so off we headed to Hyde Park.
I had been there last year, however, when we approached the entrance, it looked gorgeous...so many lights it got me in the mood. Big Santa's everywhere, polar bears, penguins and no kids :) I suppose we did go at 7pm, but it was great to have the place to ourselves, the big kids that we were.
What happened next: It's free to get in, but please make sure you have money once in there...We walked around and saw this slide that you sit in sacks and slide down...prob lasts 10secs..it was empty, and I wonder why, it was £4 a ride..seriously!
So, off for a stroll around the place, it definitely was bigger than I remembered, and reminded me of the Kings Hall I went to as a child to go to Funderland. But after wanting to try and win large Teddy's for £3, which I didn't really want, we went to the Bavarian Beer house bar. £5 for a beer, or £8 for a stein. This seemed more rewarding. There were a few German girls next to us, swaying and umpa paahing paahing and a guy on the key board singing random covers. Shame there wasn't a band, but it was Tuesday...however the place was quite busy.
After our beers, and another stroll and a few attempted throws to get a ball in milk barrel which we didn't win, I convinced Ian to go on the Power Tower. I have never laughed so much in ages as Ian had to keep his eyes closed, missing out on gorgeous views..well he looked once or twice. It was funny.
After a warm gluevine we headed to the Extreme Circus. We were last in, so we got given the front row disabled seats :), much to the displeasure of those behind us who thought they had a clear view. The acts were pretty good and for £8 a ticket for a show that lasted 45mins, it was more value for money than all the other rides. It involved rotating wheels, and some talented gymnasts and a lady who was lying on her back on a motorbike juggling fire and stuff with her feet, pretty impressive. However, the highlight was 3 guys in a cage that reminded me of a metal gerbil ball, spinning around simultaneously on motor bikes. They did try and make us have pictures with them afterwards for more cash, and sell us balloons, but we left pretty sharpish.
The ice rink looked wicked, and was massive, prob biggest in london that is outside, and had a live band playing in the middle of it. I was quite impressed, but saved the skating for another day.
On the way out, we tried to get another gluevine, however the guys in the huts were shutting down, but handed us over one for free...a very nice way to end the night, but this added to us then taking silly pictures with plastic animals and santas...loved it.
Why not rating: 6/10,
due to value for money...I wanted to do so much more, i.e horror house, and so on, but thought I needed to save it for another time. If it was cheaper, people would be queuing up more to do the rides and they would prob make more money too.
 |
| power tower |
Continued: Then....walking back to the tube, we saw a some guys hanging outside a cozy looking swanky bar, Bar Boulud, we asked what it was like inside, thinking wearing jeans and trainers we wouldn't get in. They said its great, go have a look.
The bouncers let us and in, yay, and we found 2 seats at the bar. It was quite packed and we were lucky to get the seats. We were still a bit peckish as had only shared a large sausage from Winter Wonderland, so we took a look at the menu. The prices seemed reasonable for the bar bites. It was a swanky bar, and I loved the sound of snails in blankets..or "Barbajaun D'Escargot" and pork with piscachhio in brioche (pork pie) or "Curvelas Lyonnase en Broiche", so we went to order, then looked at the wine list, it was pretty extensive and expensive.
Suddenly over came Gavin Mado, the Bar Manager, and smiled at us, and recommended after seeing our predicament, the house red, which was better than every house red I had drank in a ages. He told us about some specialty cocktail drinks he made. One was a frozen ball of ice and in it was a full white rose, then you had to pour in the cocktail he concocted around the ice ball and sip it slowly. I tried it and every now and then I tipped it back too much and got a cold nose, as the drink was very refreshing and I wanted more.
Gavin was great craic and I would recommend anyone to go there just to have a giggle with him and sample his cocktails. We were made to feel very welcome and it was another unplanned pleasant surprise ending to the evening. We left in time to get the the tube home smiling.
Additional Why not rating: 8/10
 |
| Gavin Mado ( Madog) |
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