Results matching “Christmas”

As I was in Newcastle, I decided to take a visit of Newcastle Castle (also known as Castle Garth). The site of the castle contains a small patch of the grounds, the castle keep, and the barbican. The barbican (now known as the Black Gate), was my first stop. The barbican was surrounded by a small moat; the upper floors were added in the 1600s. Today, these rooms are a museum.

Black Gate

From the upper floors of the barbican, the inner courtyard can be seen as well as a pit in the ground known as the Heron Pit, named after a corrupt sherrif of Northumberland who had the pit (used as a prison) installed above his quarters.

Black Gate

Black Gate inner yard

A castle occupied its current location on top of a hill before the 1080s when the Norman castle was constructed. By the middle ages in the late 1200s, the king visited; Edward I had Christmas at the castle.

Black Gate inner yard

Heron Pit

Part of the grounds between the castle keep and barbican and below the bridge was the location of a church with at least 600 human remains buried beneath. The church was in existance before the castle, and the walls of the castle were built around it. It was known as Monkchester, suggesting it was built near a Roman fort known as Pon Aelius. The cobble stones near here mark where the Roman fort was located.

Pons Aelius

After looking at the grounds, I went into the castle keep, which is well-preserved and contains many rooms to look around. Some of the rooms contained items similar to what would have been in the rooms, and the garderobes had the wooden toilet holes over them. The Great Hall looked impressive with its high ceiling and balconies over the side (which would have been opened later). Also near the top of the keep was a well room, and the well was noted at being 99 feet deep with the stone basins on either side of the well containing lead pipes that could pipe water through other areas of the keep.

Castle keep

Officer's room

Well room and well

One of the other rooms in the keep had grafitti dating from the Civil War (1600s). Troops were stationed here.

Garderobe, grafitti from Civil War, original wooden beams

After visiting the Great Hall and other rooms, I walked up the winding staircase to the top of the keep where I admired the excellent views. Panels on the top discussed the railways and bridge. The tracks are very close to the castle and would have gone through the castle; I am glad that they prevented this and saved the beautiful castle.

Views from top

Next, I headed all the way down the winding staircase to the lower floors. Down here was a cellar that was used for storage and then later as a prison at one time, and the iron chains can still be seen in the walls. In World War II, it was an air raid shelter. Lead pipes from the well room run into the cellar, and there was probably a wooden tap.

Hallways on both sides of the upper part of Great Hall

The chapel is also here, and it is designed beautifully with carved stonework on the ceilings and above the doors.

Have you ever visited Newcastle Castle?

An installation of fifteen signing and lighting see-saws are currently visiting Leicester Square in London until the 27th of this month. The see-saws are part of an installation known as "Impulse", and they appeared in Montreal over Christmas last year. The see-saws make musical sounds and light up when they sense movement and interaction. They are free to use and help to liven up the afternoons and evenings as the days get shorter.

The see-saws will be in Leicester Square until 27 October, and they can be visited from dawn until dusk when the gates to the square are closed off. They are free to use and can accommodate four people, although I did see one with six people on it.

Earlier this month, the bloke and I went to see "Charlier & the Chocolate Factory" at the theatre. Before our visit, we went to the Chesterfield Mayfair to try their "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-themed" afternoon tea. I still had my golden envelope from my Christmas visit last year that I wanted to use, and I was impressed with the afternoon tea on that visit; their afternoon tea is award-winning. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" are going to be going to New York next summer, but it has been shown in London for a little while now.

We were shown our seats, which was located in the main indoor part of Butlers restaurant inside the hotel. (Last time, I was in the conservatory of Butlers, which was beautifully decorated for the holidays.) The afternoon tea was accompanied with live piano music and ranged from classics to more modern rock music. 

We received a welcome drink, which was a combination of popping candy and a sweet fruit juice. It came in a cute bottle, and I loved the taste of this. I was then able to open my golden envelope to reveal the prize - two glasses of champagne.

We selected our choice of teas first. I selected the "Willy Wonka Tea", which is a blend of black teas and cocoa to provide a sweet aftertaste. The bloke ordered one of the flowering teas. The flower bud was placed into a clear teapot with hot water poured inside. We could watch as the tea was infused from the flower.

The "Charlie and the Chesterfield" afternoon tea includes the following sandwiches: honey roast ham with mustard and tomato chutney, roast chicken with mustard and almond, smoked salmon with cream cheese, cucumber and cream cheese, and egg mayonnaise.

These were then followed by a selection of scones; we received two chocolate scones and two fruit scones. Clotted cream and strawberry jam were included with the scones. They tasted fresh and were crumbly. I find scones to be filling, and the scones served are in smaller sizes. (Visitors can ask for more scones.)

The pastries included the following: blueberry macaroon, bubblegum eclair, fruity tart, Oompa Loompa cupcake, Fizzy lifting cake, white chocolate golden egg with mango, and a crispy Wonka chocolate bar. I really liked the chocolate bar and the fruity tart. The bubblegum eclair was different. White chocolate lovers will love the golden egg filled with a mango sauce.

At the end, we could pick a large ever-lasting gobstopper from a Willy-Wonka hat and two new golden envelopes that could reveal a prize. We were also told to take some of the sweets away by the exit, and we were given a few items to take away as we were in a little bit of a rush to go to the theatre.

Turning up at the theatre last-minute was great for getting a great bargain to see a show. We had top seats for just under half of the price if we had booked in advance. The seats at the Theatre Royal (Drury Lane) are not as staggered as other theatres in the stalls, so smaller viewers may struggle to see. The set design was amazing and done cleverly in some places.

The London street art scene this year has been a pretty busy one after it got off to a pretty slow start. I've been too busy to keep too much up-to-date and post regularly about it, but here's several works below from the ever-changing street art scene in east London from earlier this year. I have a lot more to come, so keep returning.

Himbad

First up, Himbad painted a large-scale piece on the side of the building on Sclater Street. This whole street is undergoing rennovations at the moment, and the car park at the Brick Lane end where we have seen so much great street art over the years has been converted into a block of expensive flats. This is such a striking piece in a popular area. (I covered a collaboration with the artist that took place ohis same street last year.)

Himbad

Next up, street artist Neoh has been busy this year painting his ballerina girls. (I've covered his work previously here.)

Earlier this year, I captured this mermaid-esque woman wearing a tribal mask. The artwork was created by Frida Stiil Vium, an artist from Denmark.

Hunto's colourful abstract images of people engaging and communicating with each other area always a popular find in London. I've covered his work many times. The artist hails from Italy and is inspired by modern abstract art.

Street artist Beastie, who is from Gloucester in England, created this cat stencil on Brick Lane, and the cat looks as if it has walked through wet paint. I've seen work by this artist in London before but I've never posted about it.

Ben Eine, who specialises in typography street art, has recently been in London this year after having a bit of a break. He updated one of his walls on Ebor Street earlier this year, and I covered that here. However, he also created a mural on Sclater Street around the same time, but I was never able to get a decent photograph of it due to the market and cars parked along the street. The piece reads "Rebel Rebel" for a new motorbike business that has been set up there, where an antique and odds-and-ends shop used to be.

I've not covered Endless' work in detail on my blog before, but the London-based artist creates paste-ups and stencils. These contain brand references. The below piece was created on the popular wall at Pedlety Street and features a brand of perfume. It isn't often that the artist completes a specific piece designed for a wall as most of his work tends to be smaller images and paste-ups.

The below pieces were completed as an advertisement, and I thought they were done well.

The Doodle Man created a few doodles in London earlier this year, and I saw three different walls that were designed. This was the largest-scale piece on Great Eastern Street. This scaffolding tunnel was transformed into thousands of doodles over a few weeks. I also caught the artist in action.

SpZero76 is a regular to the London street art scene and often paints with collective Lost Souls. (I've covered his work here previously.) I enjoyed this witty doughnut-gone-rogue while a cop shaped like a pistol chases him with hearts -- because cops love doughnuts.

Autone1 created the colourful pattern below in a collaboration with Itaewon. I've seen Autone1's work in London before but have never covered it in detail.

Graffiti Life painted a happy snowman character from "The Snowman" for Christmas last year.

Andy Council is an artist from Bristol, and I've covered his work in both cities a few times, including earlier this sprint for Endangered13. His abstract works feature abstract cityscapes that take on an organic feeling and can create a new image. The below cityscape appears to also become a dragon when looked at from a distance.

Love Pusher and El Jerrino collaborated on the below piece.

Airbourne Mark, a regular to London's street art scene and covered here, created several new works around east London. The titles of the pieces were called "Origami Riots" and featured items, usually smiles, that appear to have been drawn on paper and folded. I caught the artist at work in one piece. It's a little different than his usual style, but I've seen him paint in London previously.

I loved the quotation by PlasticJesus, but it's one I've heard before. This stencil artist often pokes fun at popular culture. This newest piece by the artist is "Stop making stupid people famous." It also features two children holding "Need work" sign.

Chinagirl, an artist from Germany who creates plaster and ceramic street art and installations, has been to London recently a couple of times now, and I've previously posted her work here. The most recent additions to London's street art scene were the rabbits holding grenades, and I discovered them in a couple of different areas.

Itaewon and Joey Baker created the colourful fantasy scene below.

Elno, a Spanish street artist, paints detailed portraits. She's been quite busy in London so far this year, and I have most recently covered her work in Leake Street. 

Kaes (Jay Caes) painted this colourful blend of wolves. Kaes' work is common to London's street art scene.

Brazlian artist Decolife painted a new wall in London earlier this year in a hidden spot not far from Brick Lane. I originally covered Decolife's work here.

I am not sure who painted the artwork below in Star Yard, off Brick Lane, but I liked it.

Also in Star Yard, the work evolved along with the above piece.

Saki & Bitches, a Japanese artist who has created much work in the city, has also created a new  puzzle game where people who pass by can interact with the piece to match up the different portions of the artwork. I enjoy seeing her work, and I most recently covered her last spring when she collaborated with other artists.

I've not covered Syd's artwork in detail, but his work is common in the city. His works are stencil-based and often small-scale pieces. However, this piece appeared on a wall with the message "welcome to the machine".

Pang, a London-based artist, came into the street art scene only a few years ago. Since then, she's been making a real name for herself and more recently collaborated with Nagel on a large scale piece off Brick Lane. She typically creates black and white illustrations of ash trays and the cowboy character.

Mutiny's (also known as Janie Laurie) artwork often portrays endangered wildlife. I've previously covered some of her work here. This was created at the beginning of the year and features colourful 'golden shouldered parrots', which are endangered.

French street artist Annabelle Tattu created many paste-ups across London earlier this year. Her work always features her characters in different situations, and there is often an element of wit involved in the detailed illustrations. I enjoyed the piece below, which seems to feature a lady with a hat and glass of wine and the television character "Mr. Bean".

Japanese street artist Masagon creates his work using a geometric style, and he painted the following bright geometric shapes on Sclater Street.

I'll try to post street art more regularly. I've been very busy with work over the last few months and I've not been able to dedicate a lot of time to my blog and other personal projects.

For the first time this year last Sunday, the weather felt like spring. In fact, this year is already flying past and we will soon be in April in a couple of weeks. Last Sunday, the bloke and I headed back down to near Basingstoke in Hampshire (where I used to live) in order to meet a group of friends for Sunday roast lunch at a pub. Because of busy schedules, we booked the day toward the end of November. One member of the group is going back to China this week for approximately a month, and the others are particularly busy with their young children. Seeing everyone again was very nice, and we had the loveliest weather on Sunday to top it all off.

The day before, one of my university friends from America flew over for work and seminars. We met up in the evening, and I would have invited him to lunch if I knew we would be able to get an extra seat on the reservation. Every visitor to the United Kingdom must experience a traditional pub Sunday roast. 

The pub we visited is located in Odiham in Hampshire, and it is called "The Waterwitch". It's located in a beautiful listed building from the 17th century with little nooks and wooden beams and a lot of natural light. Each litttle area was decorated in its own style with a different beautiful wallpaper section that was either vintage or country-themed. I loved some of the wallpaper patterns here. 

The pub is also located along the Basingstoke Canal and has a beautiful and large garden at the back. I lived in Basingstoke for ten years, and I regret that I had never walked along the Basingstoke Canal or paid a visit to this pub. We actually did not eat out too often, but we were located in the centre of Basingstoke so always opted to dine on our doorstep.

The bloke and I are always the first to arrive. I hate being late, and 'on time' means ten or fifteen minutes early to me. When everyone did turn up, we opened the Prosecco to celebrate my citizenship that I received a few days prior to our get-together.

I also ordered a cheeky cocktail, which was called "Winter"-something. I forgot the name, but it contained cranberry, Vodka, and another type of juice. It was refreshing.

I ordered the roast turkey, and the bloke had roast beef. Two of my friends are vegetarian, so nut roasts and alternative vegetarian options were catered for. The other two ordered fish dishes. The roasts came with all of the vegetables and were tasty.

To start, I had a tomato soup, which I had started to eat before I realised I should take a photograph, and I also had the 'chocolate dream' for dessert.

During lunch, one of my friends mentioned that he and his girlfriend intended to go for a walk after lunch. I invited myself along because a walk is always a great idea. I didn't even know there was a canal behind the pub, and a castle was mentioned. At understanding castles and a canal walk was in order, I was 'in'. I did not have shoes suitable for walking in the mud, but I love walking and castles, and I just wanted to get out and enjoy this beautiful spring day.

The first glimpse of Basingstoke Canal included seeing many visitors rowing boats and a walking trail along the side of the canal. A map of the walking trail is located at the bottom of this post. We had a leisurely stroll along the canal for approximately half an hour before we arrived at Odiham Castle. We saw many visitors in the row boats, fields of sheep, ducks, spring flowers sprouting, and an abandoned and rusty old canal boat.

At North Warnborough, we passed a few back gardens of houses and came to a lock where swans were swimming and where we saw a pony and a horse. A lot of people were giving the horse attention.

We walked for another couple of minutes before we saw a glimpse of Odiham Castle in the spring sun. 

Upon arriving at the entrance, we saw that we were not the first visitors. A local company conducts canal boat charters to/from Odiham Castle, and they were stopped in front of the castle to have a look.

Odiham Castle is an octagonal castle and is also known as King John's Castle. It was built by King John during his reign. He only managed to build three castles, and he chose this spot as he had visited it in 1204 and it was halfway between Windsor and Winchester. It is now a ruin.

The castle took seven years to complete and has a two-storey keep (the ruin) and a square moat. It was completed in 1214. The following year, King John either rode from this castle or one at Windsor in order to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede. Last year was a big year for the Magna Carta, so the castle received a couple of plaques to commemorate it.

The castle suffered damage by the French in the 1200s. It was granted to King John's daughter. It became a prison and it was used as a hunting lodge in the 15th century. In 1605, it was described as a ruin. In 1792, the Basingstoke Canal was built through the castle grounds and bailey.

The archways and remains of the grand fireplace could be seen as well as the location where the wooden floor beams would have rested.

The castle is made of flint.

The castle was free to visit, and we probably spent twenty minutes walking around it and reading the information panels around it. 

On the way back, we were greeted by the horse. We decided to take a different way back to the pub where our cars were located. Most of the trail along the canal was fine, and we managed to dodge the mud puddles, except there was one large area of mud about three metres long that was impossible to avoid, so the bloke and I did get our shoes muddy. 

Walking back through the town of Odiham enabled us to see the town and see a different view. I'd driven past and through Odiham before, but we never stopped although I had been tempted to explore it. Odiham has many attractive Georgian buildings.

One red door had a fantastic doorknob and letter box, and the house was named "Christmas Cottage".

I was also happy to see the spring flowers in bloom. Daffodils and tree blossoms are common here.

Right before we arrived at the pub, we passed a couple of residential streets that were named after people who had served in the military and had won medals. I thought this was a nice monument to them.

When we arrived at the pub, we stepped inside to have a pot of warm tea before parting our separate ways. Although the day was beautiful and I was kept warm by walking, a pot of tea helped to warm me and give me some new energy.

To enjoy a pleasant circular walk along the Basingstoke Canal to Odiham Castle, you can follow my crude drawing in black line on the map below. This is the route that we walked. We headed clockwise along the canal to the castle and then walked back through North Warnborough and Odiham High Street before returning to the pub.

Let me know if you know of any nice country walks around Middlesex or London that involve a nice pub/restaurant or afternoon tea as I would love to try them out.

Before Christmas, a little over a year ago, we explored Nuremberg Christmas Markets and Rothenberg-ob-der-Tauber. In addition to shopping and Christmas Markets, we explored the other attractions that the city has to offer. One of the major attractions, although not mentioned in my guide book, is to explore the Nazi Party Rally Grounds and the museum on site. The museum gives insight into this era of history and details of the major events and ideals which started the second World War. It's an emotional experience, and I feel that it is an important and educational one that visitors should not miss if they wish to understand history and the the decades in between the two World Wars, which ultimately led to the second World War.

The museum has exhibitions on how Hitler wanted to be portrayed, the importance of architecture and the role it played, how the masses were influenced by Hitler and his ideals, and a visual representation of an estimation of how many groups (including Jews, homosexuals, Communists, Romani, ethnic Poles, political prisoners, people with disabilities) were murdered by the party.

Portraits of Hitler based on how he wanted to be portrayed and all released images of him had to pass certain aspects; various Nazi Party propaganda and images of Nuremberg and the Rally Grounds during the height of the party; 'My Struggle' or 'Mien Kampf' signed by Adolph Hitler; Albert Speer's architectural drawings; video/audio from the Nuremberg trials

Representation of the number of victims taken to concentration camps and killed; Nazi toy soldiers

Nuremberg was the centre of the Nazi (National Socialist) Party, and the first rallies were held here in 1927. The grounds acted as a community with many events for everyone, including the young members of society. It was quickly adopted as a way of life and engrained into society for a variety of reasons that can be read in more detail at the museum. Albert Speer engineered the grounds to show off the power of the party and Hitler; the museum goes into how this was achieved using architecture and other methods (light, banners, sound, etc). 

Lake and Congress Hall

Zepplinfield

Inner courtyard of Congress Hall

Congress Hall

Documentation Centre - museum. This is where the tram stops for the rally grounds

Great Street

The Nazi grounds include the Zepplin field (named after a Zepplin that landed there in 1909), stadiums, Congress Hall, a zoo, cafe, swimming pool, an exhibition space, and a lake. The zoo was opened in 1912 with the help of citizens and was maintained throughout the war. It contained over 193 species. Albert Speer designed the grounds with the 'Greet Street' in mind. It was 60 metres wide and over 2,000 metres long, laid with granite slabs, and was aligned with Nuremberg Castle to show significance of the Nazi Party to past imperial Germany. (This glorification of the past imperial days of Germany was one of the psychological desires that Hitler played upon to capture and form his community of followers.) The street would be flanked with tall towers to portray the importance and power of the party.

Zepplinfield

Hitler would have come out the back doors of the grandstand and went to the front and stood to address his crowd on the Zepplin Field below, which is larger than 12 football fields. With the structure around him and his height, the atmosphere and the whole experience of this place would have made him seem very powerful. In 1938, the "Cathedral of Light" took place here, which beamed floodlights into the sky and was probably spectacular.

Zepplinfield

Zepplinfield - speaker area

When Germany lost the war, the US held its victory parade at this grandstand, and the giant swastika was blown up. The towers on both sides were removed because they were deemed unsafe. The US were stationed here until 1994. Today, the grandstand and track outside it is used as a racing circuit (Noris ring) and for concerts.

Nuremberg trials courthouse

After exploring the grounds, we headed back into Nuremberg and got the subway to the court house where the Nuremberg Trials were held. The trials are of high importance in the world criminal justice system. The trials included representatives of different Allied countries (US, Britain, Russia, and France) whose purpose was to oversee the trials to determine if key individuals of the Nazi Party were guilty of crimes. These crimes were categorised into war crimes, crimes against humanity, and participating or planning crimes against peace. The trials were the first to be recorded with video and sound. We saw a little bit about the trials, including some original documents and recordings, in the Nazi Rally Grounds museum.

Nuremberg Trials court room

We had an English guided tour of the museum at the Nuremberg Court House, and the guide highlighted some of the important aspects of the trials and those involved and the outcomes of some of those captured and their sentence. We then saw the interior of the famous room where the trials were held. As this court room is still used today, make sure to visit it outside of work hours to avoid disappointment.

The temperatures really dropped last week, and before walking around Lumiere London, I decided to get myself sorted by treating myself to a hot chocolate and cake. I opted for SAID dal 1923, a cafe that has a branch in Rome and has been in operation since 1923 selling chocolates, cakes, and more. The hot chocolate is melted chocolate, and they add melted chocolate to the rim of the glass. I wish that I'd ordered a larger size as I didn't realise a 'regular' size would be so small.

The hot chocolate was delicious and I would define it as a traditional Italian hot chocolate, which is like a liquid chocolate. I ordered the dark hot chocolate, but milk and white were also available, and they could also be served with cream. I'd definately go there again and order a large one next time. I could have done with a lot more to settle me in for the long evening of walking ahead.

When I arrived at the little cafe in Soho, there was a little bit of a queue. I arrived on a Thursday at about 3:15, and I had to wait about five minutes. The cafe was popular and every seat was taken with many opting to stay longer to avoid the cold. One lady told me that she had been to the cafe three times previously, and it was starting to get busier and busier.

The restaurant still had its Christmas merchandise in the window (chocolate-filled baubles) as well as its other items for sale. I also bought a dark chocolate spread and a chocolate and olive oil spread, which tasted delicious.

There aren't many seats in the cafe, and everyone is kind of squashed together. More room would have been nice, and that is the only drawback. I loved the many chocolate moulds hanging on the walls. I saw truck, fish, lamb, and carrot moulds.

I also had a slice of carrot cake, and the slice was very generous. I could not even eat all of it, but it was tasty.

At the end, I purchased a couple of chocolates to take away: a mint one and a cinnamon truffle. I actually ate these both when I got home very late and felt like I needed a treat from all the walking and cold. Both were delicious. The mint one tasted almost like a truffle with a mint flavour and a perfect texture. The cinnamon truffle was my favourite of the two with a slightly creamy interior that offered the perfect consistency and light cinnamon flavour.

What is my verdict? I will be back for sure.

Update: I went back a week later, and I was not impressed. I ordered the large dark hot chocolate this time, and it did not taste or look the same at all. It wasn't as good. I also had the Dolce chocolate cake, and that was okay. I am disappointed that the hot chocolate was not good the second time around. You can even see in the photographs that it does not look quite the same. I would have to say that this cafe is inconsistent, and I prefer to know that what I get is going to be the best and the same each time I visit.

My verdict? This means that I am still looking for London's best hot chocolate.

I visited the 'Eat Your Drink' pop-up shop under Benefit in Carnaby Street just before Christmas. The pop-up was in session until Christmas Eve, but I recommend it if it comes on the scene again. The pop-up was created by Smith & Sinclair as a launch of their alcoholic confectionary. Their sweets include gelatin-based sweets infused with cocktail and candy floss that can be added to your alcohol. The shop sells the sweets or you could try a taste.

The boxes of cocktail jellies are 10.00 each, and the candy floss jar was 22.00, which is steep considering that it does not contain alcohol and is primarily sugar and crushed flavouring.

I visited and purchased some Christmas gifts (which is why I am posting this after the big day), but I unfortunately forgot to give a code word to allow me to take advantage of the 10% discount. 

The jellies contain a lot of alcohol, and I was told that it's possible to get drunk eating a lot of them. There are six in a pack, which makes them nearly cost 2.00 each. However, you could taste one for 1.00 in the shop.

The candy floss works by adding vodka, gin, or another spirit to the jar and leaving to set to infuse. The before and after photographs are pictured above. The mix produced a lightly-flavoured spirit. I used Vodka. I couldn't find out how much of the spirit to use in the jar as there wasn't any instructions, so I filled it 2/3rds full, and this took nearly a full bottle of Vodka minus about five shots that I'd previously used and decided to keep unflavoured in the jar.

Have you tried any of Smith & Sinclair's edible drinks?

I will admit that 2015 was not the best year for me. It's not been the worst by any means; it's just been "difficult". I have nicknamed it "limbo year" as most of the time this year seems to be "in limbo" and "waiting". First of all, we moved. Yay! The bloke and I were living in my flat in Basingstoke, which was too small from day one, but was all I could afford. Now, we moved into a house and have more room and can do what we want to it without the restrictions that come with living in a flat, such as getting a kitten. Getting to this point took many months, and we did not know when we were likely to move until nearly two weeks before. Yikes! (It was also unplanned; I didn't go into 2015 thinking we were definately going to move.)

Cue Merlin. He's cute, but he can be a handful at times. He's a brown tabby Maine Coon. He has the classic tabby pattern (with black swirls on his sides) instead of the makerel (black stripes down the sides) pattern. I actually learned this year that there is more than one pattern of tabby cat.

The second item was that I had to move on to a new role at the beginning of the year. Besides the initial first three months, the contract became a rolling monthly contract with a lot of overtime on top. The rolling monthly contract made it impossible to plan anything in my life as I was not sure if I would have a contract by the time four weeks were up. I would not rush into a rolling monthly contract again, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can find a long-term contract.

What you read about the new contract is correct. I think I mentioned a week ago that due to company transitions and a screw-up caused by a large offshore IT outsourcing company, that my last work day is today (December 31). I was actually meant to be extended until the end of March 2016, but I only found out on the last day of my previous contract (30 November) that they'd messed it up. The IT offshore company wanted to charge the company I was contracted to a large mark-up on top of my rate. Due to a lot of hard work by the project manager (my boss), the contract was secured for the final three weeks of December (not including the four working days it took to sort the mess).

I do hope that 2016 is not another transition-year. I hope that it is more settled for me and enables new opportunities with the ability to settle and make the home into what I want for it. I hope that I am also able to meet up with friends and family and have a much-needed vacation (or three!) as I've not been able to this year, except for the odd day out in England.

To cut to the chase, here's a month-by-month review of my year this year.

January: January started uncertain for me as I'd been at my previous contract for two years and I was unsure about what was going to happen when it was up for renewal at the end of the month, and I was concerned about claiming expenses. In the end, the company decided to cut contractors, and I was one of those who were cut. They asked me to stay on one more month, and I actually got the next contract lined up immediately.  Before I left, I decided to hit up some restaurants that I'd been wanting to try, such as Chicken Shop/Dirty Burger in Whitechapel and MEATMission.

The 'Year of the Bus' art charity sculptures were also all on display in one place in the Olympic Park that month, and the bloke and I headed over to see them. It was the first time we both went to the Olympic Park together since the day we visited during the Olympic games. In addition to viewing the sculptures, we also took the opportunity to visit the Orbit (Days Out: ArcelorMittal Orbit).

At the end of January, I had arranged a morning tour of the abandoned underground station known as Aldwych Station. Tours of this station are rare and popular, so I made sure that I secured the tickets the previous autumn when the London Transport Museum were arranging several tours over a few weeks. The underground station was not in operation for too long because it was too expensive to maintain and did not get much use. Today, it is primarily used in filming, and you may recognise the interior from television and films.

In the afternoon of the same day, I arranged a treat for afternoon tea. This was to coincide with a visit the Natural History and Science Museums, but they were packed with long queues as earlier in the week, the museums were in the news (it appears that they will be replacing the beloved dinosaur in the entrance of the History Museum with a whale skeleton). We ended up in the Victoria & Albert Museum instead and watched a few old films. I've always found the Crystal Palace fascinating, and there was a good documentary about it. We spent the remainder of the afternoon enjoying Ampersand Hotel's Science Afternoon Tea. It came with chocolate dinosaurs (a tribute to the History Museum), a planet, a beaker of liquid, a volcano, and other science and history-related pastries.

February: During the month of February, I made the most of London before I had to leave. I visited the Spitalfields Textile Designs in Denis Severs' House during my lunch break one day. The designs were a beautiful snapshot of history of this part of London as it is known for its silk weaving. The house was also beautiful and boasted Oscar Wilde's mantle. I've been wanting to see inside the beautiful silk weaver houses for a long while. I would love to live in one as they are beautiful and spacious inside. I love the Georgian style of house the best.

I also saw the Spitalfields Great Pancake Race, which takes place in front of the office where I used to work, and I was lucky to see it as that was my last week at the company. The annual pancake race is held on Pancake Day. This year, it attracted a particularly large crowd due to it falling later than usual, warm, and during the week when schools were off. This was the third year in a row that I watched it. I love it. There are prizes for the fastest team and team with the most creative costumes.

The Walkie Talkie Tower (20 Fenchurch Street) and its beautiful sky garden also opened to the public earlier in the year, and I could have booked tickets for the first days that it was open to the public, but I reserved it to the day before Valentine's Day (a Friday) instead as I thought that it would be romantic to visit with the bloke for a drink and quick lunch. We both worked a short distance from the building, so it made sense to visit during lunch. The garden is worth visiting, and the views are amazing.

For Valentine's Day, I surprised the bloke by taking him to play crazy golf at Swingers Golf Club in Shoreditch. (Yes, I snickered at the name 'Swingers' too.) We were the first in the queue and managed to get two rounds of golf in in addition to eating delicious street food. I had Pizza Pilgrims. We also received a free glass of pink champagne as we visited on Valentine's Day. We had so much fun.

Toward the end of the month, I had to say my goodbyes to working in London and the team that I had worked with for the past two years. I found this very difficult as I really liked everyone in the team a lot, and (except for the long commutes), I enjoyed my time at the company. I also managed to explore and became very familiar with that part of London and keep updated on the street art scene. 

However, after saying goodbye to one team at the end of one week, I said hello to another. I started a new role immediately and spent the next couple of weeks with part of the new team in Ashby de la Zouch, which took me into first week of March. Of course, I ended up enjoying this team that I worked in, but the company was going through a transition. From the first day, I was told that my bosses and all of the other staff were being made redundant at some point (no one knew when it would be, but it ended up being at the end of September) and the large IT offshore company would be taking their jobs. That's never a nice feeling, and they were all very good and knowledgable people. (I feel that companies should not do this to their staff, and I disagree that it will cut costs in the long term. I think a lot of us are under the same impression that this is a mistake.)

The majority of the contract was working from home, and I was happy that I could take a break from the draining long commutes. I also took the opportunity with this extra time and energy in order to look for a place in London or closer to London to avoid future long commutes. (At this point, I did not have any idea where to move to, but I discovered Ruislip in the spring and I concentrated my efforts there.)

March: While in Ashby de la Zouch at the beginning of the month, I visited Ashby de la Zouch castle. There was an audio guide that I used to learn about the castle. Climbing the remains of the tower was impressive, and I enjoyed going underground and underneath the castle where there is a tunnel from the kitchen to the courtyard. I actually did enjoy my two weeks in the office in Ashby de la Zouch and exploring (though very briefly) a new area.

I missed working in Basingstoke (where I lived). I moved to the city for a job in 2007, and I enjoyed visiting the shops at lunch with colleagues or alone. After that role was made redundant, I ended up commuting to London for work. I really loved being able to work in Basingstoke again, so I took advantage of the city. On one weekend, the bloke and I spent the day learning how to make a stained glass decoration, and cake and lunch was included. I absolutely loved doing this and I wanted to do it again. The classes take place from time to time at Proteus Creation Space. Basingstoke does have an arts scene (including a theatre and music venue), and I will disagree with anyone who puts the city down as I feel it gets unfair press.

During March, I also visited London to see the 'Shaun the Sheep' (from Wallace & Gromit) art sculpture charity trails. This year, the sculpture trail (made in conjunction with Aardman Animations) takes place in the city of London in the spring. A herd of new Shauns will be in Bristol over the summer.

At the end of the month, the bloke and I visited our first MINI-related event for the past few years as we've both been busy and working in London. In the past, I never managed to make it to the Brooklands MINI Day, even though it is just down the road from me. This is the first big MINI event of the year. We went inside a Concord, walked around the car and plane museums, and walked around the other visitors' MINIs. Some of the cars were parked on the old Brooklands race track, which is the oldest race track.

April: Easter was at the beginning of the month of April this year, and I'd arranged to have a short break in North Yorkshire. We stayed at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, which was made famous by Agatha Christie. This is the hotel she was staying at when she disappeared. I have not completed uploading and posting all of my photographs for the attractions that we visited in Yorkshire, but we went to some beautiful places that I will be posting at some point. There's a lot to see in that area of the country, and I will be posting about these places.

Our first day in Harrogate was rainy, but we enjoyed afternoon tea at Betty's Tea Rooms in Harrogate, which has been on my list for awhile now. I'm glad that I managed to reserve it for the afternoon on the first day of our visit. The tea room is very popular, and I love looking at the easter displays and giant Easter eggs in the shop window. I remember doing the same about ten Easters ago when a friend and I went to York and Harrogate, so it brings back fond memories.

Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens were one of the attractions that we visited in North Yorkshire. We visited on Easter Sunday afternoon, after a lunch at the pub/restaurant Guy Fawkes Arms. (The pub is named after its most famous resident.) We had a wonderful Easter Sunday meal, and this was my favourite meal of the year. I would love to go back as the food was that excellent, and I do find many restaurants/pubs to be mediocre anymore. The day was gorgeous with beautiful sunshine, and this was one of the best days out that I have had in a long while. We spent a few hours exploring the abbey ruins and walking the grounds. For some reason, I had some memory of this attraction as well, but I've never been here before (at least not in this life). That feeling of déjà vu and the memory of this perfect day will never leave me.

Later in the month, I dragged the bloke along as we went to try the W Fashion / Power Afternoon Tea at W Hotel in Leicester Square. This tea celebrates women in fashion and featured a nice selection of beautifully-designed pastries. Think Lady Gaga and the meat dress, Vivienne Westwood, and Chanel.

May: May was a busy month with work, and I put in a lot of overtime in the evenings, mornings, and weekends. As a result, I did not get out too much. I did enjoy a stroll around St. James' Park in London where I love to see the daffodils, and I also saw green parakeets. I love visiting this park every spring because I love the carpet of daffodils. They are one of my favourite flowers.

The most notable events in May took place toward the end of the month when I visited Sake No Hana to enjoy the Sakura Cherry Blossom. I had the traditional picnic lunch that the Japanese eat when they enjoy the beautiful blooms, and the seasonal alcoholic drink with the special sakura menu (Violet Risshun) was my favourite alcoholic cocktail of the year. The cocktail was served in two parts, symbolising the beginning of spring (tart) and the height of spring (sweet and floral).

At the end of the month, I went on the Guided Tour of Macarons and Mews, led by Yannick Pucci. I saw many beautiful London mews and tasted a few nice macarons. The tour was a nice and small one, and we were all around the same age with similar interests in history and London. I recommend his tours.

June: The month of June started off with a visit to Bubba Gump Shrimp and a trip to see Miss Saigon. The bloke was going to see the play with his work colleagues in the social club, and I had been told by a colleague earlier in the year that it was a brilliant play. I'd been wanting to visit Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant for awhile. Although it did not wow me, the restaurant was worth a visit to see memorabilia from the film Forrest Gump. The play Miss Saigon was a touching one, and I was sat next to a lady who knew members of the production team and was interesting to talk to.

June is also my birthday month, so I took the day off to go to Lymington in the New Forest. The day was partially-sunny but not very warm. We enjoyed the day and went on a treasure hunt around the village and the outskirts of the village. I bought the book for the treasure trail a few years ago. I love the New Forest, and it's been so long since I've been able to visit it. When we arrived back home in Basingstoke, we made a stop off at a tea room and had a birthday cupcake.

At the weekend, I'd booked brunch at Duck & Waffle. I've been wanting to visit Duck & Waffle for ages now and had to cancel previous reservations, including the previous week due to falling ill. Unfortunately, the weather on the weekend that we went was dreary. The weekend before (when I fell ill) was beautiful. Typical. I will need to go back. I absolutely loved the waffles, and this was my favourite brunch/breakfast of the year.

Another birthday treat was to see "War Horse" before it finished in London and dinner at "Vintage Salt", the pop-up restaurant on Selfridge's rooftop for the summer. We previously visited the restaurant when it was branded as the winter pop-up Le Chalet ski lodge, and I enjoyed the food. "Vintage Salt" was equally enjoyable, and the highlight was a dessert that resembled a hamburger. While the mechanism for "War Horse" was excellent, I was not impressed with the story.

Keeping with my promise to attend local events, I went to Basingstoke Festival Parade toward the end of June. It was a blast and combined music, fancy costume, dance, and food/drink. This marked the first event of many celebrating a summer of events in the calendar for Basingstoke. I went to a couple of other events and markets in the city.

The last event for the month was attending 'Star Wars' Secret Cinema Secret Cantina. We visited in the evening, attending the Formula E race at Battersea Park in the morning. The Secret Cantina was a bar/nightclub with 'Star Wars' characters and actors who had events for us to do. We wanted to check out the Cantina before going to the actual big event a few days later, which brings us to July.

July: On the 4th of July, a group of us went to 'Star Wars' Secret Cinema. We had lunch at Bob Bob Ricard (famous for the 'press for champagne' button), and this was my favourite meal in London. I recommend it and would like to visit again. We indulged in champagne and Prosecco. With a 'press for champagne' button, indulgence in champagne is a must.

Secret Cinema's "The Empire Strikes Back" was good fun, and we had a blast pretending we were rebels and living in the "Star Wars" universe. I really wanted to visit it again, but we just never got the opportunity.

The Overton Scarecrow Festival was one of the highlights of the summer for me. Overton is a village near Basingstoke, and they have a scarecrow festival every year or two. I had a good time on one of the warmest days of the summer walking around Overton and viewing the scarecrows. A lot of residents and businesses participated in creating their own scarecrows, and some of these were very creative.

That same weekend also marked Basingstoke's free live music event, Basingstoke Live. I could hear the music on Saturday afternoon after we returned from Overton and the last few acts sounded particularly good. However, I was feeling a little tired and decided to spend the full day there on Sunday instead of visiting on Saturday. Sunday was also a good day, but the music was more 'chilled'. In particular, I wanted to see Mungo Jerry perform on the Sunday as I recognised his music from the 1960s; he had a hit with 'In the Summertime'. I also got his autograph.

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Toward the end of the month of July, I made a visit to Salisbury to see the charity art baron sculptures (The Baron's Charter), which celebrate 800 years of the Magna Carta. I love visiting Salisbury.

I worked a lot of overtime in July, so I decided to take a day off toward the end of the month in order to visit one of the open day tours of Lavender Fields near Alton in Hampshire. I've passed the lavender many times and always wanted to stop, so we had a tour at short notice. The weather was pouring with rain, but I still managed to get several beautiful photographs of the lavender and other wildflowers.

The week at the end of the month was particularly busy, and I had to go away for business. Just before I had to do so, I visited Bristol during Bristol Upfest and also used the time to see the 'Shaun the Sheep' charity art sculptures in Bristol. I managed to track them all down and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect during the two days we spent walking over the city, but the day we walked around Bedminster to look at street art was very wet and rainy.

August: The month of August started with a bang as I'd returned from my business trip and had tickets with friends to go to Battle Proms at Highclere Castle. (For those who do not know, Highclere Castle is just down the road from Basingstoke and is the location where Downton Abbey is filmed.) We brought picnics, listened to music, watched horse displays and people in historic dress, and watched cannons and fireworks explode at dusk. I had a good time despite initial problems and rush due to my unfortunate friends getting stuck in bad traffic on the way. They only just turned up before the concert began, so we had a mad dash of inhaling food and drink so that we could enjoy the music.

The following weekend, we spent two days in Norwich to explore the city and track down Norwich's GoGoDragons art charity sculptures. Everyone in the city of Norwich supported the dragons, and we loved finding them and exploring the city in the process. Norwich is beautiful, and I was happy to visit it to see the charity art dragons. I was also amazed and happy at how popular these dragons were to the community over the summer.

In the middle of the month, we celebrated the bloke's birthday. We both had the day off and visited Old Wardour Castle, which was used in the film "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves". We had a dreary day for it, but the bloke told me that his birthday is always rainy.

We also went to Bournemouth one evening to Bournemouth Candlelight Nights. I went to university there and always remember the lower gardens and the candle light sculptures. After seeing the candles in jars (which kept breaking and exploding due to the heat), we had dinner before heading home back through the New Forest where we found a dark area and stopped off to look at the comets. There's no chance we'd have ever seen them in the town centre flat.

At the end of the month, I had to go away on business for two weeks. However, I was able to enjoy Amsterdam's SAIL event on the weekend in between. This is the largest maritime event in the world, and it is only held once every five years. Visitors can view the ships and climb onto the decks or below decks at certain times and days. We visited a tall ship, a working war ship, and a working submarine. I had a wonderful time viewing the ships and watching the fireworks. The weather was also perfect for it, and the ships covered such a large area and came from all over the world. Some of them were also historical. The oldest one dated from sometime in the 1700s. I would have loved to have gone onto other ships, but the event was a popular one and the queues were quite long.

After returning to the UK from Amsterdam, the last weekend in August was a very busy one. While in Amsterdam, I managed to successfully book tickets to Banksy's Dismaland in Weston-super-Mare. This was a major news story, and the event was very busy as anything relating to Banksy seems to draw crowds. The attraction was memorable, and I saw some good art installations. 

On the Bank Holiday Monday, I had a reservation for the BB Bakery Bus Afternoon Tea tour. This was a Christmas gift, and I had to book over eight months in advance in order to get a seat on the top deck, and I decided to get the forward-facing seat. I did wonder if the day would be rainy as Bank Mondays typically are, but I remembered that last year's August Bank Holiday was pleasant. However, I was not lucky with the weather this time. Despite this, we did have a nice tour around west London. Getting decent photographs was next to impossible with the raindrops on the windows, though.

September: September was very busy from a work point of view as I put in a lot of overtime in order to finish the project. Socially, it was not as crazy as August was because I expected that we would be moving, so I kept the weekends free. In the middle of the month, we went with friends to Mattingley have a pub lunch and then to Silchester to walk around the ruins. I thoroughly enjoyed our little walk on the pleasant autumn day.

In the middle of the month, I had a week in Ashby de la Zouch in order to say my goodbyes to my colleagues who were being made redundant on 30 September. I really enjoyed working with them and the team that we had for a short time. I would not have minded working with the people in this team for a lot longer.

Toward the end of the month, the bloke booked tickets to see the Battle of Britain at 75 concert at Biggin Hill. We watched Spitfires and listened to music and memories from those who fought in the Battle of Britain. This was an event hosted by BBC Radio 2.

The big news for the month is that we learned in mid-September that the rest of the chain of buyers/sellers was ready for the house purchase to complete. We had been waiting to hear news about it for the past couple of months, so we felt relieved to actually have a date and a date that worked for us as it otherwise it would not have been possible for the bloke to take off work due to his colleague expecting a baby. The day finally did arrive. On the 30th of September, we picked up the keys to our house and moved in the next day (October 1). That brings us to October.

October: In October, I had to say goodbye to my flat in Basingstoke. I spent the first several days of the month cleaning, painting, and finishing the big move. Meanwhile, the bloke and I continued to get familiar with the new house and new area that we had moved to. 

Our first outing of the month had been planned in advance for the middle of October, and this was to see the final race of British Touring Cars at Brands Hatch. We had race hospitality, and the food provided was excellent. Hospitality also included free drinks (alcohol and non-alcohol) throughout the day, and we managed to get to the pits to get Jason Plato's autograph.

Later in the month, we indulged in Matthew Williamson AW15 Afternoon Tea at Balthazar in Covent Garden. As the title of this afternoon tea suggests, it celebrates the autumn and winter range of Matthew Williamson fashion.

At the end of the month, we went to see the Jacksonville Jaguars play the Buffalo Bills at Wembley Stadium, but we really went to see the Ohio State University Marching Band perform. Ohio is the state where I was born, and they have the best marching band who create moving imagery to music. This was the first American football game that I have ever been to. 

November: November was fairly quiet, but we had a big milestone in the form of a ball of fluff. Merlin the Maine Coon came to live with us early in the month. He's gotten larger in the past couple of months from the little ball of fluff who travelled from North Yorkshire with hardly a peep in the back of the car. He's still incredibly cute.

Race of Champions was the first event we went to later in the month, and it was the coldest day of the year. I didn't really enjoy myself as I found it to be a lot of stopping and starting and waiting around. Of course, being very cold did not help. The event was held in the Olympic stadium, which is open to the elements, so it was very cold and a clear sky.

At the end of the month, we celebrated Thanksgiving lunch at Balthazar restaurant in Covent Garden. I love Thanksgiving as it marks the beginning of the Christmas season. On Thanksgiving, it is deemed acceptable to listen to Christmas music and get into the mood. After we ate our Thanksgiving meal, we had a long walk around London in order to see the Christmas lights. We also indulged in winter cocktails and a visit to the theatre to see "Sunny Afternoon", which was my favourite play of the year. One of the types of music that I have always enjoyed is the 1960s, and I really enjoy the music of the Kinks. "Sunny Afternoon" is a documentary musical for the band the Kinks.

The next day, I was still in the mood for the start of the Christmas season, and we spent the long weekend in Bath and Bristol. We explored the Bath Christmas Markets, which I have been to numerous times as I used to live there and always enjoyed going back to visit again. Despite living in Bath city, I never visited the Pump Rooms restaurant. We ended up having lunch here, but it was a bit disappointing.

December: December has not brought me the best news. I already mentioned my contract being messed up by the large IT offshore company. The result ended up with me sitting around and waiting for news that it was sorted. This did get sorted after a week for me to start on December 7 with the old process, but I was told that they could not extend beyond that. This means that I will have to find something in the new year. The job market is understandably quiet with everyone thinking about the holidays. I've said my goodbyes to colleagues, although most of them are away at the moment. I worked with some good people, and the company is going to have to go through more transitioning as they are also leaving the company.

Because of this sudden change in circumstance, I've not done much socially this month. My mind has been elsewhere and not on Christmas. The bloke had tickets to Christmas Carols at Southwark Cathedral to attend with his colleagues, and they had spare tickets due to drop-outs, so I also went along to that after work one evening. Before the concert, we had mulled wine and mince pies at Borough Market with views of the Shard lit up for the holidays.

What I was looking most forward to this month was to see 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens', so we went to the midnight showing at Shepherd's Bush on the release day in mid-December. We also saw it with friends a couple of days later and had a good meal at Big Easy BBQ and cocktails before seeing the film at the IMAX.

On the weekend before Christmas, I tried to get into the Christmas mood by having Winter Afternoon Tea at Chesterfield Mayfair. This did help initially.

Now that December has come to an end, I am just looking for the new year to begin so that I can look for my next role. This new year symbolises more than just an incremented number to me. I did not mean to end this on a downer, and I am not feeling down. I am feeling disappointed with the turn-out of the later part of this year. More importantly, I am feeling impatient for the new year to kick off. For that reason, I will leave with a couple inspiring quotations. 

"This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change." - Taylor Swift

"For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning." - T.S. Eliot

I hope that all of my readers have a great 2016, and Happy New Year!

On the Friday before Christmas, the bloke and some friends and I had arranged to see 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' at the IMAX at Waterloo. We were booked in to see the midnight showing, so we had some time to spend and decided to have dinner at Big Easy BBQ in Covent Garden. This is a venue that I have been wanting to visit for some time. We ordered a tonne of food and managed to eat most of it. Chicken, pulled pork, steak, brisket, corn bread, baked beans, and chips were on the menu. The glaze used was tasty, and we also had the choice of several dozen (at least) beers/ales in the well-stocked bar.

The restaurant was smaller than I expected it to be, and it was also popular. There's seating on the ground floor as well as in the basement with industrial lighting. Seating was a little cramped for us, but we managed in this American-style BBQ restaurant. I'd visit it again.

After our wander around, we headed into Covent Garden to see the decorations and then headed to cocktail bar Frevd and a hotel for drinks in Seven Dials. At Frevd, we had the Chinese Lantern (Midori, grenadine, peach, lemon, apple) Zombie (rum, orange, pineapple, lemon), and the Frevd special. At the hotel on Monmouth Street, we had cocktails named 'Pumpkin Pie', 'Snow Drop', and a few other winter and autumn-themed drinks. After the drinks, we walked to IMAX to see 'Star Wars'. 

I was underwhelmed during the first viewing of the film on its opening night, but I enjoyed my second viewing at the IMAX.