Before I look towards this years adventures, I thought I’d do a little roundup of last year. We definitely didn’t get out or away as much as we wanted to, but we squeezed in a few tips anyway.
We started the year off with a visit to a favourite local place, Yorkshire Sculpture Park to see the poppy installation they temporarily brought there. It was a cold grey day, but we still managed a good walk around to see what sculptures were currently put up.
In April we got itchy feet and booked a last minute long weekend away to Copenhagen as we found some cheap flights. I’ll put my hands up and say neither of us really knew much about this wonderful city but it was the best city break we’ve been on in a while! There’s tons to do, and only planning a couple things that we definitely wanted to see left the rest of the time wide open to wander. If you’re there, take a boat tour, you can escape the rain if there is any and also it’s a great way to see the city and different districts. Rosenborg Castle is well worth a visit as well, if only to see the music boxes, giant lions and room of mirrors
The end of May I headed to my first Chelsea Flower Show in London. My boss has some clients who are specialist flower growers who got us tickets and I was super excited. I’ve always wanted to go to this prestigious flower show and it did not disappoint. An extra bonus was my blogger friend Sarah met me there so I got to say goodbye to her before she moved off to Singapore. Luckily we went midweek before it got super busy so we could get our cameras out and get photos. You can go catch up on all the flower glory in my posts 1, 2, and 3.
2016 was finally the year we made it to Blenheim Palace. I tell you it did not disappoint. I loved the Winston Churchill exhibit and even though we went on a rainy day, it let up enough for us to have a little walk around the grounds in between showers. We loved it so much we went back in August for a jousting and birds of prey show, which I’ll share the photos soon.
It was our 3rd year visiting Secret Garden Party and after last years rain, this years sun was a welcome change. I brought an entire bag of glitter and put it all on my face. I’m absolutely gutted we can’t go this year, but it’s because we are going to a good friends wedding! If anyone knows of any cool music and art festivals in August, let me know, because August is wide open.
August is when I try to make my way back to America to visit my family, and this year was made even better by one of my little cousins getting married and a trip to my parents new beach house in North Carolina. My dad had some health problems, but doctors finally found out what was going on and I’m so glad I was with him instead of across an ocean while everything was happening. I told him when I come back this year, he better stay out of the hospital so we can get in maximum beach time. If you want to see the cutest country wedding and the beach, you can catch up on my post here.
In September when I got back from America, we headed south to stay at Adam’s Aunt and Uncle’s new country house hideaway. While there we took a day trip to Clovelly Village, an instagrammers dream. While it was super cute and I’m glad I went, I’m not sure the steep entry price warrants a return visit, but we’d love to go back and explore more coastal villages that aren’t privately owned!
Most of the year was severely lacking in country house visits, so when Emma came up we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to return to Harewood House. It’s a firm favourite on our list and I knew she would love it just as much, not to mention, penguins! If you missed it, you can see my house photos here, and garden photos here.
We didn’t do as much this year as some life things happened and also we decided it would be the year of the house. We made lots of home improvements, and still have some more to go, but we’ve already got a packed year for 2017, so some of them might have to wait! In the meantime, we can’t wait for it to be summer so we can get out and use our new paved fire pit and bbq area.
What was your favourite place you went in 2016?
