Recap of 2015 in photos

Ive been looking back at 2015, all the things I was lucky enough to see, do, experience. And when I see all these photos, it is really easy to see what a wonderful year it has been. Then again, its highly unlikely that a year, which starts out with furry purrers, to turn out badly right? ;)

*Warning: This is going to be a long post!! Grab a coffee or popcorn!

January started with my first visit to Lady Dinah's Cat cafe where I fell in love with the teddy bear of a cat called Petra followed by a massive bloggers afternoon tea at the Browns Hotel.

February was a quieter month with a quick escape to Cambridge, one of my favourite day trips from London.

March took me to Spain to see Valencia's Las Fallas festival. I was stunned and amazed by the often towering paper mache sculptures and the level of detail and care put into them. It was wonderful to see all the festivities accompanying the sculptures such as the Falleras parading down the streets, the music, street food stalls, street lights, daytime fireworks, Flower Offering, all culminating in the Crema - the burning of the sculptures.

In April I discovered a time portal in London, checked out the awesome stage adaptation of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime', made another trip to the cat cafe and sampled delightful macrons while discovering London's beautiful Mews.

May was a bit of a busy month. It threw me down Alice in Wonderlands rabbit hole where I became part of the Red Queens guard with the lovely Emma. I also managed to squeeze in a trip to Amman, Jordan and a jaunt to Margate and the mysterious shell cottage. Such a busy month demanded coffee and both a brunch at Beany Green and the London Coffee festival were happy to provide the requisite caffeine. I also voted in a UK election for the first time!

June was time for more theatre; A night at Shakespeare's Globe to see a Comedy of Errors, and the immersive kind, thanks to Punchdrunk's collaboration with The Maritime Museum.

July saw my dressing up in blue for my friends wedding in  Dole, France. It was brilliant to be part of such a special occasion and I fell in love with rural France. Back in London, I found my way to a cute little park with a memorial for everyday heroes and joined a tour of hidden treats in Piccadilly.

August was like May, but hopped up on caffeine. There was an abundance of good food, from finger licking slow cooked ribs to the zing of a Peruvian brunch, even Sushi Samba saw a repeat visit. I dodged Enigma Escapes Killer thanks to some quick thinking from my team and did a taster session at the Heartbreak Hotel. Bloggers were out in force too, with two trips to amazing sites, Eltham Place and the original home of Downton Abbey - Highclere Castle.

Crab Churros - Pachamama

 

Sushi Samba

Eltham Palace

Highclere Castle

The same day as Highclere Castle saw me make a mad dash back to London and the airport to fly to Dublin. I spent that long weekend checking out Ireland's Cliffs of Moher, Galway, driving along the Wild Atlantic way, traipsing back to the UKs Northern Ireland for a Black Cab tour of a troubled Belfast, walking in a giants footsteps at the Giant's Causeway and crossing a rope bridge to the site of the Iron Islands from Game of Thrones. Ireland's natural beauty is breathtaking, I'd love to hire a car and drive around at my own pace one day. And Dublin, what a fun city, live music, friendly people, and of course the bookworm paradise of Trinity College library, I'm still mega bummed that it was so touristy that they shuffled you around the ground floor and you couldn't reach the books or the upper level :( boooo!

Cliffs of Moher

Dublin - Temple Bar

Dublin - Trinity Collage Library

Diner en blanc launched for the first time in London in September. Thanks to the lovely Emma, I joined 1200 other guests in a sea of white for the most elegant picnic I've ever been to! Absolutely stunning. Later on I tried another cool cafe with decent coffee in Shoreditch and discovered London's second kitty cafe! September brings with it London Open House weekend and I was lucky enough to get a freebie ticket to see INSIDE the St Pancras Apartments - the clock tower one to be exact! I also managed to finally book myself in to the backstage tour run by the Theatre Royal and then walk across to see 'Heartbeat' by Charles Pétillon consisting of 100,000 white balloons floating above Covent Garden. The totally sweet Mandy invited me to join her at a private viewing of the Science Museums 'Cosmonauts' which was brilliant, really fascinating and I have been so remiss in not blogging about it yet, especially as we were given the privilege of taking photos inside! Lastly, for a change of pace, I did a bit of bird and otter spotting at London's Wetland Centre - it was so odd to see such a place in the middle of London!

Diner en Blanc in London

October involved brunching and exploring Exmouth Market, trying 101 Thai kitchen (the most authentic Thai restaurant I have come across so far in London) and my first work trip to Wroclaw, Poland where I got to see a real Lamplighter! Some very organised bloggers arranged a charming country outing filled with Autumn colours, fallen leaves, noisy ducks, a silk mill and idyllic countrysides vistas. I also finally got to see Austentatious, a brilliant improv theatre company, one that had me laughing weeks later.

I chose to escape to Seville in November for a few days to celebrate my birthday. It was great to walk around in warm 25 degree weather with crystal clear blue skies, dine al fresco and buy delicious biscuits from cloistered nuns. A lovely new brunch spot (Restaurant 34) was on the menu along with a repeat visit to 101 Thai Kitchen for a birthday dinner. Oh and Stomp, a West End percussion production high on buzzing energy - it really is amazing what you can do with the smallest items to make music.

December brought a whirlwind trip to Beirut, a beautiful lunch at Clos Maggiore, work xmas parties and all the festive decorations and atmosphere in London. It also was my first Chambers of Flavour experience, another one I have been remiss in blogging about. And lets not forget my trip home for the holidays :)

Quite the year! Part of me hopes 2016 will be bigger and better. Part of me wants to nap the whole way through to recuperate from 2015! Either way, it'll be another year in London and I'm sure, no matter what, I'll love it.

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What a year!

via

I made it! I made it! *happy dance* 2014 you tricky, nasty, crazy year you. You had some highlights, no doubt about that, but you stressed me out so much I almost gave up on London and you challenged me right down to the last few months! But I got through your roller coaster and now I've high hopes for 2015! I feel settled and sorted and that means that hopefully this year will less 'Arrrgh!' and more 'Wheeee!'

Travel plans
I'm already day dreaming of holidays and planning trips for the year ahead. First up will be a trip to Valencia for Las Fallas in March, if I can convince work to give me the week off. Has anyone been? Any tips? Then Amsterdam in May to finally visit the Anne Frank museum and check out the very cool flower festival Keukenhof. I'm also hopping over to the south of France in July to fulfil bridesmaid duties! Berlin and Budapest are still on my list so need to squeeze them in somewhere plus I'm way overdue for a trip to southeast Asia - Vietnam maybe?

Secret plans
...And I've a bit of a project I'm secretly working on which I'll be announcing when the terror of announcing it to the unidentified masses dies down to only occasional night terrors of ridicule and mockery instead of nightly.

Blogging plans
I hope that this year I wont fall off the blogging waggon and I'll be able to catch up with all the lovely bloggers I've had the pleasure of meeting. I also hope to write a bit more about the process of moving to London, so that anyone out there dreaming of making the move, can find some useful advice and tips here that will help them take another step towards making their dream a reality.

What are your travel or personal hopes for this year?

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Seasons Greetings

Only two more days till Christmas and just over a week till the New Year. As you have no doubt noticed, I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon. What happened was just life really. Pesky thing keeps getting in the way of my blogging!

Moving into my new home went well although the lack of furniture left me living out of boxes for a couple of weeks. Then came the food poisoning – can I just say, if you even want to be put off a food type, get food poisoning from it, after knocking me out for about a week, I went off fish – shame it wasn’t chocolate or glazed Krispy Kremes which keep popping up in my office. Around the same time, I had work deadlines which mean late nights at work and not a lot of time for much else. And then a head cold reared its ugly…head, just to round things off nicely.

 

But it hasn’t been all bad though! I mean come on, how can it be? I had a wonderful trip to Lisbon and tried the best Pasteis de Natas, caught up with my lovely Aussie mate A- (who lived in London before I did!), went to my first ever Panto and other theatre trips, as well as helping plan my work Christmas Pub Crawl/Scavenger hunt which was loads of fun – there gaudy plastic green sun glasses, 'bah-humbug' Santa hats, and sparkly reindeer headbands, really what more could you ask for? The pub crawl may have involved a punchy Shaun the sheep getting a taken down. There were witnesses. And photos. And how can I forget the recent treasure hunt around Covent Garden where I saw a snowman lick a bin, get advice on how to be a proper snowman (in case you're wondering, the advice given was that he should not have arms and fly) and have a scuffle with a penguin? You know you want to hear that story ;)

 

So, over the nice chunk of public holidays and weekends coming up, I'll be pulling myself up by my boot straps and preparing a whole host of blog posts for your reading pleasure in the New Year. What are you up to over Christmas and New Year?

Till then, whether you are away or at home, have a wonderful Christmas and New Year,

Sam

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Goodbye 2013, Welcome 2014! Reflections on New Years in London and Sydney

In a couple of days we will have said goodbye to 2013 and welcomed the new year. Last year I was lucky enough to spend it in London. I piled on the cold weather gear and made my way to Victoria Embankment so I would be able to see the clock tower of Big Ben and be Thame-side to watch the fireworks explode from the London Eye. The vibe was amazing, I'll never forget it. People were in high spirits, dancing in the street and generally having good time while waiting for the countdown to midnight.

This year (if all goes to plan) I will be hitting up my favourite spot in Sydney harbour to watch the fireworks in the warmth. I enjoyed London's fireworks and recommend making the effort to go see them if you haven't already but, in this firework-lovers humble opinion, Sydney has THE best fireworks in the world  ;)

At the close of 2011 I was on the edge-of-my-seat excited for the new year. It marked the start of my expat life in London and everything that I had dreamed. I remember standing there watching the fireworks shoot out of the Harbour Bridge, explode in the sky and light up the entire harbour. My eyes followed them each explosion reverberating inside my chest and increasing that feeling of being on the verge of a great adventure. I wondered when I would be home again and be back to see in a new year and what was in store for the time till then.

Needless to say, I had an amazing time. My time as an expat in London was well spent, even if I wish I had done more. I saw in the Queens Jubilee, visited the Lakes District, said hello to Edinburgh again, was able to show my brother around Cambridge and had many other explorations. I met some wonderful people whom I hope to keep as life-long friends and fell more and more in love with London, its afternoon teas, cute neighbourhoods and enchantment than on any other previous visit.

I am excited about 2014. I am keen for more adventures abroad (I am, after all, a die hard travel addict) and meeting a few more of my blogging friends in person. So as one of the first cities to welcome in the New Year, let me wish all of my lovely readers a brilliant New Year! May 2014 bring you travel, adventure, great laughs and good times with friends and family. Thank you for joining in my adventures on this blog, see you in the New Year!

With Love,
VP

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