*check out last year's Year In Review here!*
My year started, as most years do, at midnight
on January 1st, but this one was quite unlike any other years had
started. I was standing in the middle of a deserted street wearing Grumpy Cat
pajamas, listening to the sounds of illegal fireworks going off in a city that
I had unexpectedly found myself living in. That unexpected start to the year,
alone, cold, but feeling more alive than I had since the pandemic began,
ushered in the start of what would become a very unexpected year.
The first unexpected thing was being offered a
prime time radio slot on UK Country Radio. Towards the end of 2020, I’d begun presenting
a show on the station, and in early January was promoted to ‘Friday primetime’ –
three hours of country music and a bit of chat from me which I have continued
to host throughout 2021. (You can tune in every Friday from 5-8pm on www.ukcountryradio.com!)
It’s been great fun, and not only have I been
able to share my favourite songs with whoever’s tuning in (and will be getting
my own additional one hour special this coming year to do just that), but I
also had the opportunity to interview loads of great artists over Zoom, including
Seaforth, SixForty1, Chase Bryant, and many more. These are artists who, in normal
times, I might not have had the chance to sit down with, had I still been in Australia,
or if they had been too busy touring to take my calls, but here we were, me in
my ‘office’ in the Netherlands chatting to them in Nashville, Texas, Canada and
beyond.
The next unexpected surprise came in February,
when we got some pretty significant snowfall, making for pretty walks in fresh
snow, watching hardy Dutch locals ice skate on the frozen canals, and even
taking a step on one myself (and not falling in). Such cold weather simply called
for comfort food, so I continued my explorations around all of the local
bakeries, testing out the best cakes they had on offer and even getting one to
celebrate my (unexpected) one year anniversary of living in the Netherlands in March.
The weather improved in April, bringing with it
gorgeous spring blossoms, baby lambs, and a fresh batch of cygnets to spot on
my daily walks around the waterways. This time was obviously a new beginning for
nature, but also for me too, as I was offered a job teaching online in Riga, Latvia. Along with the teaching I was already doing for students in China, I
spent the next few months finishing up courses and running summer programmes teaching
kids, teens and adults. I met some truly lovely people, and I can only hope I’ll
get to meet some of them in person a bit further down the line.
As the blossoms faded, May heralded the start
of tulip season, and with covid not as bad(?) as it had been the year prior, we
were finally able to get out and see them. We took two weeks to explore the
tulip trails, travelling around the country to see the best and the brightest tulip
fields that stretched for miles and miles, with gorgeous flowers of every
colour. I get why people like it in the Netherlands now.
June saw the tulips give way to rhododendrons
and roses, the weather get warm enough for long cycles, and even more cake for
me, including one which I baked for my birthday – whipped cream sponge with
salted caramel buttercream and caramel drip, decorated to look like a tropical island (i.e. where I’d rather be during the pandemic!) It was yet another
unusual birthday, but these were unusual times.
We took advantage of sunny days in July to get
out and explore the Netherlands, visiting beautiful cities like Delft,
Rotterdam, Maastricht and Amsterdam, including seeing Girl With A Pearl Earring
in the flesh. I also made a new friend around this time in the form of Bob, the
cat from across the road who I got to cat-sit on occasion. This was the time
when I saw a lot of my friends in other countries start to get vaccinated and
begin to meet up again, so going over to pet him for half an hour was the perfect
excuse for a much-needed serotonin boost when I was feeling low that I couldn’t
yet meet up with friends safely.
Alas, the end of the social isolation tunnel
was in sight, and I received my second vaccine in mid-August, just in time for
me to finally leave the country for the first time in over a year. We headed to Ireland to catch up with family at long last and celebrate my cousin’s wedding
in Ballinasloe, County Galway. It was so nice to see each other again after so
long, as well as do a bit of planning for another wedding coming up later in
the year…
But first, we had to get through September, and were finally feeling comfortable enough to spread our wings a bit. There seemed no better way to do this than with a European roadtrip. The first stop was back to my birthplace near Heidelberg, where we went castle chasing and visited the town I spent the first few months of my life in.
We made it to another stunning place in Europe
in October – County Kerry, Ireland. Whilst we had only been in Ireland a few
months prior, this time, we were joined by my brother and his fiancée to explore
the Wild Atlantic Way, beaches and bays, and reconnect after so long. This was
essentially a ‘pre-honeymoon’ for the two, as they were then married in a
lovely ceremony near my Dad’s hometown. It was a small wedding, but so long as
you’ve got those who matter most around you, what more do you need? Very happy
to be ending 2021 with a happy brother and brand new sister-in-law!
I also took the time in Ireland to donate my hair
to the Little Princess Trust for the third time – covid may not have been good
for many, many reasons, but at least not being able to go to the hairdressers
meant I had 14 inches of hair that I was able to donate!
No sooner had I arrived back in the Netherlands
that the most unexpected change happened, and I moved to Italy. I had received
a job offer to work in Como, and after a year and a half of teaching online in
the Netherlands, I was more than ready for a change. I arrived in one of the most
beautiful places on Earth, and jumped right into a busy working schedule teaching
adults, teens and children at school in Como and across Lombardy.
I started exploring further afield in November,
visiting some of the towns around Lake Como including Bellagio, Varenna, and
Menaggio, as well as taking a long weekend to visit Verona and Bologna (you can
check them out on my blog too!). I learnt the power of aperitivo, ate so many
amazing things, and even tried my hand at cooking too.
And here we are in December. My Italian travels have continued with snowy trips to Milan, and food-filled ones to Bergamo. During the short time I’ve been here, I’ve made the most incredible friends, eaten spectacular food, and visited stunning places. There’s so much still to explore in 2022, and I can’t wait!
Thanks for reading about my 2021 adventures! What did you get up to this year? Drop me a message on Twitter @CiarasCountry, along with what your plans are for 2022!
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