A very unusual Christmas Eve!

It is only 20 minutes to go before it becomes Christmas Day here; so doing this in a hurry! I have had a Christmas eve that hasn't resembled any in the past. It's been good though. Last year we were freezing in Shere singing Carols in the Square; this year, I was in a t-shirt in the sunshine.

First off, it is a public holiday. Prophet's Birthday! Because the Islamic calendar is lunar based, it is the second time this year that we have a holiday for the same reason.

G, her friend and me headed to Festival City. I was looking for something specific in IKEA, and straight away got distracted and forgot. Good thing G remembered. Battery powered lights to put in the manger, or gingerbread houses etc. etc. Saw lots of other things too but nothing compared to what we saw when we went to Global Village! That's where my blip pictures are from today.

We got there at opening time, and left four hours later and hadn't even scratched the surface! It was busy as expected. The two nutcrackers in the thumbnail are life-sized and were in the Russian pavilion. First time that Russia are taking part. We bought freshly made pasta (yes!) from a street food stall near the amusement area; it was delicious. G says we've got to go back.

And then we called in at a friend to finally collect a package SweetArt sent from HK! Just in time... Sorry this blip isn't as Chrismassy as I'd like it to be, but I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy and Blessed Christmas. :D

PS. There's a couple of extras showing the site and Russia in particular. I haven't been to GV in the day time for AGES. And I wanted to post something from the Palestine pavilion especially as BBC World are doing live coverage from Manger Square this year, but couldn't get a decent picture.