2020 - A Year in Review
2020 Country of Living: England in LONDON!
Quite a year it has been with COVID changing everyone's lives and meaning we have not been able to get out but have had lots of time to watch TV and experience the delights on offer with local restaurant delivery. We did manage to get to the US for a vacation just before lock-down (by luck, of course, not design) but otherwise we have pretty much stayed put, having to do with local travel only. I had my hours reduced at work for a few months while Mel was laid off for a time during the first lock down but we are now back to full-time.
We have had some sadness in our family with the loss of my mother's husband, Alex who sadly passed away after a fall resulted in a hospital stay where he quickly deteriorated. This leaves my mother by herself in her Winnipeg flat…though she has found some company with a new cat.
Travel
Despite the pandemic we managed to get a bit of travelling in…
- January - Another company trip to Warsaw. We had been doing these every three months…no longer.
- January - Visited a friend's AirBnB in Norfolk…saw some seals!
- February - Visited Chicago, Illinois and New York City just before lock-down.
- July/August - This would have been our trip to New Zealand, but, sadly it was not to be. I did take the time off and attend virtually though, see my review here.
- August - Spent a weekend away in West Sussex, most of the time travelling around visiting interesting places.
- October - Another weekend away, this time in Dorset, specifically, the delightful small town of Weymouth on the south coast.
Visitors
Nope.
Reviews of the Year
Events
Attended a few events but after lockdown, of course, we pretty much went on-line…
February
- 25th - ain't too proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations (Musical) New York
- 26th - Hadestown (Musical) New York
- 29th - Madam Butterfly (Concert) London
March
- 14th - Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh (Exhibit) London
August
- 25th - The Luna Cinema - Royal Hospital Chelsea (General Event) London
- 31st - The Luna Drive In Cinema - Gunnersbury Park (General Event) London
September
- 4th - Drive In Film Club - Alexandra Palace (General Event) London
- 17th - Poetry + Film / Hack - Spirited Away (Online) London
October
- 22nd - London Transport Museum: Museum After Dark (General Event) London
December
- 13th - The Cosmos with Professor Brian Cox (Concert) London
- 21st - Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas (Online) London
Films
Managed to pretty much clear the shelves of most of the DVDs and are now down to only three shelves. Likely will be more to go to charity in the future from this. We now watch Netflix and Amazon Prime Video more than DVDs.
- 1917 (2019)
- Appleseed (Appurushîdo) (2004)
- Attack the Block (2011)
- Bird Box (2018)
- Brazil (Director's Cut) (1985)
- Burn After Reading (2008)
- Cabaret (1972)
- Casablanca (1942)
- Citizen Kane (1941)
- Contagion (2011)
- Cool Runnings (1993)
- Dark City (1998)
- Death Note (2017)
- Despicable Me (2010)
- Despicable Me 2 (2013)
- Dr. No (1962)
Restaurants
Between the lock downs we managed to get to a few places…
- Bangerz 'n' Burgerz (American/British) Brighton
- Carlo's Bakery Times Square (Bakery) New York Garment District
- Cinnamon Bazaar (Indian) London Covent Garden
- Ellen's Stardust Diner (American/British) New York Manhatten
- Enzo Ristorante & Pizzeria (Italian) Dorset Weymouth
- Fish X Chips (American/British) London Chiswick
- Giordano's (American/British) Chicago Downtown
- Hoang Lan (Vietnamese) London Shepherd's Bush
- Homeslice White City (American/British) London Shepherd's Bush
- Junior's (American/British) New York Broadway
- Katz's Delicatessen (American/British) New York Lower East Side
- ngon Vietnamese Deli (Vietnamese) London Chiswick
- Phat Phuc Noodle Bar (Vietnamese) London Chelsea
- Sardi's (Modern European) New York Broadway
- Showaken Tokyo Shitamachi Ramen (Japanese (Noodle Bar)) London Piccadilly Circus
- The Cinnamon Club (Indian) London Westminster
- The Ivy Market Grill (American/British) London Covent Garden
- Time Out Market (American/British) Chicago Fulton River
- Uno Pizzeria and Grill (Pizza) Chicago River North
- Virgil's Real BBQ (Southern US) New York Broadway
Books
Not so many books read this year, likely because I was distracted never mind watching films…
- Around the World in 80 Days by Michael Palin (1989)
- Becoming Superman: My Journey From Poverty to Hollywood by J. Michael Straczynski (2019)
- Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick (1987)
- Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2015)
- Ethel & Ernest by Raymond Briggs (2002)
- Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry (2002)
- Full Circle by Michael Palin (1997)
- I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay by Harlan Ellison, and Isaac Asimov (1994)
- I. Asimov: A memoir by Isaac Asimov (1994)
- If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura (2018)
- Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories (Volume 2) by Isaac Asimov (1992)
- James Herriot's Yorkshire by James Herriot (1977)
- Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron (2019)
- Sahara by Michael Palin (2002)
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (2011)
- Shikasta by Doris Lessing (1979)
- Terminator Salvation: Trial By Fire by Timothy Zahn (2010)
- The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor (2018)
- The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty (2017)
- The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) by Jess Borgeson, Adam Long, and Daniel Singer (1994)
Next Year
I am hoping that the vaccine will be given to us soon and we will be able to (1) get out and visit locally again then (2) travel internationally. I know my mother is hoping to visit as soon as she can, which will be good.
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Visit here for my review of 2019.