HTMW Recaps: December 2019
I normally add a quote to the beginning of each post that sums up or enhances my writing. However, I’m going to use my monthly recaps as an opportunity to sum up the month – be it the mood, the weather, my feelings… Anything really. My favourite thing about spending the festive season in London and Wales is the lights. In the dark, cold winter months, the twinkling golden lights around the city help to brighten everything and add a festive sparkle. My quote this month reflects that.
‘It’s the lights that get me in the end. The candlelight bouncing off the oh-so-carefully polished glasses on the table; the dim, amber glow from the oven that silhouettes the golden skin of the roasting bird; the shimmering string of lanterns I weave through the branches of the tree.’ – Nigel Slater.
In January 2017, I announced I was going to start monthly recaps on my blog. If you missed last month’s recap, you can find it here.
December is always a hectic month. Christmas swings around again and December was, as expected, a month of parties and celebrating. I headed back to Wales for Christmas itself and had a relaxing week there before seeing out the year in lovely fashion at my friend’s house party.
The Highlights
FR* Family Christmas.
My sister lives down the road from me now, so we decided to hold a small Christmas at the beginning of the month. She and her housemate, plus P and I. I had so much fun cooking a big roast dinner for us all. We drank, had a laugh and listened to a lot of festive tunes to get us in the spirit! It was the perfect start to the Christmas season and it really made me want to cook the roast dinner at Christmas next year!
*I have abbreviated the name of our Christmas group to protect the privacy of myself, my sister and our housemates, since the original name includes details of the road we live on.
A really great gin tour in Central London!
I bought a gin tour for E for her birthday back in July, and we finally got round to doing it! It was a really fun evening, with a super knowledgeable guide who talked us through all the different gins while we tasted them. All of them were delicious! We ended up buying a bottle for our parents for Christmas and staying afterwards for another drink while we caught up. I would highly recommend this tour if you’re in the city and want a slightly unusual evening activity. It’d also be a great date night! Details here.
A brief visit to the Tower of London.
I got tickets to the Tower of London for A for her birthday. We met up, had a delicious Italian lunch in the sunshine and then meandered to the Tower at around 2.30pm (an hour and a half before the Tower closes). Imagine our surprise when the ticket officer asked us if we could come back another day as we didn’t have enough time to explore the site properly!
We didn’t have another time we could go back, so we whizzed around in an hour or so and managed to squeeze in everything we wanted to see. It’s not the best way of seeing the Tower, but we saw the Crown Jewels and explored the key parts of the site. I don’t feel like I missed too much. It was a fun, albeit brief, visit.
Visiting the gingerbread city at Somerset House.
E and I wanted to do something festive but cheap. What came up in our Google search? The gingerbread city exhibition at Somerset House. We spent an hour wandering through the exhibition, which includes buildings designed by over 100 of London’s architect, engineering and design firms. The display was really beautiful, with a cute model steam train running through all the gorgeous and cleverly designed buildings that compromised the city. I was very impressed!
Afterwards, we headed to South Bank, drank some mulled wine, took a ride on the carousel and ate roast dinner wrapped in a Yorkshire pudding before heading home. It was another lovely festive thing to do before Christmas – and I’d highly recommend visiting the gingerbread city next year! It was surprisingly great!
Plenty of festive celebrations.
Aside from the gingerbread city exhibition and the festivities with my sister and our housemates, I had the usual plethora of Christmas parties and gatherings with friends and colleagues. It was a very merry month. I had a lot of fun catching up with friends and hanging out with colleagues in a more social setting.
Lots of family time over Christmas.
I had an entire week back in Wales for Christmas, which was lovely. I hadn’t been home since August! As well as the opportunity to see my immediate family, we also had guests over the week, including my grandparents, some extended family and a close friend. It was nice to catch up with everyone and spend Christmas back in Wales after being away last year in Australia.
A fab New Year’s Eve party!
I had been tempted to have a low-key New Year’s Eve, but my arm got twisted to attend a small house party G was hosting. I’m so glad we went along! It was a really fun evening, with just a few friends, plenty of alcohol, party snacks and a right mix of music. G is also lucky enough to have an apartment facing the Thames so we could watch the famous London fireworks as the clock struck midnight! It was a great experience. Overall, this was a wonderful way to start the new year and see in January 2020.
The Lowlights
Being rammed onto a train back to Wales!
More of an irritation that anything, especially when I consider some of the other low points from 2019! However, this was a nuisance. I get annoyed that I pay so much for train tickets and then our train is delayed. My tickets home tend to cost around £50 return with a railcard. Without, they’d be closer to £70 return!
When it did finally turn up, the normally ten carriage train was reduced to five. The passengers were literally jammed into a train with half the capacity. The aisle was packed, the vestibules crowded and it was overall a stressful journey home. If I paid less for train tickets, I’d care less, but to be charged such extortionate amounts and then be treated like this really grinds my gears. And… rant over!
Posts This Month
Fire in Samarkand.
A post about our experience being in a house fire while in Uzbekistan, and my top tips to ensure you stay safe from fire while travelling.
Read the post here.
What I Read This Month – December 2019
The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather.
The Volunteer seemed like a good book to round out my year of reading more deeply into World War Two. On the face of it, it is a pretty incredible true story of a Polish resistance fighter, Witold Pilecki. He volunteered to go to Auschwitz and report back what was happening there. I simply cannot imagine the courage required to undertake this mission and go to one of the darkest places on earth voluntarily.
The book goes on to detail the years that Pilecki spent in Auschwitz, what he encountered, how he secreted his reports out of the camp and ultimately what happened to him. It is clear that Pilecki is an unsung hero of the Second World War. He should be more widely recognised for the extraordinary work that he undertook and his immense bravery in the face of the darkest adversity.
Unfortunately, I did find Fairweather’s writing a little dry at times. Additionally, the story got off to a relatively slow start. Once I got used to the dryness of Fairweather’s writing and the book was properly underway, it improved. Despite this, it’s a deeply interesting book about an incredibly brave, selfless man. I would recommend it if you want to learn more about the Second World War and the Holocaust.
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing.
One of the best books I read in 2019. The last book of the year, and what a book! What an incredible, unbelievable feat that Shackleton and his men achieved.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Shackleton and his crew of twenty seven men travelled to the Antarctic in 1914. They hoped to cross the continent from end to end. Instead, their ship, the Endurance, became ice bound and eventually broke up under extreme pressure. The twenty eight men survived the wreck. However, they now faced the biggest challenge of all – surviving an Antarctic winter on the ice.
They not only survived, but on occasion they actually thrived! The crew spent nearly two years in Antarctica. They finally enduring the biggest test of all – an 800 mile journey in a small life boat to reach the South Georgia Islands and get help. Every single man survived. They were all finally saved in August 1916, an incredible ten months after the Endurance finally sank.
This book absolutely gripped me. The tenacity, strength and courage shown by every single man is amazing. Shackleton has been named one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen and with excellent reason. He brought home all his men and left no one behind. He made courageous and difficult decisions under extreme pressure and in tough circumstances. I devoured the book in twenty four hours, enthralled.
I highly recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in the Antarctic, in adventure, in endurance and in survival. These are the ultimate adventurers. Thrown into extraordinary circumstances they dug in and pulled themselves through. You won’t want to put the book down, I guarantee it!
Instagram Pictures of the Month – December 2019
My photos this month are from London, Wales and there’s a throwback to New Zealand as well!
I choose these three images based on which got the most likes on Instagram and then tell the story behind the picture. Disclaimer: They are not necessarily my favourite photos!
Moody Mountains – Milford Sound, New Zealand.
A throwback shot to mark the fact that in 2018, I travelled to New Zealand and Australia for six weeks. Milford Sound is one of my favourite parts of New Zealand. As such, this image seemed fitting to share. On this day, I travelled to the Sound in heavy rain and high winds. When I first arrived, I couldn’t even see Mitre Peak! I grabbed a hot chocolate and strolled along the water front, watching the clouds shift in the winds. Finally, the rain eased and slowly, a calm descended. I ended up able to take hundreds of beautiful shots as the waters stilled and the clouds lifted. A day that came good!
Last Walk – Powys, Wales.
The train back to London was at 1pm. We had time for a quick walk before I had to leave, and took advantage of the beautiful morning to do so. At the top of the hill, we paused to catch our breath and I snapped this photo. The perfect end to a lovely week at home to celebrate Christmas.
Sunset on 2019 – London, England.
I posted this image on Instagram to wave goodbye to 2019 and usher in 2020. It was actually taken back in November, from the window next to my desk at work. Since we’re on the 14th floor, we get a gorgeous view across the city and on nights like this, the scene is just lovely. I love the streaks across the sky as the sun sets with the moody blues of the city below.
My Favourite Image: December 2019.
A late afternoon sky between rain showers. We walked across Waterloo Bridge after visiting the gingerbread city exhibition, on the hunt for mulled wine and other winter treats. The sky was rosy, pink tinged. I paused to take a few photos and this was my favourite. The city looks beautiful from this angle. Waterloo Bridge is definitely one of the best places to get photos of some of London’s classic landmarks!
Coming Up in January 2020.
January heralds my 31st birthday, which I’ll be spending in Cornwall. We’re staying in Penzance and plan on hiking a lot, exploring the town and enjoying the coast! I’m really looking forward to it!
Once back from Cornwall on the 6th, the month becomes quiet. It’s a long month money-wise and I want to try and save my pennies as much as possible. As such, I have no great plans. However, keep your eyes open and be sure to follow my Instagram feed and stories to see what I do get up to!
