Ding Dong Merrily On High!

I thought I was sick of carols on Monday, but then the Pinkies did another carolling gig, this time on behalf of Marie Curie Cancer Care at Victoria Station last night. Then I realised I didn't truly know what 'sick' was. Let me first of all say that I am thankful that I do not have to take public transport to go to work since I cycle most places. The crush getting from home to the station was not a pleasant one, and not one I wish to experience again. On the flip side, however, it did mean that there were more people to see us sing.

In fact, I'm not sure we could have had a more different venue if we tried. First of all there was a constant stream of people walking from the underground to the train platforms. There was talking, announcements over the tannoy and flashing advertisements around us, so it was entirely different from the near empty streets of Soho last night. We could barely hear ourselves sing it was so noisy.

As events go, however, I think this time round was more successful because many more people stopped to listen and donate a bit of cash. After having spent most of yesterday's carolling trying to find harmonies for the six carols in our set, I was also more confident of singing out. In numbers we were fewer, but in music we were stronger.

When I was a tourist in London at Christmas many years ago I remember seeing a group of carollers performing outside Penhaligon's in Covent Garden. It was such a wonderfully twee scene, just thinking about it makes me feel all warm and mushy inside. So it is pretty wonderful to be view things from the other side, and even more so knowing that we are doing our bit for charity, and having a good time at that!