As I mentioned in an earlier post, I especially miss Brussels during the festive season, so this December we’ve been trying to replicate some of the fun of the Christmas markets with trips to our local National Trust houses to see their Christmas decorations. There’s less mulled wine on offer (i.e. none), but the decorations are all so lovely and varied.
Places I’ve been in Decembr
Knole Park, Kent
We visited Knole on a misty morning, and it was wonderfully atmospheric. While the weather never fully cleared, it was still a lovely crisp day out. I hadn’t anticipated that there would be so many deer in the grounds, so that was a lovely surprise.
You can read more about our visit in my Christmas Houses post.
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
My friend and I decided to give Polesden Lacey a try because it’s in a mutually inconvenient location between her home in North-West London and mine in East Sussex. We usually meet in central London but both fancied a change. I’m glad we did, because the decorations were incredible!
This is another one which you can read about in my Christmas Houses post.
Scotney Castle, Kent
Scotney Castle got a whole post to itself earlier this month, as it’s probably my favourite National Trust property. I really enjoyed their 1960s themed Christmas, but the peaceful walk in the grounds was the icing on the cake.
Tate Modern and Hayward Gallery, London
Finally, to cap December off, Ben and I got the train up to London to see a couple of exhibitions.
A World in Common – Contemporary African Photography was a wide-ranging exhibition featuring work from across the continent. I loved the variety of work, and the way it was organised across different rooms conveying various themes from spirituality to identity to climate emergency. It’s on till 14th January 2024 if you want to check it out for yourself.
We also paused to enjoy Behind the Red Moon by El Anatsui, which is made up of three gigantic tapestries (for want of a better description) created from recycled materials. I was looking forward to seeing these works, but had no idea of the scale until I was craning my neck in front of them. They are breathtaking. This exhibition is free and is on till 14th April 2024.
Next we walked along the river to the Hayward Gallery to see the Hiroshi Sugimoto exhibition. This survey of his work included various collections. While not all of the collections grabbed me, seeing his commitment to experimentation and building on ideas over many years was fascinating.
I’ll be posting more pictures from this trip on Instagram as I edit them.
Reading Around the World in December
These posts take me a long time to put together, so I’m aiming for one per month, but I am slightly ahead of the game on the reading front. Any posts I make in the series will show up here.
December updates:
- Colombia: I added Retrospective by Juan Gabriel Vásquez to the list this month. I loved this book.
- Denmark: I read We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen this month. Blog post to follow next week!
- Egypt: I’ve been working through Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller over the past couple of days.
I also read:
- Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon (3 stars from me) – set in Venice
- The Romantic by William Boyd (3 stars from me) – this book sees the protagonist travel all over the world!
Student Life in December
I’ve received feedback for my first two assignments and now I’m waiting for the next two!
I’ve definitely found my feet slightly more with art history now, probably helped by the confidence boost of receiving a surprisingly high score in my first assignment. I’m actively enjoying the seventeenth century chapters I’m currently studying!
December saw me mess up my essay planning on my second history assignment and get a bit overwhelmed from there. I never feel very confident in my planning technique, so tried something new, which was a mistake. On the plus side, I am now happier with my original process and my assignment wasn’t that bad in the end! My next assignment will be about the plague, which I’m looking forward to.
