Celebrating Holidays in London

By "Holiday," I'm not talking "Vacation!"

This year I spent Thanksgiving in London. I have to say, it was rather strange, interesting and different! This actually marks the first time I spent Turkey Day away from home. At least I was able to Skype in to the dinner table to see what I was missing.

Professor Vinter preparing the table

In fact, it just made me miss my family and the wonderful food. While I really enjoyed spending Thanksgiving with the GIL group, thanks to Professor Vinter opening her home to each and every one of us, it just was not quite like home.

Perhaps it was a mixture of the house cat, which most of you know would bother my allergies, the food and me missing Chicago family and friends. However, you can always count on Grace to brighten up everyone's day and keep people smiling. Grace is Professor & Professor Prevost's baby who often cheers everybody up, with her compliments, high-fives and gifts, including coasters and her sippy cup, on various field trips throughout the term.

Professor Prevost & Grace

Needless to say, I am looking forward to spending Christmas at home. Perhaps spending Christmas here would be different that Thanksgiving as it is a holiday and actually celebrated in Europe. It was definitely weird being in a country where most people do not even have a clue as to what Thanksgiving is or when it is celebrating.

However, it is only fair as I was not exactly sure what Guy Fawks Day was, which essentially celebrates the preservation of the British Parliament as Guy Fawks did not succeed in destroying it. To find out more about Guy Fawks Day, click on the link!

It is interesting to me what holidays and celebrities are internationally known. How people do not know about Guy Fawks, Thanksgiving and even Joe Biden, but people do know about President Barack Obama, Kanye West and even less popular artist like Kendrick Lamar or even Rockie Fresh.

Flatmates/Friends: Lorraine & Aniela (Left)
Friends: Claire,  Caitlin & Vilma

Prior to coming abroad, I teased my mom and told her I would go from London to Rio and then straight to Grinnell. Not to be a cliche, but spending Thanksgiving abroad really reminded me of the significance of family and friends, which is what I was most thankful for this year.

Cigar Museum

Teddy admiring some of the oldest cigars in the UK

With time running out, I have decided to take advantage of every opportunity presented to me. See all I can, while I can is still the motto. When my flatmate told me he was going to a cigar museum I thought sounds interesting, despite the fact that I don't smoke cigars. Nevertheless, thought it would be interesting. Needless to say it was!

This free Museum is located at 19 St James's Street. Many of the items on display go back to the time of the shops opening in 1787. Winston Churchill was actually a regular at James J Fox's cigar shop.  In fact they even had the very chair he typically sat in. See the photo below.

I thought it was time well spent as it was another opportunity of a life time. How many people can say they go to sit in "The Sir Winston Churchill Chair?"

Among Sir Winston Churchill other infamous customers are Oscar Wilde, British and Foreign Royalty, various actors and actresses on the  stage, in films, on tv, on the radio, and even musicians, writers and athletes.

Thought this thermostat controlled humidor was cool