We all know that it has been a great year for Britain with The Queen's 60th Jubilee and the Olympics so I wanted to share a few things that I have done this year. A lot of things I have done is spend time with friends and family so I won't be repetitive and it won't be packed with plenty of detail, it will just be a highlight of a few of my favourite things of the year .
I have a friend who is obsessed with Harry Potter, quite literally, she loves everything to do with it. When I was shopping in Harrods one day, I went into what can only be described as Harry Potter land, it was quite literally like a setting of the film. It turns out that it had certain costumes and props that were used in Harry Potter. Amazing for an Potter freak, so seeing this, I took my friend there and didn't let her know the reason for why I was directing her on a certain route without letting her see any signs. It didn't even fix into her head what it was until we were standing right in the middle. She had a freak and snapped away at everything. These items were only there for a few months until being taken back to the studio to be shown in the Harry Potter tour.
I went to my first EVER wedding, and it happened to be a good friend of mine's wedding! I am such an emotional person, so from the moment I sat down in Church to watch my lovely friend walk down the aisle, I couldn't help but weep into my tissue. It was stunning, I can't use any other word, she looked truly amazing and I am so happy for the couple. Having all eyes on you can be such a daunting experience and although she sings and is able to perform on stage, she can be quite nervous and she was dreading walking down the aisle with everyone fixated on her, but I am so proud of her and am so blessed to have been there for her special day.
Then there comes a time when you have to get away for a little bit. I've been wanting to go to Salzburg for years, I mean, I went a couple of times when I was much much younger, but having 'The Sound of Music' as your favourite film and seeing the absolutely beautiful setting, I had to go again, and with my Mum, and passport in check, we took aboard our flight and headed to Vienna. You're probably wondering why I said Vienna, well Mum wanted to go only to Vienna but I was adamant about going to Salzburg so we flew to Vienna, got a train to Salzburg, stayed there for six nights then headed back to Vienna for two nights and flew back to London.
The time I spent in Vienna was amazing, we made sure we spent our time wisely. We got a Salzburg card which you can seem most of the attractions once. For 40 euros, for three days, we got to visit a hell of a lot. I won't bore you with everything but the highlights of the attractions from within the Salzburg Card we visited Hohensalzburg Fortress, Untersburg Mountain, Hellbrunn Palace, Mozart's Birthplace, Mozart's Residence... the list goes on.
As well as that, we went on two Panorama Tours, one of which was, of course, the original 'The Sound of Music' tour and the other going to Hitler's Eage Nest and the Salt Mines which including going into the Bavarian Mountains and visiting a little town called 'Konigssee'.
I feel like I might have to make a post entirely dedicated to my time in Austria because there is a lot to say and I took a ridiculous amount of photos.
Vienna was nice but I don't feel as though I got to see enough to be able to say whether I like it or not. But I would recommend going to Salzburg if you like 'The Sound of Music' at all or love mountains, because trust me, you can't miss them.
In the summer, I got to see some friends that I haven't seen for a while, and this included my theatre school friends. It was lovely to spend a day with them and catch up on everything you miss when you don't see friends often.
I have recently become a bit of a Tudor history geek and really gotten into all things Henry VIII. So when the opportunity to go to Hever Castle came about, I couldn't say no. It is Anne Boleyn's childhood home, and if you don't know who that is, well, you should know. It's one of Henry's wives. Probably the most famous of six. The Castle was beautiful, if you get the opportunity to go, I would advise to go. A lovely sunny day would be the best as the Castle is centred in a stunning Garden, which is the main reason people go, with an Italian Renaissance inspired Garden, a couple of mazes and many other interesting sights.
In November, I was so desperate to get away, and the fact that my Mum and I both had Friday to Sunday off one weekend, I was determined for us to get away, so that is what we did. We didn't strive too far going to Lille, North France. It was a lovely little City with not too much to do than shop, so we just took in the atmosphere. It was a lovely couple of days and calming as opposed to earlier in the year doing everything we could do in Salzburg. My favourite restaurant we went to was actually for lunch on the day we were leaving, we weren't too sure whether we wanted to go there but there nothing else took our fancy so we ended up going there and so pleased that we did. It was a restaurant specialising in Mussels. I'm not a big fan of mussels but I could tell that they were something special and enjoyed them, I ate every single last one. It also happens to be a family business run since 1930... there's a little fact for you.
For anyone that know London well, during the Winter/Christmas period, in Hyde Park, they have a mini theme park/Christmas market which is awesome. This year was the first year I got to go. Whether or not you want to go on the rides or buy anything, it's such an amazing atmosphere to be in, it gets the festive feeling started, and if you don't feel festive before you go, you sure will by the time you're on your way out.
So there we have it, a year in the life of me. Those are just a few of the lovely things I've been up to this year. Bring on 2013.
Thank you for reading, stay safe and hope to speak soon
x
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