Wanderings in 2016

Every year, in December, I write a letter to my future self. In it I reflect on the year that's just been and think about my plans for the coming year. When I open that letter a year later, it's strange because the words filled inside describe times that are now two years ago. I like it though, because it's fun to see what things I had predicted for the year and to think of things I did or places I went that I had no idea would happen at the beginning of the year.

These posts are another way to look over the year that's gone and recognise how much I have crammed in. Even when the year has been tough or seemed uneventful or were filled with adventures or even when I wrote about the year in review in September!

These posts help me remember all the things I did, but also put into perspective when these all happened. They have a tendency to blur slightly into one, but going through the photos, I realise that my afternoon tea down the rabbit hole was actually before my visit to the switch house at the Tate Modern and that I went to the Hampton Court Flower show in July, not August.

This year was characterised by one main event; handing in my dissertation. In my 2015 letter, I wrote that I hoped I would get this done but I remember when I wrote that it was so far from my grasp that I didn't think it would ever be over. As I write this I am 1,100 words into my final MA assignment. It's been a hard slog, but it's finally nearly done and I couldn't be more relieved. I am already making plans for post-MA stresses!

Onwards to 2017, Happy New Year!

January

I returned to Berlin with friends Jasmin and Siobhan to celebrate Jas turning 30. This trip was very different to my last - when I visited during my inter-rail trip. Much less pub crawl/hangover and a lot more actually experiencing the city (with a bigger budget to boot!)

I never got round to writing a post about this trip, which is pretty much the theme of this blog and all my trips this year. Re-reading my reflections here, I stand by what I wrote. This is actually interesting as it relates to one of my trips later on this year too.

February

Ah, birthday month! By this time, we had just entered the period of lent through which I had decided to give up meat and be vegetarian. This meant, that I had a special order for the afternoon tea that I went to at Fortnum and Masons to celebrate turning 31. Ne big deal though, because there's no meat in the cakes (or scones that we took home by the box load!)

March

Once again I was up in Oxford, my second student group arrived and we headed to my brother's house for mother's day celebrations. Needless to say, I am fairly familiar with the city now!

April

Jasmin's birthday present from us girls; Alice in Wonderland inspired Afternoon Tea at the Sanderson hotel. I wrote about it in detail, and have a draft post about London's best Afternoon Teas waiting for me to actually finish writing it (in 2017 maybe?!) Anyway, this was really one of my most favourite!

May 

Hmm, May... firstly I had a great little work treat on the 5th May when one of the girls suggested ordering burritos for Cinco de Mayo. It was a lovely day so I wandered out to one of the nearby squares and slipped off my shoes whilst enjoying a little spring sunshine. 

On the 17th I handed in my dissertation. Much to my own amazement I finished it, and even managed to pass which was a miracle in itself!

Finally in May I took my mum for her Mother's day surprise at Hever Castle in Kent (Childhood home of Anne Boylen). I also made a video of this little trip.

June

We managed to pull off a surprise offspring reunion for my mum's birthday, and ended up at a French restaurant on Bermondsey Street which was so great. I can't wait for another excuse to go back.

My netball team ended our losing streak by finally winning the last game of the season. I was totally ill-prepared to run a 5k but managed to drag myself over the finish line at the colour run.

July

I took my Dad to the Hampton Court Flower show on the final day, and watched the chaos of people at the end of day hussling to bag a bargain. I came away with a lavender plant that I have since managed to kill and a lovely picture of restored pages from an old Winnie the Pooh book.

I took a random day off and visited the newly opened Switch House gallery at the Tate Modern and wandered around the galleries sometimes impressed, sometimes disdainful.

In July I also broke my finger at Netball but didn't realise for a few weeks and subsequently have a bend in the end of my finger forever more.

August

I took a solo trip to Greece, and mostly had a relaxing break in the sunshine. I say mostly, as it was punctuated by various people's amazement that I was alone and generally being a bit lost in the evenings. Basically I wouldn't recommended a solo trip to a small Greek Island.

I got about a bit in London in August as well - going Barmy for Sarnies with Siobhan, having afternoon tea at the Houses of Parliament, and using my bonus work holiday to explore a very sunny Kew Gardens.

September

I had a bit of a disappointing Open House weekend in London. I chose the Treasury to explore, only to find out that you actually don't get much access and by the time you realise this, the queue for the Foreign and Commonwealth office  - where we wanted to visit next - is massive. Next time I will be more prepared and plan correctly ahead of time!

In a complete turn around from the previous season, we were unbeaten in our netball league and got a shiny medal to prove it!

October

My plan had been to visit Bosnia in August, but plans got changed and I finally got myself there in October. My friend Vanessa joined me there and we had a lovely couple of days in the city. I took a day trip to Mostar where I was blessed with wonderful blue skies and managed to meet a couple of nice ladies from Singapore who I chatted with over lunch.

I was able to delve a little into the sad history, walked through a small remaining part of the tunnel of hope (which kept the city alive during the siege), and had an eventful night at a quirky local pub where a German man was celebrating his birthday by buying us drinks of (cheap and questionable quality) wine served in metal goblets. As I always say to Ness, when I'm out with her we ALWAYS have a random encounter with strange characters!

We decided to stay in a hostel in a private room, but this was right next to the common room where people were extremely noisy. This was a reminder that I would rather stay somewhere not as cheap and quiet than in a hostel in future!

November

Fireworks at Southwark Park as part of a very large and international crowd was the best!

Dinner in an old tube carriage was fairly cold but exceptionally cool!

Letting my brother choose the film we went to see at the Electric Cinema in Shoreditch was a mistake! (snooze!)

I look weird because I had just woken up. Ha!

December

And so to the final month of the year.

Mum and I headed off to Switzerland to discover the Christmas market of Montreux. We had a lovely room at a big hotel in the town with a lake view. Unfortunately we didn't get (what were likely) wonderful views of the lake, as the weather was foggy for the whole 3 days. 

We made the most of the trip, despite the rubbish weather. Visiting the nearby castle and nearest town Vevey. I had not heard of this part of the world before, but apparently both Charlie Chapin and Freddie Mercury were frequent visitors and Chaplin is even buried in Vevey.

The end of December has been a whirlwind of Christmas parties (how could we not win the fancy dress prize as the Holly and the Ivy?!). I'm looking forward to my New Year's celebrating with friends and heading into 2017 with positivity!

Walking in the rain in Berlin

One of the things we took advantage of on offer at our hostel in Berlin was the daily 'free' walking tour. Now this isn't actually free and I'm glad that I now know this, as I wasn't aware on my first backpacking trip to Europe in 2007 and was super surprised when we got to the end of the free walking tour to be asked for money. As a poor backpacker I had embarked on the tour to save some money... only to then not have saved any! This time I went in thinking 'this is a €10 tour'. 

We were collected by our guide (the first of two) in the reception of our hostel and walked along to Pariser Platz, in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Here we were herded to a large swarm of other tourists waiting to be split into groups for their own walking tour. At this point our guide Konstantin gave us a numbered ticket and promptly disappeared into the crowd.

We ended up in the English language group and finally our number was called to join Lynsey, from Scotland, for the tour to actually begin. 

We didn't have great conditions for it, as it rained the entire two hours. Lynsey was knowledgable and engaging however and the tour was interesting. It brought back memories of the cycling tour I did with Macey and Joe all those many moons ago.

The only negative point of the tour was the pit stop we made around an hour and a half into the tour. This is obviously where all of the tours stop, and apparently all at the same time. Lynsey gave us 10 minutes to go in, use the toilets and buy a drink if we wished. I was lucky to get in the toilet queue before it started to snake up the stairs. But I also wanted a warm drink (since we'd been out in the cold for so long). This involved waiting a bit longer and being late back to the group. That was a bit of a shambles. The cafe obviously has an agreement (and probably a commission) with Sandemans tour operator but who brings everyone there at exactly the same time and expects them to be in and out within 10 minutes?!

It was a shame about the weather, since it cleared up as soon as we finished the tour. I'm still glad we went along though. Walking tours are such a great way to get a grip on a new place and get a run down of interesting places and some of the back story of the city, especially if you don't have a lot of time there. 

Me looking at the annoying people with their massive umbrellas ruining my photo!

This is inside the Holocaust memorial in Berlin (which is actually called 'Memorial to the Murdered Jew of Europe' a somewhat evocative title). I think this is a really significant sculpture/memorial. The fact that the meaning has never been explained by the artist is important, in my opinion anyway. There are theories to what all the stones symbolise, and they all seem plausible. Walking through I was definitely struck by its power. The stones are all different sizes, and as you get into the middle they tower above you, they are close together so it's not easy to pass other people. It's dark and disorientating. You can hear other people but you don't know whether they are about to pop out from behind the stone in front of you or if their voices are just carrying along from further away. There are some dead ends as well. It's an experience, more than just looking at a statue or fountain and being completely disconnected from its meaning. This memorial takes you inside of it, makes you feel uncomfortable and bring up real emotion. 

Some of the stones have started to crack. Which really seemed to add something to the memorial.

Even though I've seen it before; in Berlin and also at the Imperial War Museum in London, I was still struck by the Berlin Wall. It just seems so small and flimsy. How could this little wall have done so much damage?

Of course, the Berlin wall that separated East and West Berlin wasn't just this little piece of concrete, it was also watch towers, soldiers with guns and a no mans land 'death strip' filled with sand. It's still interesting to come face to face with this notorious piece of history and think 'is that it?!' 

Strange to be here looking at this wall, dividing a city, built to keep inhabitants within one country and there may be another wall erected soon across the Atlantic there to keep others out. Seems like we have learnt nothing.

We ended the tour in Bebelplatz. The site of Nazi book burning in Berlin. There is a memorial here for the approximately 20,000 books burnt on the 10th May 1933. This is also a moving memorial, as you look into a basement through a glass window, all you can see are rows and rows of empty book shelves. Enough to hold the number of books lost that night. Such a terrible part of history but marked and remembered in appropriate and significant ways.