Is this London or Narnia?
December 27th, 2010 by Zofia
We have had an unseasonably cold December in London this year. Since moving here 3 and a half years ago I have never seen a snowfall quite like we had this month! It was amazing!
One thing I have come to enjoy about this weather is just how beautiful London looks when covered in a layer of snow. It conveys a fairytale sense of a winter wonderland – oh how I love it!
One morning on the way to work, Green Park had been transformed into a white park! The old fashioned street lights in this park with the dusting of snow and the bare trees made me feel like I had just walked into Narnia.
The following day was a Saturday and I awoke to a very heavy snowfall. I sat inside my house with a hot drink in hand and just watched the snow fall furiously outside. There is something quite hypnotic about watching the snow as it floats and swirls and softly lands on the ground. It is so different from the violence of rain or hail.
By the afternoon the snow had stopped falling so heavily and so I decided to venture outdoors with my camera and capture the transformation of the city. I walked to Holland Park where I was astounded by how white the gardens had become. There were also lots of other people out and about enjoying the snow which was nice to see.
My favourite spot in this garden is the Kyoto Garden, a peaceful Japanese garden with a waterfall and pond. It was completely transformed by the snow and just a lovely as ever.
Finally I came across the big sports field in the garden which now appeared to be a snowman making factory! There were snowmen EVERYWHERE!!!! Big ones, small ones, fat ones, thin ones, ones with three parts to the body, others with only two parts to the body – it was quite a sight!
So I decided that it would be fun to make my own snowman! I have never made one before and neither had my flatmate who was also visiting the park. We started to put some snow together and then had a group of boys laughing at us and our technique. They then challenged us to a competition for who can make the better snowman. We borrowed their technique of rolling the snow balls and ended up with two snow-people – a boy and a girl whom we named Fred and Wilma! We even gave them arms that are holding one another. I am very proud of my efforts with making Fred, his face is made of leaves and his spiky hair is made from twigs. The boys who challenged us just ended up making a giant snowball about the size of a small person and then gave up and left the park! I think we won the competition 
I was very hopeful for a white Christmas but unfortunately the snow eventually melted away and had basically gone by the time Christmas rolled around.