A late goodbye to 2014

I know, I know, 

I’m so unbelievably late to this post but I've honestly been one ill lil lady recently I couldn't even face writing about diddly squat.

Anyway, I wanted to take a look back on 2014 and all the wonders and delights it had to offer me. 2014 was so far the best year I’ve ever had and I know it was because of few simple lifestyle choices I made.

I attempted to:

• Be more positive
• Try new things
• Stick to my goals

Now I know these all seem like really pretentious and annoying things to suggest but they have really made a huge difference in my life. I hated watching time fly by where nothing was happening and feeling as if another year was slipping away, so it was nice to actually set goals (or resolutions) describing what I wanted to do or achieve throughout the year.

Though I didn't necessarily achieve all my goals, I definitely feel I've achieved far more in the last year than I have ever before.

So once I'm feeling top notch again and feel I can get my head around the fact that it's 2015 already, I really want to set another few resolutions I'd like to achieve throughout the year and you never know, I may actually complete them all this time round.

So anyway, here's me giving a massive send off to the wonderful and exciting year that was 2014.

My top picks of 2014:

Going to the bloody Brit awards and getting treated like a right ol’celeb

(A full blog on all the delightful happenings right here)

Heading to the Isle of Wight festival with my sister Emma and having a really chilled and wonderful time in the glorious sunshine (I may have got badly sun burnt)

(Another cheeky little blog about it here)

Visiting and staying in sunny Liverpool for the first time ever and realizing what an incredible city it is

(Two blogs about this little trip! A hotel review here and a normal blog here)

Enjoying an all-inclusive free stay at Champneys Tring with my mam and getting my first ever massage! <3

(And of course, a little cheeky blog about this adventure can be found here)

And of course, blogging for an entire year!

My firsts in 2014:

Trying sushi for the first time (amongst the dozens of other foods I decided to try for the first time this year)

Travelling to Liverpool for the first time

Going to Berlin for the first time

 Going to Rome with my family for the first time (a blog shortly to follow!)

Joining a gym for the first time ever!

Things I learnt in 2014:

• It’s better to be positive than to be a stick in the mud
• Saying 'Yes' to more opportunities is always a good thing. Always.
• Not being so judgmental and mean about people makes you feel good inside, who’d have thought?
• Realizing I’m a very lucky lady and I need to stay humble
• Keeping to a gym routine takes A LOT of dedication and hardwork
• Sushi actually tastes amazing - although raw salmon has the texture of Satan’s armpit

There will always be low and sad times during a year but I feel I faced all of my challenges head on, learnt from them and moved on from them as best I could.

There was one huge low during 2014 that sadly couldn't of been helped or foreseen. On the December 19th my little fatman, Fattie, sadly lost his very short fight to an aggressive form of cancer, and he was sadly sent off to kitty heaven. 

You only have to look at a few of my blogs to realise I'm mad cat lady and proud of it, so I did take this event quite badly.

It was actually probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to watch; Fattie decline so suddenly and within two weeks of the initial diagnosis, the poor wee little fella was gone. Even though a few weeks have passed I still well up at the thought of him not being around and it was a really somber end to the year. Sleep tight lil prince. =^.^=

So without ending on too much of a low (I have a knack for doing that) I am looking forward to what 2015 has to offer and all the adventures I'll get to take part it in. I've said a bitter sweet farewell to my lil man, but I still have his little brother to look after and dote on.

Even if he's a bit of a whiner.

Now to get those resolutions in place!

Berlin Mini Break

Over the years, I’ve heard so many wonderful and amazing things about Germany’s food, people, countryside and cities, it left me wondering why I had never taken a dip in Germany's culture vulture pool. So in early November, my friend Caroline and I decided that we should take a trip and went about booking a long weekend in Germany’s capital, Berlin.

We booked our flights and hotel through Expedia.com and even though we booked last minute, we each only had to pay £148; a real bargain I think.

(It helps that we were travelling out of season and at awful times in the morning!)

Us around 6:30am on the plane...eurgh

We flew into Berlin Schönefeld airport which is around a 50 minute train journey away from Berlin, which may sound like a pain in the backside, but the train station is only a few minutes walk from the airport and the journey went so quickly it didn't seem too bad. We did inquire about taking a taxi from the airport to the city but we were told it would be around 40 euro there, so instead, we opted to take the train into Berlin’s main train station, Berlin Hauptbahnhof, which cost us a grand total of 3 euro each. Ludicrous!

We stayed at the Mercure Hotel in Berlin City center; a large hotel, with similar style and quality of a Premier Inn. It’s local to some of the main tourist attractions and is only around ten minute walk from the main train station, Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Our hotel was modern, clean and welcoming and I genuinely couldn’t fault anything about it. Our room was cleaned each day, with fresh towels provided daily, the staff were informative and friendly and overall, I would highly recommend this hotel. It was inexpensive, easy to find, had wonderful staff members and was clean and comfortable to stay in, what more could you ask for?

There were several places I wanted to tick of my to-do list whilst exploring the streets of Berlin and thankfully, I got to do them all.

One was to visit the Reichstag building.

One was to visit the Brandenburg Gate.

And the last one was to visit the Jewish War memorial.

 

Luckily for me, all of these places were within a five minute walking distance of each other, so you would have thought I would have had zero else to do during the rest of my three day holiday, but you’d be wrong.

(I know the photos go from day to night, but we had a meal in between visiting the Brandenburg Gate and the War Memorial)

Berlin reminded me a lot of London, specifically, a Shoreditch on steroids (in a good way!). There are countless themed bars and restaurants, markets and shops, all glazed with a bohemian and eclectic style. We walked for miles (19 miles in one day to be precise :O) exploring the sights, sounds and smells of Berlin (oh yes, the smells!). We soon realized Berlin was a 24/7, ever awake, sort of city, with great food and great nightlife. We encountered the obligatory German food market, several themed restaurants and bars (such as a beach bar where they had a foot deep of sand all over the floor, which incidentally, is still in my shoes 3 weeks later), elaborate and themed clothes shops and wonderfully old aged underground pubs; there was a lot to take in!

Berlin seemed to be a very young, 'hip' kinda city, so imagine the type of people and beauties you get in London and you'll know what to expect when visiting. 

My Berlin tips:

Make a plan: I know this seems like a horrifically obvious thing to do, but honestly, make a plan of what you want to do and see. Berlin is a large city and like us, you could walk around aimlessly for hours in the wrong direction if you don't get a real idea of where you want/need to go.

Make the most of the underground system: There is literally an underground train station on every corner and travelling on it is very cheap, so make the most of your vacation and hit up that U-Bahn! (They have an above ground train system called the S-Bahn as well, don't you know!).

Validation for the nation! Now, I don't know if all mainland European countries do this just to confuse the heck out of us poor old brits (Italy does it as well), but after buying a train or bus ticket, you must ensure you 'validate' it before stepping onto either public transport. Don't ask me why they do this, I thought that if you've bought a bus or train ticket, the ticket would be proof enough that you've paid your fare and are able to ride the public transport of love...but no.

So remember to validate your tickets before going on public transport in Berlin, otherwise you may incur a penalty charge or just get thrown off the train/bus, which no one wants.

(Side note, on some buses, you will need to validate your ticket as you get on the bus, so if you see no validation machine, do not panic!)

Sprechen sie deutsch? If you’re anything like me and know zero German, I would strongly advise that you dust off  your old GCSE German phrase book and have a little go at it; you’ll thank me for it when you're there. I didn't encounter many English speaking people whilst I was in Berlin, so when we were lost or needed help, I became a well versed mime artist!

Invest in a travel guide: If you don't do this already when visiting a new country, why the heck not? DK Eyewitness travel guides are probably the best around and are pocket size, information overloads! Most of them include phrase books, maps, popular tourist destinations, a wealth of information on historical sites, hotel and restaurant suggestions and street names. Basically, all the essential information any tourist would need. You can grab them relatively cheap on Amazon too.

Weather: Berlin supposedly has similar weather to what we have in England, but I would like to disagree. Do not let these photos fool you of my friend walking around in shorts and a small leather jacket, Caroline was not prepared in anyway for how cold it was and trust me, it was arctic! If you're going in the Autumn/Winter months, be prepared! The weatherman is lying, it's absolutely freezing over there!  

I hope you enjoyed my little Berlin Blog, below are a few more instances of photographic evidence that I walked around a cold German capital for a few days!

I know, I'm being immature, but ha! Free Willy!

LOSER!

Come again? How am I pronouncing that bottom one?