I woke up this morning to see a beautiful light covering of snow in Willesden, the area in London where I currently live. Because it was so cold, minus 4 degrees Celsius to be exact, light snow feel instead of the usual misty rain that we usually get.

It doesn’t snow that often here so I just had to go out and take some photos. The snow fell ever so lightly, very beautiful indeed. Here’s a photo of my street where you can see the light covering of snow on the road and parked cars.

We headed into the London city yesterday for some dinner and to check out the Christmas lights and winter decorations that were recently put up around the city.

We also headed to Carnaby Street and saw massive snowmen suspended between the buildings surrounded by snowflakes. These massive inflatable snowmen were suspended from cables above pretty much the entire length of Carnaby Street as well as other streets around the area. Very cool indeed.

Tonight Xuan and I visited the National Portrait Gallery which is located right behind the National Gallery (pictured below) on Trafalgar Square in London. We thought we’d check it out since it’s one of the recommended places to visit here plus entrance to the gallery is free.

We saw some really amazing paintings going right back to the 16th century featuring influential people throughout British history. The gallery also featured some spectacular photography. I was especially impressed by Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2008 exhibition which showcased the work of emerging photographers, students and even some gifted amateurs alongside professionals.

So if you’re in London and looking for something to do this winter that won’t cost you anything then go and check it out. It’s well worth it and a good way to escape the cold outside for a little while.

It’s been a little over three weeks since we arrived in London and it’s been pretty amazing. When we landed it was quite humid and the following few days were sunny and warm. The weather was much nicer than I had expected. It didn’t last long though. It rained a fair bit the following week which kept us indoors.

When the weather was good we got out and about and visited several of the touristy places around London like Piccadilly Circus, London Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Leicester Square and Camden Market. There are so many interesting places to visit here. It’s going to take us some time before we get to them all.

We’ve been doing so much walking my feet are like constantly aching. Luckily the transport here is great. Tube stations (underground railway) are scattered everywhere throughout the city. Most trains arrive every 2 to 3 minutes making getting around quick and easy. The only bad thing is the trains and tube stations aren’t air conditioned so they were pretty nasty when it was hot.

Anyways, I’ll be posting more about life in London in the coming weeks. In the meantime check out the photos from the last few weeks.