Skating at Somerset

A cold 5C evening was the setting and the place was Somerset House’s main courtyard. Finishing work at a reasonable hour was a nice change, and even better to be meeting Sheryl for the evening’s activity there.

Built in 1547 as rather large stately manor, Somerset House is now a venue for several galleries with the central courtyard being used for open air concerts and cinema as well as skating in the winter. Our first stop was outside in the temporary cafe set up next to the ice rink that filled the majority of this spectacular courtyard. With hot chocolate and mulled wine, we got to watch the current skating session and the antics of those out there on the ice.

When it came time for us to head out onto the ice, it was with less trepidation than last time at the Natural History Museum (but not much!). Being a weeknight, the numbers of folks there was a little less, and there were no small children to trip over either. It was quite impressive out there to be surrounded by this incredible building all lit up under the clear night sky. It wasn’t the easiest to take it all in while trying to stay upright, but as the hour session continued my confidence grew... a little.

At the end of what was a fun session, my arse was still dry and bruise free, but it’s amazing how much easier skating seemed to be when I was a kid! Ah well, at least dinner afterwards was far nicer than a hotdog n chips from the dodgy cafeteria at the old Payneham Ice Rink! We found a restaurant on the corner of Covent Garden in which to dine and finish off our evening. Certainly a good way to spend the evening after work.

End of 2010

The last day of the year began just as any other - a work day. Thankfully, the English have shown their wisdom in using the calendar year for many important renewals, which meant that while the main boss had surprised us all by saying we could leave at 1pm, we still had a truckload of last minute issues with so much due on 31/12...

Eventually, I got away, and despite the best efforts of the city council moving the docking stations around Westminster, I successfully “Boris Biked” my way across the city to meet up with everyone. I helped a tourist navigate how to use the Boris Bike system so as to allow me to park the bike I’d used (because the docking station was full). She needed to take her bike so I could park mine, if that makes sense. But I digress...

After a longer walk than intended, I met Sheryl, Rodney, Vanessa, Zara n Jarrett in a small pub opposite Big Ben at around 6ish. A bit later, Paul and Anna arrived, as did Tony and Lydia, and we proceeded to have a merry old time until it was time to make our way onto Embankment.

Embankment itself is the long road that runs along the bank of the Thames from the Houses of Parliment/Big Ben before it becomes Thames St at the Blackfriars Bridge. And for nearly its full length, this road was closed to traffic for the night, which gave around 200,000 of us a good view of the London Eye and the New Year’s Eve fireworks on the opposite side of the river.

We went in through the bag check and joined the already massing crowds on this road. We didn’t head too far along it, but found a spot that gave us a good view between some trees, and proceeded to plant our pile of bags (of drink and goodies). For the next three and a bit hours we were entertained by the BBC DJ’s that were broadcasting all along Embankment, as well as by those around us.

With Big Ben constantly chiming to remind us of the time, the atmosphere grew as the closer we got to midnight. Eventually, the final minute was displayed upon one of the large high-rise buildings across the river for all to see before the fireworks (and 2011) began. A very spectacular show too.

Funnily enough, once the fireworks were over the partying didn’t really kick off as many people left the area to try and avoid the masses of people that would be inevitable at the nearby tube stations. We kicked on for a bit, before we too bit the bullet and began the trek to the nearest open tube station to get us home - we made it in at around 3am...

Certainly a worthwhile exercise and a good experience to have done New Year’s Eve under Big Ben like that. Nowhere near as stressful or as madhouse as we’d expected, but then our preparation had been quite wise in byo’ing all our stuff, meeting early and getting an early place. Oh, and also to have dressed warmly, considering that the temperature was somewhere between 3C and 5C!!