Watch the Mayor's New Year's Eve fireworks

Probably one of the most iconic events of the London calendar, the Mayor's New Year's Eve fireworks take place in the area around the London Eye and draw around 250,000 people to stand in special viewing areas along Victoria Embankment, Westminster Bridge and Waterloo Bridge, and many more who don't quite make it in.


Entry is free and you're allowed to take your own booze. They've even laid on toilets, which is probably sensible, as the areas are open at around 8pm, and you are advised to be at your chosen vantage point by 10pm.

The Greater London Authority has brought in external excitement generators Jack Morton Worldwide to organise it all and, as if it was some sort of draw, BBC Radio 1 DJ Nihal will also be playing some pop records.

For more information, see http://www.london.gov.uk/get-involved/festivals/newyearseve, and if you're in the area it might also be a good idea to print out an entry letter for Gordon's Wine Bar, in order to ensure that you can get in.

_{^Picture © Mahésh Shrestha used under Creative Commons^}

Skate at the Tower of London

At this time of year, many ice rinks pop up around London, and one that is certainly rather picturesque is the Tower of London Ice Rink, skating against the backdrop of the historic battlements of the Tower itself.


The rink has been set up in the former moat of the Tower, and uses real ice, unlike some of those other fake-ice rinks you can find. It isn't cheap, though, with a skating session setting you back between ten and twelve pounds. It is, however, a fantastic setting.

The rink is open 10am until 10pm, until 10th January 2011. For more information see http://www.toweroflondonicerink.com/

_{^Picture © chris friese used under Creative Commons^}

Have tea at the Oxleas Wood Cafe

Your author asked the other day for some recommendations of places to cover in the Christmas period, and one which came up, courtesy once again of IanVisits was the Oxleas Wood Cafe in at the top of Shooters Hill in South London. It is, apparently a great cafe, with panoramic views Southwards towards of the Kent borders.


On the edge of the 77 hectare Oxleas Wood, which is apparently around 8,000 years old, it has been run by Mario Le Voci for around 10 Years, with a new cafe opening in July 2007.

Your author isn't quite sure if it is even open today, so readers should telephone in advance. For more information, see http://oxleawoodcafe.info/

_{^Picture © Elsie Esq used under Creative Commons^}

Walk along Goodwin's Court

Apparently built around 1627, Goodwin's Court is a small alleyway off St Martin's Lane in Covent Garden. Originally known as Fishers Alley, it is thought that the current buildings not erected until 1690.


It is a lovely place to wander along, if you are in the area and need to escape the crowds. The beautiful bow-fronted shopfronts mostly now host offices, many of whom are happy to be gazed in upon, and it is still famously lit by gaslights.

For more, see here.

Attend the Agatha Christie tea dance

This year marks the 120th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth, and to celebrate the Southbank Centre has been holding a range of events to celebrate. Today, they are holding a ballroom dancing event in her honour.


Organisers are urging people to get their dancing shoes on, and join in with the grand finale of a year of events celebrating the 'Queen of Crime'. The event is free, is open to all and begins at 11am.

For more information, visit the Southbank Centre website here.

_{^Picture provided by organisers, with permission of Christie's grandson Mathew Prichard^}

Take part in the Festival of Winter Walks

The Rambler's Association is this year organising a Festival of Winter Walks, and has teamed up with soup manufacturers Baxters to tell us all about it. However, they aren't doing a fantastic job as the first your author knew about it was when he noticed it on IanVisits' unrivalled London Events Calendar.

Today in London, the festival takes keen walkers on trips around the Medieval Manor of Hendon and on a local walk around Richmond, but the festival goes on until 3rd January, so there are plenty of days to take part.

It all sounds jolly pleasant, and best of all the walks are free, so you can save your money for a hearty bowl of soup afterwards. For more on today's walks, see here, or for details on the whole season around the country click here.

Watch the Peter Pan Cup

Whilst you're relaxing at home on Christmas Day, wondering whether to get out of bed, down in Hyde Park the members of the Serpentine Swimming Club are preparing for a different sort of treat. Every year since 1864 they have come together for a 100 yard Christmas day swim now known as the 'Peter Pan Cup', in reference to Peter Pan creator JM Barrie, who was a patron of the race.


The race is only open to members, on a handicap system, as it is thought that for anyone who has not spent the time getting used to swimming in waters usually around 4 degrees centigrade the shock could prove fatal. Unfortunately, this means your author will not be allowed to take part, which really should be considered a blessing.

The race takes place at 9am. For more information, see http://www.serpentineswimmingclub.com/christmas_day_race.htm

_{^Picture © ran hou used with permission^}

Attend the First Eucharist of Christmas & Blessing of the Crib at Westminster Abbey

If you're looking for somewhere atmospheric to see in a proper Christian Christmas, you should consider heading down to Westminster Abbey this evening for the First Eucharist of Christmas & Blessing of the Crib at 11.30pm.


It finishes up a number of services in the Abbey today, which will probably be at its most festive, and is your chance to experience an excellent evening the Abbey.

For more information on all today's services, click here.

_{^Picture © Jay Bergesen used under Creative Commons^}

See Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds

Your author feels quite sorry for the creators of Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds, the latest Unilever Series project to occupy the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall. As readers might remember, each seed was individually sculpted and painted by Chinese specialists working in small-scale workshops in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen.


Whilst Ai Weiwei just adds another commission to his already bulging CV, and pockets the related riches, the real creators will probably never see their work here, and even if they do it will not be fulfilling its telos as no visitors are allowed to interact with it due to health and safety concerns earlier in the year.

Now just a grey space, which a contact of your author's recently described as "look[ing] like an empty parking garage", it is really rather boring. Nevertheless, it is there, and is probably worth a quick glance if you're passing by, if only to notice how sad it looks.

For more information, click here.

Drink at the Flask, Hampstead

Fancy a swift, pre-Christmas pint? Hampstead is brim full of lovely pubs, but one with a particularly interesting history is the Flask, on Flask Walk. Built in 1874, the pub is on a site previously occupied by a Thatched House, where in Hampstead's village days spring water was placed into flasks, which were sold for threepence each.


The water was said to have medicinal qualities, and was sold throughout London, but eventually when Hampstead was swallowed up by an expanding London, the Thatched House was demolished and replaced by the pub we see today.

It's a nice little pub on the aptly named Flask Walk, and is a great spot for a swift half whilst waiting for others to emerge from the nearby tube station.

For more information, click here.

Go on a carol crawl

A reader recently contacted your author to suggest that if anyone finds themselves in Hackney this evening with nothing to do, they might consider joining the 'carol crawl', for some old fashioned singing and a seasonal wander.


This new idea from a group cringingly calling themselves the 'Fun Army', who are presumably Hackneyites, will see singers meeting at the Pub on the Park at 7pm, for a carol crawl beginning at 7.30pm, to follow a 'secret route' around the streets of London Fields.

Participants are asked to bring warm jumpers, Mulled Wine, Mince Pies, lanterns or torches and a clear voice. The organisers will provide the song sheets.

For more information, click here or here.

_{^Picture © Steve Punter used under Creative Commons^}

Buy books at Daunt Books, Marylebone

If you're looking for that last minute Christmas present, you could do worse than try the original Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street. A travel bookshop, with books arranged around the store by country, Daunt's main Edwardian store is known for its long oak galleries.


Its dark green and oak frontage, and beautiful interior with William Morris prints and skylights, have led to its being described as the most beautiful bookshop in London in the Daily Telegraph, and during the day the skylights also help to make the interior light and welcoming.

This is the perfect travellers bookshop. For more, see http://www.dauntbooks.co.uk/

Go sledging on Parliament Hill

Your author took a walk on Hampstead Heath yesterday, and wandered up to Parliament Hill, where the sledgers were out in force. Many were making do with tea trays and even road signs to slide down the hill, during an excellent dump of sledging snow.


The main sledging run has already been compacted to a sheet of ice, but was holding up well despite thousands of people making use of it. There are also fantastic views to a snowy central London.

For an article on sledging on Parliament Hill, written in a year with rubbish snow, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7867738.stm

Find Emperor Trajan

Standing outside Tower Hill Tube, beside a remaining fragment of the original London Wall, is a statue of Roman Emperor Trajan. Legend has it is is a eighteenth century copy apparently discovered in a scrap yard by a vicar in Southampton.


Trajan ruled from 98AD until his death in 117AD, when he was succeeded by Hadrian, of wall fame. As Emperor, he was noted for his building programmes in Rome and its provinces, including Trajan's Column, Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Bridge, Alcántara Bridge.

For more on Trajan, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajan

See a play at the Union Theatre and Cafe

Southwark's Union Theatre and Cafe was established in 1998 by English director Sasha Regan, in a disused paper warehouse beneath some railway arches.


Named Best Up-and-Coming Theatre at the 2008 Empty Space Peter Brook Awards, it also hosts as a daytime cafe and a bar, which has been operating since 2000, and apparently serves coffee, sandwiches and filled bagels.

For more information, visit http://www.uniontheatre.biz/