Travel & Life: Year in Review 2016

Globally, 2016 threw up plenty of shocks and surprises and we said farewell to far too many icons taken too soon. For my little family, it has been an eventful but good year following the turbulent time we had in 2015. This year we were blessed with another beautiful daughter, we visited two new countries (Norway and Sri Lanka), went to seven countries in total and took on four road trips. I always find it good to reflect and look back at what we have been up to (most of which I had completely forgotten about) and review our achievements and challenges. Perhaps you may get some inspiration from my monthly breakdown of what we did in 2016.

January

We saw in the New Year, once again, in the mountains of the Alps. We ate our way through a 10-course tasting menu (which seems to be the thing to do in France on New Year’s Eve), rushing out just before the clock struck midnight to soak up the atmosphere in Morzine’s town square. At 16 weeks pregnant it was a sober one for me but I still took to the slopes for a bit of skiing as the New Year brought some much needed snow to the Portes du Soleil.

Just two weeks later we went somewhere 30 degrees hotter! Sri Lanka. It was somewhere I had wanted to go for a while and it did not disappoint. We travelled for 12 days visiting Kandy and the famous Temple of the Tooth and I spent my birthday in the picturesque tea hills where we stayed at the luxurious Tea Trails. We hiked, ate gourmet food, drank tea and saw the Tamil festival, Thai Pongal, being celebrated.

It was then to the south coast, where we enjoyed the beaches and stayed at the luxurious Cape Weligama, taking a visit to the historical city of Galle before coming home. You can read more about our Sri Lanka itinerary here. To round off a very busy January, I had a spa weekend with close friends.

February

At February half term we went skiing with my sister’s family where Mrs T took to the slopes for the first time. I watched from the sidelines and delighted at her progress. Back in London, I explored some of the sights such as the excellent Museum of London where I learnt more about the history of the city I live in as well as seeing the Olympic Cauldron used at the opening and closing ceremonies of London 2012.

March

Mother’s Day was spent at the Natural History Museum, my daughter’s first time at the London attraction and the dinosaurs were a big hit. I also discovered a hidden gem in London, Vauxhall City farm. Towards the end of the month we set off on our first road trip of the year travelling from the UK to France and Italy. It saw us take in the half-timbered houses of Troyes then Easter in the Alps and onto Italy where we explored the sunny cities of Emilia-Romagna and sampled its exquisite food.

April

The road trip took us to the quaint city of Modena which was my surprise highlight of the trip, especially as we stopped off at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello before hitting Bologna for 48 hours  and onto Parma before a stop off in Kaysenburg in Alsace and then home. We declared it a success and would embark on three more road trips before the year was out.

Towards the end of the month I finished up at work and started my maternity leave catching up on some blogging and meeting friends including lunch with an amazing view at the Shard’s Hutong restaurant.

May

With my bump getting bigger and no more overseas breaks possible, we headed up to Leeds over the Spring bank holiday to see in laws, enjoying a spa break at Rockliffe Hall in County Durham. A few weeks later, it was confirmed that I had a developed Obstetric Cholestatis, a complication in pregnancy which causes extreme itching. I had it with my first daughter so it wasn’t totally unexpected. It meant I was going to have a May baby not a June one!! Our beautiful daughter, nicknamed, Cheeky, was born at 37 weeks and we have been smitten ever since.

June

June was spent enjoying our little girl and getting to grips with becoming a family of four as well as meeting friends and trying to get out as much as possible. At 12 days old Cheeky went to her first wedding (which she pretty much slept through). For the first few weeks I tried to keep as active as possible and get outdoors, checking out some of the local sights like Richmond Park. At one month old, Cheeky came to BritMums Live with me, getting to meet some of the lovely mummy and daddy bloggers out there. She is here with Karen from Mini Travellers (L), Vicki at Honest Mum (top right) and Lisa blogger at Travel Loving Family (bottom right).

July

We decided we’d brave it. A road trip with our three-year-old daughter and six-week-old baby! Crazy? Yes, perhaps. It had some challenges but that’s travel with kids sometimes. The two-week trip took us to beautiful Provence where we instantly fell in love with the region. It involved a slightly challenging afternoon in Lyon, a stop in Avignon where we encountered the famous Avignon festival then spent some time in Uzes, Jucas, Castillon du Gare and Beaune as well as visiting the many hilltop villages and towns which are dotted around the Luberon and Vaucluse area.

I can still smell the sweet scents of Provence’s lavender fields and taste its fresh food and delicious local wine and think back fondly to the quaint hilltop villages. It will be somewhere we visit again in the not too distant future. This trip also saw us spend a few days with friends in the Marche region of Italy with 36 of us in total including 17 children!

August

August always seems to be a busy month with holidays, birthdays and wedding anniversaries. In amongst all that, there was a trip up to Yorkshire to see family where we visited Cannon Hall Farm. In London, we took a trip to Ripley’s Believe it or Not and celebrated Mrs T’s fourth birthday at Peppa Pig World.

Then it was onto our final trip of the summer and to a country we briefly visited last year, Sweden. Not before two nights in Oslo though. Travelling by coach from the capital of Norway to Gothenburg we then hired a car and made our way across the country to Stockholm, stopping off at the towns of Jönköping, Orebro and Uppsala. It was a fairly punishing schedule to tackle with a young child but I was impressed with Sweden’s family-friendly credentials and natural beauty.

September

The time had come. Mrs T started school! A momentous time which she took in her stride.

In September, we also squeezed in a trip to Hampton Court’s Magic Garden and revisited London’s Olympic Park four years after London 2012 as the hot weather continued.

October

With unseasonably warm weather in the UK continuing, we explored the autumnal colours at the Isabella Plantation and had an outdoor family photo shoot with Splento. It was also the month we celebrated my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary!

Now restricted by school holidays, I persuaded my husband (not that he needed much) that we should go away during half term. We settled upon the Algarve in Portugal and the excellent Vila Monte hotel.

There is a lot to be said for staying in one place and this was a holiday where we really could relax.The two girls got on really well and I was genuinely surprised at how beautiful the area was: gorgeous sandy beaches and the most incredible food. It was perfect.

November

November seemed to be a month filled with lots of travel blogging related events. There was the World Travel Market where I got to meet lots of fab travel bloggers in person, a Visit England event at The Shard and lunch with the good people at Fort Worth. Otherwise, there was plenty of outdoor activities and catching up with friends while Cathy at MummyTravels and I celebrated our first year of the City Tripping linky!

December

Things really ramped up in December. Having a school-aged child meant there was a full calendar what with the Nativity plays, Christmas fairs, school trips and carol singing. The first term at school really ended on a high and it was great to see how far my little girl has come since starting school. There were also numerous London theatre visits including the excellent The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Gruffalo and Stick Man. We were also delighted to welcome Mrs T’s godmother, Gen, to stay with us from Singapore.

In preparation for her trip to the Alps, we took Mrs T for some lessons at the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead. After spending Christmas in Yorkshire, we headed back to Morzine in the French Alps for New Year. It was another road trip with an overnight stay in Epernay. Much had been made about the lack of snow but we still found some to ski on and teach Mrs T while the sunny skies meant it was great conditions to enjoy the fresh air of the mountains as a family.

Mrs T did really well with her skiing, her daddy taking on ski instruction duties. She certainly looked pretty cool in her ski gear – a big thanks to Muddy Puddles for letting her try out its ski range. This New Year’s Eve celebrations were considerably less sober but lots of fun. We are very much looking forward to what 2017 holds. Wishing you all the best and safe travels for the new year ahead.