Day 7: The Penguin Parade
This morning we embarked on a search for the 12 penguin sculptures that are featured in the Fleet Street Quarter Penguin Parade. Each penguin is decked out in unique festive designs inspired by various artists and could be found in iconic spots like Chancery Lane, New Street Square, Ludgate Circus and Fleet Street. The trek took more than 13,000 steps to complete but we were able to find them all and get photos with each penguin. The path we took brought us down memory lane as we recognized spots we visited during our last trip London. It was a great way to get exercise as we try to balance the extra calories we are consuming with all of the amazing places we are eating!
We took a break back at our flat for lunch since we had some leftover charcuterie supplies and we were pretty chilled from our walk. After a couple hours we headed back out again to walk to Leicester Square. They have a Christmas Market there and it is also the location of the show La Clique. This is the 20th Anniversary of the show and we had tickets for the 7:30pm showing. At the Christmas Market, we visited a few of the merchandise stalls and pick up a couple of Christmas gifts as well as an ornament for our tree at home. We also tried some food from the German Sausage stall and the Cheese Wheel stall which was serving a variety noodle dishes. Then at a stall for some mulled wine and cider. To be honest, none of the Christmas Markets we have visited so far have been as good as the Christkindlmarket we have attended in Chicago. We are hoping either the Hyde Park WInter Wonderland or the Edinborough Christmas Market this weekend will live up to the hype. The one thing that has been as good as expected is all of the lights and decorations. They really do a wonderful job of decorating for the holiday here in London!
Our final activity of the day was to attend La Clique. This was a later add to our itinerary as I didn’t learn about it until after we arrived. I had only read a short review about it online, but is sounded good so we decided to book tickets. We were actually surprised at how good the show was for such a small venue. There were jugglers, acrobats and comedians at the show and all were very talented. Our seats were really close to the stage so we had a great view. We both thoroughly enjoyed and it and would definitely recommend it.
As we entered our flat at the end of the night, we had a total of over 16,000 steps. We have another 10 days to go before the end of our trip, and I will post the grand total on the last day to see where we end up!