Erdinger Oktoberfest, Stratford
Museum of Natural History, South Kensington
Battersea Park, Battersea
Ah! I really have no idea where the weeks have gone. It blows my mind that I have not written a post in 2 weeks and I'm heading back to New York in just 8 days! October really escaped me while November feels like its gone in a blink so far. But none the less I have been going to some really great spots over the last few weeks. There are some great traditions going on during these end of fall into winter months.
In October it was all about the name stating Oktoberfest parties. Sam and I went to the final night of the Erdinger Oktoberfest event at stratford. It went on from September 27th to October 28th, but because of our schedules we couldn't get there any earlier, but figured save the best night for last. I had bought our tickets for 50% off from a post the company had put up on Instagram. I was absolutely over the moon thinking (well this is meant to be that we held off going because now tickets are super cheap!). Well it wouldn't be me unless I mucked up something in the seamless plan. Once I hit the submit payment button on the site, I realised that I had bought tickets for the night before we had planned to go. Since I bought the tickets on Ticketmaster there was no number or service I could call to cancel the payment. I couldn't even pawn the tickets to someone else because the cardholder had to be the one to get the tickets at the gate. Ugh I found myself in a real pickle thinking I'll have to eat the money on the 50% off tickets I was amped to get, and thinking I'd end up paying full price in the end anyway. Then I thought of a plan..... what if we just showed up on the last night, went to the ticket booth to get the tickets and then play dumb about the date? (What the date is wrong? OMG I had no idea!!) Could we actually get lucky and have a nice human let us go through even though it was the wrong day on the tickets? We got to stratford and walked up to the woman at the ticket office and I was really bricking it. I thought no way this will actually work, and I was prepared to just pay full price for tickets to get in, because after all I was dressed up and I wasn't going to go home after applying a fresh pair of fake lashes! (Yeah I do that now) When I started explaining the situation to the woman she quickly cut me off to search my name on the database for tickets. After thinking that we would be turned away the woman smiled and said "no worries, we're not sold out tonight so shouldn't be a problem to have you seated somewhere else in the tent." BOOM!! https://erdinger-oktoberfest.co.uk
We walked through the gates and I was very pleased with myself and my good luck of the night. It was one of the first really cold nights in London so there was no one outside at all, despite the bumper cars ride being set up. We walked into the main tent and there were rows and rows of picnic style tables set up, a buffet, and live band in full swing. The tent is set up for seating areas, vip tables, and standing section. Since it wasn't sold out that night there was plenty choices for seating areas. The steins were massive!! (I've never drank from a actual 1 litre size stein before) So after having just 2 I felt buzzed quickly. And it wouldn't be a proper Oktoberfest without wiener schnitzel! The live band really made the night. They played some major classics "Sweet Caroline" and literally all the Oasis classics. The crowd was lively and everyone was singing along and dancing. It made me really want to go to Germany next year and go all out for Oktoberfest, Bavarian costume and all!
Another amazing happening going on right now is all the seasonal ice skating pop ups and holiday stands. I recently brought my mini friend to the Museum of Natural History, hoping for a fun Friday afternoon activity. I was surprised to see how set up the holiday fest there was. The ice rink there really reminds me of the one that Sam and I have been to in Bryant Park, in New York City. The mini friend and I really enjoyed ourselves skating around the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the rink. They have a small rink section in the back that is for smaller children to have some more space and to not get skated down by the bigger kids. What was really sweet was the selfie corner of the rink. You push this massive red button and have 10 seconds to skate back to your spot before the picture gets taken. We had to do this a number of times, as every time we were getting ready for the picture my mini friend would take a spill on the ice or wouldn't be quick enough to get back in time. The nice part is that if you buy the picture in the main building after you're done skating, the proceeds go towards the museum.
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/ice-rink.html
I will definitely be going back here for a little date night with Sam. They have a bar section where you can eat and drink after you have done your skating. It's a really comfy cozy section with lots of couches to hang out on. They carry the most perfect cold season drink, mulled wine that I just had to take advantage of while I was there. I mean come on I had earned it after lifting up a 7 year old every two minutes because she was like watching a new born deer walk for the first time. It wasn't even too crowded when we went which is always great because its just not as fun when you keep bumping into people on the ice. I'm sure this place will be packed out the closer Christmas gets. There are so many of these rinks opening up around London, I really want to partake in the ever popular rink outside the Tower of London. I'm even trying to set up a trip to Bath to see their Christmas markets that I keep hearing so much about.
Museum of Natural History, South Kensington
Battersea Park, Battersea
Ah! I really have no idea where the weeks have gone. It blows my mind that I have not written a post in 2 weeks and I'm heading back to New York in just 8 days! October really escaped me while November feels like its gone in a blink so far. But none the less I have been going to some really great spots over the last few weeks. There are some great traditions going on during these end of fall into winter months.
In October it was all about the name stating Oktoberfest parties. Sam and I went to the final night of the Erdinger Oktoberfest event at stratford. It went on from September 27th to October 28th, but because of our schedules we couldn't get there any earlier, but figured save the best night for last. I had bought our tickets for 50% off from a post the company had put up on Instagram. I was absolutely over the moon thinking (well this is meant to be that we held off going because now tickets are super cheap!). Well it wouldn't be me unless I mucked up something in the seamless plan. Once I hit the submit payment button on the site, I realised that I had bought tickets for the night before we had planned to go. Since I bought the tickets on Ticketmaster there was no number or service I could call to cancel the payment. I couldn't even pawn the tickets to someone else because the cardholder had to be the one to get the tickets at the gate. Ugh I found myself in a real pickle thinking I'll have to eat the money on the 50% off tickets I was amped to get, and thinking I'd end up paying full price in the end anyway. Then I thought of a plan..... what if we just showed up on the last night, went to the ticket booth to get the tickets and then play dumb about the date? (What the date is wrong? OMG I had no idea!!) Could we actually get lucky and have a nice human let us go through even though it was the wrong day on the tickets? We got to stratford and walked up to the woman at the ticket office and I was really bricking it. I thought no way this will actually work, and I was prepared to just pay full price for tickets to get in, because after all I was dressed up and I wasn't going to go home after applying a fresh pair of fake lashes! (Yeah I do that now) When I started explaining the situation to the woman she quickly cut me off to search my name on the database for tickets. After thinking that we would be turned away the woman smiled and said "no worries, we're not sold out tonight so shouldn't be a problem to have you seated somewhere else in the tent." BOOM!! https://erdinger-oktoberfest.co.uk
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/ice-rink.html
I will definitely be going back here for a little date night with Sam. They have a bar section where you can eat and drink after you have done your skating. It's a really comfy cozy section with lots of couches to hang out on. They carry the most perfect cold season drink, mulled wine that I just had to take advantage of while I was there. I mean come on I had earned it after lifting up a 7 year old every two minutes because she was like watching a new born deer walk for the first time. It wasn't even too crowded when we went which is always great because its just not as fun when you keep bumping into people on the ice. I'm sure this place will be packed out the closer Christmas gets. There are so many of these rinks opening up around London, I really want to partake in the ever popular rink outside the Tower of London. I'm even trying to set up a trip to Bath to see their Christmas markets that I keep hearing so much about.
The last bit of the season happenings are ALL THE FIREWORKS! Not even kidding you I have heard fireworks going off every night since Halloween. Much different from New York since they are illegal to buy and set off, but here it is an absolute free for all. Not to mention in New York you really only see fireworks during the summer time for the 4th of July or New Years day. You can buy frieworks just about anywhere here. I'm talking corner convenience store everywhere. I mean I like fireworks just as much as the next person, but every single night is a bit excessive. It's like people who celebrate their birthday for the entire month, it just looses its sparkle (pun intended). It really takes a bit of getting used to here and now I catch myself with the old lady remarks of (really again with the fireworks?!) BUTTTTT for this instance I went to the Battersea Park fireworks show in the beginning of the month which was absolutely amazing!! I am all about the organised fireworks shows. Battersea holds the special event every year near Guy Fawkes night (November 5), complete with bonfire and lights show. At one point I felt like I was at a music festival because they have the laser lights going with techno music. They had rows of food stands and beer lounges to hang out in before and after the fireworks. (Best to stay for a while after as the crowds were insane getting out of the park). This place got packed out really quickly. When me and my mini friend first got there we were practically the only people on the open field but half hour before the show you couldn't move. Luckily we had a blanket so we were able to have a rest while waiting. I was very envious of the people who brought fold out chairs, because the darker it got the more likely it was someone would step on your blanket walking by... or your hand. Battersea really put on such a great show as the fireworks went off to popular songs. They best were the opening and closing songs from "The Greatest Showman" (If you don't know what I'm talking about then do yourself a favour and rent that movie because it is amazing and the songs are out of this world!) https://batterseapowerstation.co.uk/whats-on/detail/battersea-park-fireworks
So as I'm off to New York next week I am very excited to visit Astoria, get to have some of my moms amazing home cooked meals, and chat about all my favourite spots in my home town. It is still up in the air of when exactly I'll be back home in England because of this whole visa mess. But fingers crossed all goes smoothly so that I can be back for Christmas popping crackers and wearing paper crowns with my husband.
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