New Year's Eve Fireworks in London

On New Years Eve, Laura and I braved the crowds and the sub-freezing temperatures to see the big fireworks display on the River Thames. The fireworks display was directly over the river, many of them shot directly from the London Eye.

We arrived at the mob scene at about 21:00 (24 hour time used here in honor of the European preference for it) wearing long underwear, sweaters, big scarves, skull caps, two pairs of wool socks, and our thickest jackets. (I even wore a second jacket underneath my big jacket.) At about 21:30, trees started getting toilet-papered. At 22:00, the music started. At 22:30, the cold was starting to creep through all our layers. Around that time, famous people like Ricky Gervais, Michael Caine, and Homer/Marge Simpson started dispensing well-wishes via an enormous projection on a building behind the London Eye. Finally, at about 23:50, they started pumping the crowd up with louder music and lights on the Eye, followed by a countdown on the aforementioned building and the chiming of Big Ben at 24:00. Then the fireworks started and ran for about 10 minutes. I'm not a big fan of fireworks, but it was a very nice show.

New Year's Eve in London

We'll be ringing in the New Year with the big fireworks show here in London tonight. Based on last year's show (see video below), I think it's going to be a blast!

Here and There...

I know I haven't written in a while, but it's hard to type with mittens on. It's cold here and, frankly, nothing exciting enough has happen to entice me to take off my mittens. Maybe someone could convince my apartment building caretaker to raise the maximum temperature in our apartment.

We have been here for almost four months now. It is starting to feel like home (rather a home conducted in subtitles).However, there are some things I don't think I will ever get use to over here.

If you ever come to visit, undoubtedly the first night you will be woken up several times to loud explosions. Okay, maybe jet lag will save you the first night, but the second night nonetheless expect a broken sleep. No this is not because we live in a war zone, although sometimes I think that. It is because fireworks are just illegal enough to be cool over here, but not illegal enough to actually stop anyone from setting them off. For some reasons fireworks are not saved for special occasions, but rather are appropriate and fun for any time of day or night, 365 days a year. And we are not talking about wimpy fireworks you would let your grade-schooler set-off in the backyard, these are loud monstrosities that make it above low-rise (5-6 story) apartment buildings to light up the neighborhood. Come visit - everyday is a party! Next Week we'll let you how the New Year's Eve fireworks in London compare the our own nightly neighborhood show.