Some Christmas Fun

Let’s forget the doom and gloom for a moment. Christmas needs to be a magical time. It needs to be special. With that in mind, we took a trip to London today, to meet a very jolly guy. You might know him, he dresses in red, has a big white beard, and delivers lots of presents!

The venue for this meeting is a very famous London landmark – Hamley’s Toy Shop. The shop was founded in 1760 – yes, 1760 – 259 years ago, though it moved to Regent’s Street in 1881. It’s kind of staggering to believe the store has existed for so long, but it’s survived many changes over the decades (indeed, centuries).

Toys – the typical toy – might sometimes feel like a dying art, but in Hamley’s they come alive. A lot of that is down to the enthusiasm of the staff, who spend much of their time demonstrating the beautiful range of toys and games on their shelves. I vaguely recall visits to the shop as a kid, being amazed at the variety of things to see, and today was no different, even if the evolution of kids’ toys never ceases to amaze me. One particular item was a Golden Snitch from Harry Potter, that flies in sync with your body, via a little device stuck behind the ear. Magic bubbles, remote control cars that can drive up walls, remote control planes that have a length and breadth of movement beyond anything I saw when I was a boy… it’s all pretty awesome!

Regent’s Street is pretty old, and buried within the area are some amazing sights, especially at this time of year. As is typical of London, there are some very old buildings and locations, some of which I was able to get pictures of today.

As for Hamley’s itself, well, it is filled with amazing sights!

Should you meet your heroes?

We also saw a bit of London all lit up!

After Hamley’s we met up with family for dinner, and now, after a loooooooong day, we are home. After a depressing news week, this at least served as good tonic.

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