So it's Christmas eve. The festivities are well and truly apon us. Or are they?
I've been sensing an undercurrent of 'not feeling christmassy' this year and have been wondering why that is.
I think the unseasonably warm weather might have something to do with it. People do seem to associate December 25th with a crisp cold winters day.
The wearing of wooly jumpers and warm boots. The childhood reminiscences of trudging outside in the icy sludge after dinner to try out your new bicycle, roller skates or remote controlled car.
Sitting indoors by a roaring fire, drinking hot chocolate or mulled wine.
The Danish have a word "hygge" (pronounced "hooga") to describe this kind of feeling. It roughly translates to mean cosiness, and can be used to describe creating an atmosphere of warmth and comfort, spending a happy relaxed time with family and friends, or the types of items that reflect this feel, such as candles, soft furnishings and open fires.
I think most people would agree that Christmas is usually a very "hygge" time. A time of tradition and reflection.
I believe the clement weather dulls this usual yuletide feeling somewhat.
Or perhaps it's a cynicism that comes with ageing...
I do reflect more now on the pointlessness of Christmas, as I spend months searching for the ideal gifts for my friends and family. The exact same gifts that I was looking at last year or the year before!
I feel as though we may as well stand in a circle and pass money to the person on our left, then the following year pass it back to the right.
Present buying seems ultimately more pointless and a waste of money.
I feel like there should be more to Christmas than bottles of flavoured vodka, iPhone touch gloves and self stirring mugs, especially when some people go without.
Of course it's different for the Children in the family. The time is magical for them and I believe they should be thoroughly spoiled.
I just feel like there's too much commercialism and too much pressure to conform. I want to help people more, especially at this time of year, and spread some "hygge" love to those that have little.
So I volunteered to do some money collecting, and I sorted out a load of clothes to donate.
I've done a bit, although it's only small.
Why not try and do something small yourself too. You never know the difference it could make to someone's life.
If you spread some Christmas joy you might end up feeling more christmassy yourself.
Thursday, 24 December 2015
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Dreamland frosted fairground review
On Saturday my family ventured into Dreamland's Frosted fairground.
My husband and I had previously visited Dreamland on their opening night but we were yet to take our four year old, and weren't sure if he would want to go on any rides, so the free entry and token ride system seemed like the perfect chance to try it out and see what he thought.
We were there for 6 hours in total! As I expected, our son was a bit nervous of some of the rides but he still had a turn on quite a few of them, as did we.
I thought that the atmosphere at the park was lovely. The vast majority of the staff present a happy face to the visitors. There were Christmas stalls with unusual wares, such as upcycled clothes and vintage style games.
The cold winter air was filled with foamy fake snow from the snow machine that was sporadically running, and the December breeze was circulating this around the park, making for quite a festive atmosphere.
I've seen a few folk moaning online about Dreamland's pricing for individual rides and whilst I would agree that it did work out expensive for us, it was a good chance to get a feel for the park and know wether it would be worth the entry fee in the future.
The average cost for rides seemed to be 3 tokens, each token being £1, although there were some 4 token ones, and the scenic railway is 5 tokens.
£5 per person does seem a bit steep for one ride as normal entry for the whole park is around £15.
I didn't think there were enough 1 or 2 token rides really. But I guess that's the way to bring back repeat business, if you can't afford to ride everything with the token system, maybe you'd come back when the entry fees are back in place.
Overall though we had a great day and will certainly be returning.
I especially loved the bumper cars. In the 90s it seemed that all bumper cars became 'dodgems' and crashing was forbidden, but that rule has gone out of the window now! Back to the classic bash and crash Bumpers!
My son enjoyed the mini motorbike merry-go-round and the big slide.
My husband had a go on the scenic railway but thinks that the hour long queue was too long.
The best value for money seems to be the membership if you can afford the lump sum. It would certainly save money if you're planning on going regularly.
With a small child not yet at school I think I shall be looking into getting a membership and spending more time at Dreamland next year with my son.
My husband and I had previously visited Dreamland on their opening night but we were yet to take our four year old, and weren't sure if he would want to go on any rides, so the free entry and token ride system seemed like the perfect chance to try it out and see what he thought.
We were there for 6 hours in total! As I expected, our son was a bit nervous of some of the rides but he still had a turn on quite a few of them, as did we.
I thought that the atmosphere at the park was lovely. The vast majority of the staff present a happy face to the visitors. There were Christmas stalls with unusual wares, such as upcycled clothes and vintage style games.
The cold winter air was filled with foamy fake snow from the snow machine that was sporadically running, and the December breeze was circulating this around the park, making for quite a festive atmosphere.
I've seen a few folk moaning online about Dreamland's pricing for individual rides and whilst I would agree that it did work out expensive for us, it was a good chance to get a feel for the park and know wether it would be worth the entry fee in the future.
The average cost for rides seemed to be 3 tokens, each token being £1, although there were some 4 token ones, and the scenic railway is 5 tokens.
£5 per person does seem a bit steep for one ride as normal entry for the whole park is around £15.
I didn't think there were enough 1 or 2 token rides really. But I guess that's the way to bring back repeat business, if you can't afford to ride everything with the token system, maybe you'd come back when the entry fees are back in place.
Overall though we had a great day and will certainly be returning.
I especially loved the bumper cars. In the 90s it seemed that all bumper cars became 'dodgems' and crashing was forbidden, but that rule has gone out of the window now! Back to the classic bash and crash Bumpers!
My son enjoyed the mini motorbike merry-go-round and the big slide.
My husband had a go on the scenic railway but thinks that the hour long queue was too long.
The best value for money seems to be the membership if you can afford the lump sum. It would certainly save money if you're planning on going regularly.
With a small child not yet at school I think I shall be looking into getting a membership and spending more time at Dreamland next year with my son.
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