When I realised in early 2020 that Boxing Day (aka my birthday) fell on a weekend, meaning that taking only three days of annual leave could lead to a ten-day holiday, I was set on making the most of it. I hadn't skied in a couple of years and so decided that skiing in Quebec would be a good shout.
Of course, this was pre-pandemic, and covid certainly had other ideas for me. As November dawned upon us, I realised that travelling over the Christmas holidays was going to be a bit of a feat. Nonetheless, there were still some travel corridors available. Canada was likely out of the picture, so I set my sights on a tropical destination instead, including Aruba or the Seychelles.
I refused to book anything until mid-December as the government has frequently changed the rules at the last possible moment, and less than a week before the big day, the government announced that London would be placed under a new tier, which meant all restaurants and bars would be closed except for takeaway, and travelling was prohibited. This meant that not only did we have to stay in London, but even within London our options were extremely limited. Despite having been brought up in London, I'd only actually spent two Christmases in the UK as we usually used the opportunity to visit family or travel. Regardless, the show must go on and so I got over it and started to figure out ways to keep entertained over ten entire days at home.
During the Christmas build-up, which is one of my favourite parts of the holiday, I truly got into the festive spirit, playing Christmas songs, watching the classic films and even reading a couple of Christmas-themed books. I managed to treat my family to a meal in one of London's Winter Igloos, and even sent out cards to a few university friends that I don't get to visit often. My mum went all-out and bought several festive decorations for the house, including not only the typical wreath and fairy lights, but several ornamental animals, trees, and stars to maintain the festive spirit. Talk about go big or go home. We had a virtual Christmas party at work and I was ecstatic upon receiving my first ever hamper from my senior managing directors. I worked on Christmas Eve, which ended up being rather productive, then wrapped up all of my Christmas presents to put under the tree, and in the evening my family attempted to play a game of monopoly which I, unfortunately, did not win.
Oddly enough, the weather on Christmas Day was spectacular (cold but sunny - my favourite) and the day itself was very enjoyable; it started with a morning run through the park with my dad, followed by my first attempt at a typical British Christmas Dinner. I'd helped my flatmate in third year make a Christmas dinner, and decided it would be a good skill to learn. This took me the whole morning, and apart from a couple of mishaps (namely the cauliflower cheese sauce being far too liquid and the veg initially being undercooked) it turned out delicious and my family thoroughly enjoyed it. In the afternoon, we unwrapped our presents and I was extremely grateful for everything I received - I genuinely loved all of my gifts and they showed a lot of thought. My favourite had to be a 1.5l bottle of my favourite wine from my dad, which he thought was hilarious. We then went for an afternoon walk in the park and it seemed like every other household in the area had had the same idea as I have never seen the park so crowded. When we returned, we treated ourselves to some melted Camembert and then played some board games together, which we rarely do since my parents aren't the biggest fans of board games. As it got dark, we decided to make the most of Christmas Day's congestion charge exemption in London and see the lights, however we quickly realised that this was a bit of a mistake. We drove up to Nelson's column and were placed in quasi-stand-still traffic for about twenty minutes, after which point we took the back streets to the most impressive light displays before returning home. After watching a couple of films, we called it a night and went to get some rest before one of the most important days of the year: my birthday.
Given that my birthday is on Boxing Day, I very rarely spend the day in London, however given that this year I had no choice in the matter, I started planning ways to enjoy the day whilst following the covid guidelines. Before Tier 4 was announced, I'd planned to have brunch, then go for afternoon tea at the Dorchester with my family, where a jazz band was supposed to be performing, followed by drinks. Some might think that wasn't too much to ask for, however the new covid strain disagreed. Nonetheless, my parents made a big effort and the day was very wholesome. I took my parents to a local café for a takeaway coffee, and then my mum made me one of my favourite breakfasts: eggs royale. Since the weather was slightly gloomy, we decided to start watching the Queen's Gambit on Netflix, which we all really enjoyed, followed by a very lovely lunch. I opened my presents and then we watched Disney's new film, Soul, which was not what I'd anticipated at all but was decent, followed by more board games. The day was very relaxing, and I loved my helium balloons alongside my favourite cake: the humble Colin the caterpillar. Before bed we watched the Big Fat Quiz of the Year, and then got ready for a few more days of relaxation.
Over the following week, we did a lot of the same things, including playing board games, going for walks, and watching films. A couple of cheeseboards didn't hurt either. My mum had bought two new board games, both of which I enjoyed a lot: Who Knows Where and 221B Baker Street. We walked through every park in our area and ate a lot of delicious food, and in my own time I painted another Paint by Numbers, baked a Victoria sponge (another British classic) and read a couple of books. For an easy but entertaining watch, I'd recommend the BBC series Love Life or the Netflix mockumentary Death to 2020.
New Year's Eve ended up being very mellow as well, however we're very lucky in that we get a great view of fireworks from our living room, so we managed to continue our Portuguese tradition of eating twelve grapes and drinking champagne whilst watching the firework display. I reflected on my 2020 resolutions, which you can read more about here, and determined my resolutions for 2021.
This year's holidays have been different for most people and although it wasn't what I'd anticipated, I was very lucky to be able to spend it with my family and am very grateful for that. It was wholesome and relaxing, which is what I needed, and I'm hopeful that 2021 will provide a bit more normality.
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