2011: A Year in Review

While I work my way through the over a thousand pictures I took during my trip to Argentina and Chile, I thought it to be a good time to take a look at what 2011 brought me.

2011 was a year of changes, not only here on 100 Miles Highway – It was the year I learned to appreciate winter, got promoted, moved to London and traveled solo for the first time.

I kicked off last year in a steampunk themed underground party wearing a corset and threatening people of being vaporized, in London. After many years of resentment, I revisited Paris and remembered what made me fall in love with the city (and parisians!) the first time. At the end of the month, I saw one of the most beautiful urban sunsets from the top of the Empire State and experienced -17ºC, I swear: I had never felt that cold in my life!

February was a busy month at work – I traveled to Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and attended a week of cocktails in London. Besides for gaining at least 2 kilos from dunking anything possible into a massive chocolate fountain, I drank champagne at London’s Natural History Museum and had dinner at the city’s oldest restaurant!

After living a year and a half in Switzerland and evading to learn how to ski or snowboard, I finally gave snowboarding a try and actually liked it! A shame I only chose to do so when pistes were already getting watery (will I still remember it this year?!). This was also the month I visited Edinburgh, Scotland (for the first time) and met up for beers and whisky with Keith from Traveling Savage, Kash over at Budget Traveller and Jools, the trains expert behind Trains on the Brain (great people, I tell you!)

100 Miles Highway turned 1 year old and so I gave it a mutually beneficial present: I moved from Blogger to WordPress and gave it a whole new design. I spent the rest of the month exploring Switzerland: walked along the bisses, fell in love with Lac Leman on the evening light, got lost in the Tulip Festival in Morges and spotted France, Switzerland and Italy from the top of Mont Fort.

I spent a few days home in the Canary Islands, where I learned about my irrational fear of falling down a cliff (not to be mistaken with the fear of heights!). I continued exploring neighbor towns, such as Vevey, and discovered a new way of dining at Le Guillaume Tell (which I strongly recommend to anyone spending some days near Lavaux, Switzerland). My company had offered me to transfer to London back in February, and by the end of May I had a set date: I would be moving for the 1st of September!

June was a month full of travels. I started off by visiting a close friend in Lisbon, Portugal. It was my first time in the country – I seriously can’t believe how I could have waiting this long! I fell in love with portuguese architecture and tasted all sorts of national dishes. This followed by an express weekend visiting friends in Madrid, where I witnessed the peaceful protests in Sol. I spent a few days in Cuba and even managed to find some time to tan, right on time to attend the Royal Ascot horse race!

The month started out really well: Easyjet Holidays featured my article on portuguese architecture! By mid-July I boarded on a plane towards Ibiza, where I explored the charming little streets of Dalt Vila for a day; just before heading over to Formentera, its smaller sister. The week I spent in Formentera with the girls was all about sun bathing and drinking mojitos watching the sun set at a local chiringuito and swimming in crystalline water. Life couldn’t get any better than that.

During my last month in Switzerland, I spent time doing all those things I loved with the people I was going to miss: BBQs at the lake, walks through Lavaux’s vineyards, visits to Lausanne’s farmers market, sun bathing on the terrace and even hiked along Aletsch, Europe’s largest glacier (Part I and Part II). This was so far one of the most beautiful sceneries I’ve ever seen!

On September 1st, I was already working at our offices in London. There was so much to catch up on, and I was feeling exhausted. I lived in a temporary apartment for 3 weeks and then decided to move east to follow the trend. This was also the month I started up as Foodspotting Ambassador in London!

Being part of the Foodspotting team has helped me find places in the city for all sorts of cuisine. The variety on restaurants and bars is definitely one of the plus sides of living in London (it sort of makes the crowds and the weather a bit less annoying). October was fairly quiet over here due to the lack of internet. I was feeling a bit home sick and unexpectedly jumped on a 24-hour adventure through Madrid involving far too many tapas, beers and pacharan. I also took a few days off to fly back home and get some sun on my skin while watching curious whales in Los Gigantes.

November felt like the real beginning of english winter. I got sick some time at the beginning of the month and have not yet fully recovered from that flu (mental note: you’re not immune to flu, next time take the shot).

I spent most of December planning, researching and reading on my next destination: Patagonia. Mid-December, I left to Buenos Aires to embark in this 2 and a half week adventure. I will report about it soon (the picture above is a little pre-view!)