HTMW Recaps: November 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. November felt really autumnal to me, with lots of beautiful light, golden leaves and the cooler days kicking in as we slid towards December and the start of the festive season proper. Quiet, peaceful, enjoyable.
‘I learned to know the love of bare November days.’ – Robert Frost.
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.
November saw us finish up our trip in Uzbekistan and fly home on the 5th. I celebrated Bonfire Night with a walk to Primrose Hill and some hot dogs. November felt extremely autumnal to me, with walks on Hampstead Heath, roast dinners and the slow slide towards thinking about Christmas and the festive season. I also enjoyed my annual visit to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. It was a quiet month but an enjoyable one.
The Highlights
Visiting Shah-i-Zinda in Samarkand.
Samarkand was not my favourite destination in Uzbekistan for several reasons. However, Shah-i-Zinda really stood out as one of the more beautiful architectural attractions in Uzbekistan that I visited.
Shah-i-Zinda is a necropolis located in the north-eastern side of the city. The necropolis contains more than twenty buildings. Legend has it that Kusam ibn Abbas, a cousin of the prophet Muhammad, is buried here. It is remarkable due to its stunning blue tile facades that greet you at every turn and the sheer intricate detail of it all.
For me, Shah-i-Zinda was the top attraction in Samarkand, even over the arguably more famous and touristy Registan. The day I went was chilly, but I wandered for an hour or more among the mausoleums none the less, soaking up the atmosphere of the place. It was the final proper ‘touristy’ thing I did in Uzbekistan, and I was thrilled to go out on a high note.
Nomadic Matt Traveller Meet Up.
I have been a follower of Nomadic Matt for a while now, so when he announced a meet up in London, I jumped at the chance to go along. I dragged E along too and we had a pleasant evening chatting to like minded individuals who enjoy travel as much as us!
It was nice to meet some new people in London and to have an arranged occasion to do so. I will definitely go again if another meet up is announced!
A roast and an autumnal walk on Hampstead Heath.
P and I spent an autumnal day mid-November eating a roast at a local pub before heading up onto the Heath for a good two-three hour walk. The day was bright and clear, chilly but otherwise perfect for a stroll. We ended up stomping right up to Kenwood House and, despite my protestations, took the muddy paths back through the grounds towards home.
The leaves were yellow, orange, red and it was a beautiful late autumn day. It was lovely to spend time outdoors and I felt grateful, once again, to have the Heath right on our doorstep in London. It has provided me with a brief respite from the city now more times than I care to remember.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition 2019.
I go every single year and without fail, it is a wonderful exhibition. It is usually emotive, beautiful and incredibly creative. I often find myself squinting at photos trying to work out how they’re taken! This year was no exception and I loved the exhibition, as usual. Z and I went along together and spent a couple of hours there. I bought my usual set of postcards before we headed off to the pub for a post-exhibition drink and some food! A perfect Sunday.
I would highly recommend going if you haven’t already. Tickets are £13.95 and it’s best to buy them in advance – you can do so here. I promise it’s one hundred percent worth it!
A festive day at Borough Market.
With the FR* Family Christmas marked in the diaries for 1st December (more on this in the December recap!), P and I headed to Borough Market on the 30th November to pick up some festive supplies. It turned out to be a typically lovely trip, involving tasty treats, mulled wine and a stroll along the Thames. We ended up at the South Bank Christmas Market. We browsed the stalls for a little while and then headed to Gordon’s Wine Bar for a glass of wine. It was the first day I felt properly festive, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
*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.
The Lowlights
Fire in Samarkand.
I go into this in a lot more depth in my post about this event. However, in short, this was definitely the low point of November 2019. Being involved in a fire, even one that wasn’t very bad and thankfully did not end tragically, shook both Mum and I up. It put a dampener on the remainder of our time in Uzbekistan and it remains one of my overpowering memories from our trip.
I will share many of the wonderful things we saw and did in Uzbekistan. However, if you’d like to know more about the fire and read my tips to safeguard against fire while travelling, you can find the post here.
Posts This Month
A Vegetarian in Uzbekistan.
It was easier than I thought to travel in Uzbekistan as a vegetarian. I was both relieved and excited to see a great array of dishes available to vegetarians in the country. It’s likely these options will only to improve with the advent of increased tourism in the country.
Read about my experiences as a vegetarian visiting Uzbekistan here.
What I Read This Month – November 2019
Becoming by Michelle Obama.
I have been holding out to read Michelle Obama’s autobiography for nearly a year, and I desperately wanted to love it when I finally picked it up. However, although it was interesting to read about her life, I ended the book wanting. I don’t know what I had expected, but the book I read was not it.
Learning about Michelle Obama’s younger life is quite compelling, but I wanted a little more from the time after she met Barack and their time in the White House. It felt like a vast quantity of the book was taken up by them being on the campaign trail, which is perhaps reflective of real life. However, I’d have loved for there to be more focus on her being the First Lady and how that felt.
I respect Michelle Obama and look up to her as one of the key women figureheads of our time. However, I just wasn’t as moved or fascinated by her memoir as I’d hoped I would be. She is a devoted mother, a proud and supportive wife and definitely a woman of the people. This shines through brightly in the book. Perhaps I longed for a snippet of gossip I didn’t already know or some nugget of intel that isn’t already available. Well, don’t expect that. This is Michelle Obama’s public story retold in her own words. She absolutely maintains her privacy around many things and this is completely fair enough.
I was not disappointed per se, just a little deflated when I finally finished the book. I’d recommend it if you’re a huge Obama fan. Otherwise, pick something else up.
Just A Little Run Around The World by Rosie Swale Pope.
An epic adventure. Swale Pope completes the impossible and runs the entire circumference of the world. Along the way, she crosses northern Europe, Siberia, Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Iceland. She experiences temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees, encounters bears and wolves, gets frostbite and nearly dies more than once. It is a tale of incredible tanacity, strength and endurance. A feat to go down in the history books.
It’s a shame, therefore, that the book is so poorly written. Swale Pope is a runner, but no author. The book is part diary, part monologue and just runs away right alongside Swale Pope. I grew frustrated as I read, as she skims over experiences and encounters that I longed to know more about, but delved deeply into some incredibly mundane details.
I wanted Swale Pope to focus her writing more. Pick some big, key tales to tell and build the book around those. Instead, she sticks rigidly to the chronology of her run, which makes some sense but is a poor reading experience. I continued reading only because of the simply amazing feat that she was undertaking. It was not because I was particularly entertained or found the book enthralling.
Read this book for the sheer courage and determination Swale Pope demonstrates. It is also useful to understand the logistics that go into planning and implementing such an undertaking. Don’t read it for the writing itself!
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
One of my favourite books of 2019 so far. Doerr weaves a brilliant story through the years leading up to and during the Second World War. He finally brings the two main characters together oh so briefly and beautifully before letting them part once more.
It’s no wonder it won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. This book is a work of art and is hauntingly beautiful. I was drawn in from the very first few pages and devoured it during our time in Uzbekistan. The book focuses in on how the war affected ordinary people in France and Germany. It told the story from a few key perspectives to ensure a wider view of the war and is set across varying time frames. These slowly converge together to that brief point in time when the two main characters meet.
The imagery this book conjures up is simply stunning and the stories within the book, woven together so beautifully, are a delight to read. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Instagram Pictures of the Month – November 2019
My photos this month are from London and around Uzbekistan.
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!
A Colourful Fresco – Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
This was one of my favourite images from Uzbekistan. The light was beautiful this evening and I wandered over to the madrassa with the intention of waiting for the people to clear so I could get a clear shot. However, my patience was thin and they didn’t move, so I took the photo anyway before the light faded. In retrospect, I’m glad the people are in the photo – they add scale and a little extra detail, but do not retract from the incredibly beautiful fresco or the gorgeous light patches shining through.
Christmas at the Natural History Museum – London, England.
I took this photo when we visited the Natural History Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. The ice rink had only recently opened for the season and the whole scene was suffused with this gorgeous golden light. The museum is one of my favourite buildings to photograph in London – there are several shots on my Instagram feed already – but the light makes this photo extra special.
Through the Window – Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Throughout our time in Uzbekistan, I’d been dying to get up onto the upper levels of a madrassa whenever we entered one to explore. However, this was the only chance I actually got to get up and see the building from slightly higher above. I chatted to the two shop keepers whose shops were on this upper level, then cast around for a good photograph opportunity. Luckily, this one presented itself almost immediately! I love trying to get a different perspective and feel like this image is definitely offers that!
My Favourite Image: November 2019.
This photo was taken during our walk on Hampstead Heath not long after I got back from Uzbekistan. It was another golden day, with the trees in full colour. We walked for a few hours around the heath, burning off the roast dinner we had just eaten. Kenwood House looked beautiful in the late afternoon sunshine so I took this photo to commemorate the day before we headed home.
Coming Up in December 2019
Christmas is, of course, coming up in December. I am excited to spend Christmas at home this year, after spending the 2018 festive season in Australia. With Christmas comes the usual build up – drinks, dinners, parties and other frivolities. I’m looking forward to a month of twinkling lights, too much food and alcohol and good will to all…
The General Election is also being held in December. I don’t hold out much hope that we’ll see a change to a Labour government, unfortunately. But we’ll see. I’ll be in London until the 20th when I head back to Wales to finish out the year.
Keep your eyes open and be sure to follow my Instagram feed and stories to see what I get up to!
