Christmas in Bristol - 2017

I know, I know, I'm terribly late, but oh well. I was too busy having fun during the Christmas season! We actually went home (WI USA) for the Christmas/New Year week, but were in Bristol until Christmas eve. Here are a few of the British traditions we noticed.

Happy Christmas:
Unlike the US where everything has become so politically correct that no one can celebrate anything, the UK embraces Christmas fully including wishing everyone a Happy Christmas, whether they celebrate or not. I'd much prefer we all wish each other everything when it comes up instead of celebrating nothing and creating watered down phrases like Happy Holidays. But hey, that's just me. And Britain apparently - the schools have Christmas concerts, our offices have trees and the University put on a Carol service, which was a multi-denominational service the week before Christmas celebrating the many traditions surrounding the birth of Jesus. (some that he's the son of god, some that he's a prophet ...) Below is the hall the service was held in - not a church, but one of the main halls of the University. And yes, it was over one of my lunch hours!! :)

Office lunches:
Speaking of lunches, another big British tradition is the office Christmas lunch. The team goes out (or is taken out) to a restaurant nearby that serves a set menu you sign up for in advance. Lots of food and lots of alcohol. Ours started at noon and ended at ... So all during the month of December, you can find tipsy office workers wandering the streets around 5pm. Very funny.

Christmas crackers:
One tradition you'll find at those lunches and on Christmas day in many British households are Christmas crackers. This tradition is a bit harder to understand for those of us not brought up British. The photo below shows what they look like. You pull the two ends and it makes a crack and inside you'll find a flimsy paper hat, a ridiculously cheap toy (think cereal box quality) and a really lame joke (think Bazooka gum wrapper). And that's it. You are expected to wear the hat through the remainder of lunch, tell the joke and groan at the appropriate time, and try to figure out what the toy actually is before throwing it in the bin.

Christmas markets and fayres:
In an earlier post, I wrote about our trip to the Christmas market in Bath. They are everywhere and a favourite European tradition.

Skating rinks:
In addition to the markets, large shopping centres also seem to set up ice skating rinks for the month. Yes, I know we have them back home, but they are natural and because it's so cold. These ice rinks need to be created with refrigeration because the temps really don't get and certainly don't stay cold enough for an ice rink. You then buy a ticket for a 30 or 45 min time slot. You can rent skates as well. Most are just a small round area, but if it's all ya got ...

Here are a few other photos of Christmas in Bristol for you to enjoy.