So how was my 2015?
I already wrote about the first half of my year in this post here, where I mainly wrote about my month in Venice studying Italian. A few more things happened in the second half of the year:
First Solo trip
I'll start with the biggest one first. I took my first-ever trip all alone. I was surprised that I hadn't done this sooner. I decided to travel around Europe by rail, visiting friends along the way. I actually managed to be on the road for 30 days total, staying always with friends, some old, some new. My tour took me to the Netherlands (Leiden, Delft, Den Haag), Germany (Trier, Koblenz, Gebelzig and surroundings, Berlin), Luxembourg, Brussels, France (Lille), Switzerland (Lausanne, Luzern), San Marino (yes, really!) and finally Italy (Cattolica, Venice, Triest). I had an amazing time - everyone took such good care of me, picking me up at the station, showing me around, making sure I had everything I could possibly need. It was so nice to see people in their 'natural habitat' and meeting their friends and family. I think visiting people you know is one of the best ways to travel: You see the place you're visiting from a completely different point of view, you are really more of a traveller than a tourist. If you're lucky you'll be included in weekend trips, family celebrations, boring errands (I truly mean it, nothing like buying a toilet seat, getting a kitchen delivered or having a duvet cleaned to get a feeling for the daily life), city tours and home-cooked meals. I'm not going to go into more detail about the trip here (I might in another post), but I'll give you an overview with these photos. Also, I want to thank all my lovely hosts: Henk, Caroline, Uta (and her family), Nadine, Babsi and Zakaria, Coraline (and her family), Carlotta, and of course, my parents for meeting me at the very end of my journey in Venice, and exploring Triest with me, on what must have been one of the hottest, and also one of the final days of Summer. (Although I did a lot of exploring on really hot days - that was kind of the theme of this trip.) Thank you all for making this trip so enjoyable for me!
Visited my first EXPO
All the credit goes to my mom for this one (Thanks!). I wasn't too interested in the Expo, but she wanted to go, and since it was in Milan it was fairly easy to organize the whole thing. Milan was not the city for me, but the Expo fascinated me. It was two (exhausting) days of incredible impressions, amazing architecture, interesting exhibitions, modern design and food from all over the world. It is hard to believe what you get to experience in a single day at the Expo - I'm so glad we went!
London, twice
I had the opportunity to visit London twice in 2015. As you all know, the love affair between this city and me is an ongoing one, and it's reaffirmed with every visit. I went there in May, had some lovely (almost) summer days, a trip to Ely and Brighton, and was in the city when the Princess was born. I travelled there again at the beginning of December, for some pre-Christmas fun. I saw a few great exhibitions, strolled through Southbank, did some shopping and, best of all, got to see the musical Cats again. This was my favourite musical as a child, and when we came to London, if at all possible, we would always go and see it. It was still just as entertaining as I remembered, and brought back a lot of happy memories. I'm already looking forward to going back again. I know you'll wait for me, London ♥
Had the best fall ever
I have always loved fall, it is by far my favourite season. But in 2015, I definietely enjoyed this period the most. I also discovered my insane love for pumpkin. To eat, sure, but also to simply have at home, to look at, to make the whole place look like pumpkin heaven. I went a bit crazy, had all types of pumpkin at home, made lots of pumpkin soup, pumpkin risotto, and my first ever pumpkin pie.
So it's been a good year. Blogwise, I haven't been as active as I wanted to, but hopefully this will change. Let's say that's my resolution. But shhh, don't tell anyone! xxx
