2021 - A Year in Review
2021 Country of Living: England in LONDON!
Despite our movements restricted we managed to get out a fair amount particularly after finally talking to a financial consultant and looking into the purchase of a new house. After a tour of much of England and the south of Wales we have made an offer on a property in Nantwich that we hope will complete early in 2022. We have really enjoyed living in London but we feel the time is right to try something new.
On the health side, both Mel and I are now not only double-vaccinated (against COVID-19) but we also have had our first booster so we feel a lot safer when going out.
On a professional front, my employer for the past MANY years (Smartlogic) was acquired by MarkLogic later in the year and I am working on very aspects of integrating my activities into their infrastructure.
Travel
We are still pretty much restricted from international travel what with various new Covid variants found and different countries affected in different ways so we stuck to England and Wales this year.
Our most significant travel excursion was in the summer to visit different locations in the United Kingdom where we might want to live to see what they were like. This included:
- June - Visited various places in Wales (Cardiff, Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire, Merthyr Tydfil and Pembrokeshire).
- July - Visited Kent (Deal, Faversham, Herne Bay, and Whitstable), Dorset (Christchurch), Hampshire (Brockenhurst, Lymington and Lyndehurst in the New Forest, then Fareham, Hythe, New Milton, Ringwood, Romsey, Southampton and Titchfield)
- August - Visited Cheshire (Macclesfield and Nantwich), Somerset (Taunton, Manchester, Derbyshire (Chesterfield, Buxton, Matlock, Ashbourne and Bakewell), back to Faversham (Maidstone, and Rochester).
Yes, these were a busy few months with every long weekend spent on the road having a look. Sure, it was as much a holiday as it was actually considering places, but it was great to be out.
Visitors
Nope. Well, not to stay, though we did have some friends over during the years, which was nice.
Reviews of the Year
Events
We have again been able to attend events outside of the home rather than virtually. We have had a mixture of both this year.
June
- 30th - Tunnel Walk (General Event) London
July
- 9th - The Art of Banksy (Exhibit) London
- 14th - Taste of London 2021 (General Event) London
- 22nd - London Zoo Twilight (General Event) London
September
- 14th - Carousel (Musical) London
- 18th - Marble Arch Mound (Exhibit) London
October
- 28th - The Shark is Broken (Play) London
November
- 1st - Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella (Musical) London
- 12th - Hidden London: Piccadilly Circus: The Heart of London (General Event) London
- 19th - Aladdin (Musical) London
- 19th - The World's Most Expensive Stamp (Exhibit) London
December
- 5th - Winchester Cathedral’s Christmas Market (General Event) Hampshire
- 8th - Pantoland at the Palladium (Musical) London
- 14th - Dear Evan Hansen (Musical) London
- 16th - Hyde Park Winter Wonderland 2021 (General Event) London
Films
We have seen a few films at the cinema (including the latest 007) but we have still been watching a lot of them on the TV.
- 28 Days Later (2002)
- Aquaman (2018)
- Beyond Skyline (2017)
- Beyond White Space (2018)
- Black Narcissus (1947)
- Black Widow (2021)
- Bleach (Burîchu) (2018)
- Bridge of Spies (2015)
- Captain Phillips (2013)
- Coco (2017)
- Dune (1984)
- Dune: Part One (2021)
- Elstree 1976 (2015)
- Enola Holmes (2020)
- Free Guy (2021)
- Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
- Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
Restaurants
Out and about far more than last year…
- Azou (North African) London Hammersmith
- Creams Cafe (Ice Cream Parlour) London Hammersmith
- German Doner Kebab (Delivery) (Turkish) London Shepherd's Bush
- Haidilao Hot Pot (Chinese) London Piccadilly Circus
- Hamer Restaurant (Ethiopian) London Shepherd's Bush
- Heddon Yokocho (Japanese (Noodle Bar)) London Mayfair
- Hickory's Smokehouse (American/British) Cheshire Crewe
- Hot Stone (Japanese) London Islington
- Kai Mayfair (Japanese) London Mayfair
- Kerridge's Fish & Chips (American/British) London Knightsbridge
- Leong's Legend (Chinese) London Soho
- Maestro Pizza (Italian) London Shepherd's Bush
- Maple Leaf (Pub) London Covent Garden
- MEATLiquor W1 (American/British) London Marylebone
- Mughli Charcoal Pit (Indian) Manchester Curry Mile
- Neat Burger (American/British) London Marylebone
- Old Chang Kee (Malaysian) London Covent Garden
- Rosa's Greenwich (Thai) London Greenwich
- Royal China (Baker Street) (Chinese) London Marylebone
- Sam's Chicken (Delivery) (American/British) Banff Acton
Books
- An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield (2013)
- Anathem by Neal Stephenson (2008)
- Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (1996)
- Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature by Linda Lear (2007)
- Because of You by Dawn French (2020)
- Blood on the Mink by Robert Silverberg (2012)
- Canada vs United States: How Canada is So Much Better than America by Jeff Pearce (2010)
- Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (1945)
- Dear Fatty by Dawn French (2008)
- Disobedience by Naomi Alderman (2006)
- Dust by Hugh Howey (2013)
- Earthsea: The First Four Books by Ursula K. Le Guin (1993)
- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (2017)
- In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith (2004)
- Let Her Fly: A Father's Journey and the Fight for Equality by Ziauddin Yousafzai (2018)
- Listening to the Animals: Becoming The Supervet by Noel Fitzpatrick (2018)
- Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith (2001)
- Mrs Mohr Goes Missing by Maryla Szymiczkowa (2019)
- Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson (1995)
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (1937)
Next Year
Well, we are hoping to move into our new house in February. After that, we are not sure but we do want to go on a vacation and a trip to Canada to see our relatives would be nice as well.
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Visit here for my review of 2020.