Happy Halloween!
Londoners will tell you that Halloween is not as “big” here as it is in the US. While that is not untrue, there has been plenty of Halloween festivity and cheer to be found here in London!
Stores here carry some Halloween things (along with the beginnings of Christmas decor!). There are many homes in our neighborhood with decorations out front. The pubs seem most into the holiday spirit, many of them hanging faux cobwebs and skeletons from their windows. And I did see several groups of trick or treaters on my way home tonight, too!
Though it has been cold here, there has been something about this autumn, as it’s called here, that just has not felt like fall at home. Being from New England, I suppose I am pretty spoiled in terms of what fall weather means. The cold here is more raw than crisp, and for a long time it seemed the leaves would never turn. They appeared to go straight from green to dead on the ground.
All of the sudden, that all changed this week. There were a few crisp days, I saw a sign in Starbucks saying they had sold out of pumpkin spice lattes (the horror!) and as we set off on a long stroll to the mall on Sunday, I found the fall foliage I had been missing. It was beautiful.
We decided to cut through Holland Park on the way to the mall and I am so glad we did. The park was absolutely stunning in the morning mist and fall foliage colors. We are lucky to live close to this 54 acre park that was built on the grounds of what used to be Cope Castle.
Is there a hobbit in there?
Though I’ve been through Holland Park a couple of times, I had never happened upon the Kyoto Gardens during my strolls. Luckily, we were able to find the entrance point on our Sunday adventure and ran into some beautifully feathered friends there.
This garden was created in 1992 to celebrate the Japan Festival in London. I can imagine it is lovely any time of year, but it was really a sight to see with its current autumnal backdrop.
Can’t resist a good mews photo opp!
Daylight Savings was yesterday here in the UK. It’s exciting to have only four hours time difference between here and my peeps back home for the week! It is not exciting, however, how early the sun sets now! After our shopping adventure (I finally found the smart grey coat of my dreams… and on sale!) we walked back through Holland Park at sunset, roughly 4:30pm (womp).
The brilliant colors of the sunset paired with the fall foliage was truly beautiful.
It is pretty incredible that a Sunday trip to the mall can turn into such an adventure here in London!
Jenn is an American expat living in London, spending her time freelancing, traveling and writing on this here blog. Thank you for reading. Are you planning a trip here? Tell me your plans in the comments!
