We had a more sophisticated start to our New Year’s Eve than we normally would, with a visit to St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

It’s one of those buildings that you’ve seen a thousand times in photos, but it’s not until you see it in person that you can fully grasp the architectural mastery and sheer scale. As with most churches we visited, we weren’t able to take photos inside but with the impressive dome and chequered floors is was definitely one of my favourites.

Gotta love a busker who knows his surrealist art!

Next stop was the Tower of London, complete with tour by a Beefeater (don’t tell him I said that – their technical name is actually Yeoman of the Guard).

From there we caught a scenic cruise down the Thames. Which sounds delightful until I tell you that – since all the nice boats were presumably being readied for that night’s celebrations – they were clearly resorting to the nautical equivalent of period undies.

The rain was pouring in the leaking roof and the windows looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since 1995, making photography impossible.

Despite not even being four in the afternoon, it was dark by the time we arrived at Westminster Abbey (we clearly hadn’t quite adjusted from Australian summer time to a northern hemisphere winter).

That said, some sights are just as dramatic in darkness.

We went out for a surprisingly reasonably-priced degustation dinner at the Michelin starred tapas restaurant El Pirata, before making our way down to the Thames to join every single other person in London.

The fireworks were great and the atmosphere was totally buzzing – what a great way to start the year!

(Midnight sightseeing on the way home – as you do.)

Definitely a night to remember!