The Underwhelming Before Christmas

Still backblipping.

Today's weather forecast had promised brighter conditions again but it turned out to be only glimpses so after an earlyish run and a toasted cheese bap we decided on a micro trip back to Rochester with the intention of starting our Christmas shopping. 
I know! I know! We should have already had it completed it by now but for some reason it seems to get later every year as we appear to need the stress of time running out to crank through those yuletide present buying gears.
Of course as soon as we arrived we thought we needed a pint to oil those shopping wheels so we popped into The Royal Crown, where we were greeted with a decidedly lukewarm welcome, which we intended to follow up with a stroll through the castle grounds only to find they were completely closed off due to the dismantling of the previous weekend's Christmas Market - which seemed a bit odd as there was still a week to go until the big day itself. Not a great start to our visit and it proved to be a bit of harbinger of things to come.
The town centre felt distinctly underwhelming too - we'd expected it to be thronging with crowds but it seemed more like the first few days of January than the run up to Christmas. There were very few shoppers out and about, the cafes, bars and restaurants looked half full at best and there was very much a lack of festive spirit. My shot was just about the only colourful thing I saw on our visit - a shop window with its vibrant pink frame and an eclectic display of Disney characters, a Santa hat wearing Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas (quite apt in the circumstances!), some candy canes, lollipops and the odd stray strand of tinsel.
By the time we left I must admit we were feeling a little downcast and dispirited with the added bonus of having completed no Christmas shopping whatsoever! Sorry if that all sounds a bit Grinch!
We were later cheered up by a couple of glasses of wine watching the Portrait Artist Of The Year commission programme on Sky. Whilst we didn't agree with Brogan Bertie as the winner of the final, this episode really showed you what a lovely, thoughtful and engaging chap he is and the portrait of Lorraine Kelly was a triumph in my opinion. A much happier note to end the day on!