2019 Country of Living: England in LONDON!

This year was a bittersweet one with Mel and I being apart for several months when she had to return to Canada in February to straighten our her Visa problems. Thankfully we were back together in June and were able to resume our lives together with Mel then having to search for a new job…which took her to several places but finally seems to be reasonably settled (we shall see).

I have been busy travelling around with work and now working full time at home which is great as far as commute time is concerned and the cat really enjoys having me around I am sure.

While Mel was away I kept a very low profile but when she returned we resumed our continued enjoyment of everything London is able to offer including going to shows and enjoying the myriad of restaurants. Doubtless this will continue.

Apple, our cat, is doing well and is getting more and more social, far from the skittish creature she was when we first got her. She now walks up to strangers and is even starting to sleep in our laps!

A bit of travelling…

• January - Another company trip to Warsaw. We do these every three months now.
• February - Mel was forced to return to Canada due to her Visa problems. This was the beginning of a very sad time for us though while she was there she managed to do a lot of visiting, finally seeing her niece's child and spending some quality time with her family and friends.
• April - Returned again to Warsaw on company business. Later I visited Mel in Canada. During my time there we took a trip, a first for us both, to Quebec visiting both the massive Montréal (Poutine!) and the charming Quebec City despite the cold weather and problems with flooding.
• May - Another company meeting away this time in Manchester. My nephew Howard visited for a few weeks to keep me company and we did a fair amount of travelling including a visit to one of my favourite parts of the country, (north) Wales.
• June - Company meeting this month was in the Alicante area of Spain where I had a car and drove around a lot. Quite warm…very sunny and great olives! Thankfully this was also the month when Mel returned to London…
• July - Mel only having just returned to the UK and we left to do a wonderful cruise of the north Baltic taking in Stockholm (Sweden), Helsinki (Finland), Tallinn (Estonia) and the magnificent St Petersburg (Russia). Later in the month I returned to Warsaw for another company meeting.
• August - My mother visited and I took her to Dublin for the Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon (2019 World Science Fiction Convention) which was a lot of fun but VERY long days with an absolutely packed program.
• October - I returned to Warsaw for another company meeting.
• November - Company meeting this month was in Liverpool.
• December - We took a trip to Prague and Budapest to see the Christmas markets to follow-on from the trip we were SUPPOSED to take together to Budapest in December, 2018…

We were lucky to have been visited both by my mother but also, for the first time, my nephew Howard (who came when Mel was in Canada). It is great to see the family and it was fun showing them around while they were here including taking them to places they have nave never been.

While Mel was away I began an effort to work my way through my large DVD collection (intended to distract while Mel was gone), watching a video then donating it to charity…We are now down to five shelves from the original eight and this will no doubt continue for the next while to come…hence lots and lots of film reviews this year.

Not so many books read this year, likely because I was distracted never mind watching films…

We have a few things planned already for 2020 including several big trips but really we are still just getting back into our lives after the interruption caused by Mel's visa issues…

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Visit here for my review of 2018.