5 things to do in December

We do not believe in tip-toeing through December with a finger to our lips lest we provoke 2016 into some final act of savagery: we’re going to drain the year to its last drop and lay the foundations for a really rather wonderful 2017. Join the Serpentine Swimming Club It’s too late (perhaps fortunately) for the uninitiated to take part in this year’s Christmas Day race, so we’ll be watching, snug in our overcoats, from the banks of the Serpentine come Christmas morning. As the competitors emerge, however, glowing with a sense of wellbeing, perhaps we’ll be a little envious and join up in preparation for next year. Book a table at StreetXO David Muñoz is bringing his strange, slightly sinister but definitely delicious culinary ideas to London. Having won three Michelin stars in Madrid at DiverXO, he has little to prove but if the reviews are anything to go by he’s still challenging himself as well as diners’ taste buds. Buy your tickets for Kempton Boxing Day just wouldn’t be Boxing Day without the King George VI Chase. Click here for information about tickets, travel (and of course the dress code). Pop in to Heywood Hill… Some people find the run up to Christmas rather stressful. We believe it doesn’t have to be. What could be better for the soul that a peaceful hour or two ticking off one’s Christmas list among the well-stocked shelves of Mayfair’s most revered bookshop? …then toddle over to Berry Brothers The dignified calm of a bookshop may only really be matched by the atmosphere within that St James’s stalwart, Berry Bros. & Rudd. Armed with a case of Good Ordinary Claret, perhaps another of their Extra Ordinary Claret and a bottle of The King’s Ginger, suddenly the rest of the year is looking really rather promising. Chin-chin!