aventuras de alyssa

This post is going to cover November 21st to November 30th and then I’m going to do monthly updates to get us up to speed with the present day.

monday through thursday

The week was relatively relaxed, after two weekends of traveling, so I took a few walks around my neighborhood because the weather was gorgeous. A few of us celebrated Thanksgiving together and we managed to put together a fantastic traditional American Thanksgiving meal. Although, cornbread doesn’t exist in the same way as it does in the US in the UK, so I had a bit of challenge trying to make that from scratch. Let’s just say I need to bring back a box of Jiffy cornbread mix from the States before next year’s Thanksgiving. We had such a good time that we ended up with a noise complaint (whoops)!

friday through tuesday

Friday was the USA v England World Cup game and we went to Skylight in Peckham to watch the game. The Brits have a ton of football chants and we realized that the Americans don’t have any great chants… so we started chanting 1776! The match ended in a draw and I’m glad we didn’t lose!

My best friend, Mackenzie, came to visit and she got there Friday night! She landed, arrived at my flat, and I immediately took her out to Slim Jim’s, which is this very fun pop punk late night bar that has bras hanging from the ceiling. We met up with my London friends and it was so great for everyone to meet!

On Saturday, we went to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. I had been in 2017 and had a lot of fun, so I was excited to go back. We went during the daytime – I had wanted to go in the evening, but because of lingering COVID rules, you had to get an entrance ticket and they were all sold out for the nighttime. However, I think daytime ended up working out great. The lines weren’t excessively long, we went on two rides (one of them I saw my life flash before my eyes…) and we were able to enjoy the park without being overwhelmed. We hung out in Thor’s Tipi for a while for some drinks and heat and afterwards, we went to the Churchill Arms pub. It’s famous for its Christmas lights and fun decor inside dedicated to Churchill.

We made our way back across town to Covent Garden and got dinner at Miss Riot. We went for a pint at Punch & Judy to get a great photo of the tree from the rooftop terrace there and then we made our way back to my neighborhood. We ended up at the Regent, where we met the largest dog I’ve ever seen in my life named Diego. We stayed there until after closing (the bartender was then giving us free drinks) and made our way back to Slim Jim’s. Let me just say, I never want to see the lights come on in Slim Jim’s again…

Understandably, we were exhausted and a little unwell on Sunday after our whirlwind of a Saturday. We had a cozy day in watching Christmas movies and met up with my friends at the Alpaca for Sunday roast. The food was delicious and fit with the cozy Sunday vibes we were having. Then, we went to see a candlelight tribute concert for Ed Sheeran. This was my second candlelight concert and they just blow me away with how talented the musicians are. I have a hard time not dancing! To top off the night, Mackenzie and I got wines to go from a pub and walked along the Thames. Everything was lit up for Christmas and was a great end to a wonderful weekend!

On Monday, we went ice skating at Somerset House. It was so picturesque! We had a bit of a run in with two kids, but we recovered and enjoyed the rest of our skating time! After skating, we stopped at Tapas Stories in Covent Garden for some tapas and wandered around central London a bit & visited Leadenhall Market for a little shopping. We then went to Duke’s Drawing Room for afternoon tea. I was nervous we were going to be hungry afterwards, but they give you unlimited mini sandwiches, scones, and little desserts. Needless to say, we were stuffed. After tea, we went to see the lights around Oxford Circus and it was so magical. For Mackenzie’s last night, we went to Megan’s at the Sorting Office for dinner (delicious Mediterranean food – the best halloumi sticks I’ve had) and went to watch the USA v Iran World Cup game. We had a blast at the pub with some of my friends! I was so sad to send Mackenzie off on Wednesday, but so thankful for her visit!

wednesday & thursday

To wrap up November, I met a friend for dinner at Noci and had incredible cacio e pepe. Highly recommend for relatively affordable Italian food! My friend and I shared a lot of laughs and I’m very thankful to have her in my life! Finally, on Thursday, we had our work Christmas party at a wine bar near the office. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned before, but I’m on our “Ministry of Fun” committee, which plans the social events for my group and is a fun play on Harry Potter & the Ministry of Magic. We planned a gingerbread house making competition, which was a lot of fun. It’s a lot harder to whisk up icing than I thought it would be though! November was a good month – I finally felt like I was settling in and getting a hang of living in London!