Looking Back at 2013

Alright, so we are five whole days into 2014 and I should probably have got this up sooner as everyone is so over 2013 but sorting out these pictures took seriously ages. Still, I think it's good to remind yourself of how your year went and to see where you are in comparison to 365 days before. If you've had a good year it's especially nice to remind yourself of all your new experiences.

For me 2013 was a good one, I didn't drastically change my life but I did continue with my 2012 resolution to travel more. I ticked off two new continents and five new places including New York which has been a major dream for ages. My budget is pretty tight so I'm quite proud of myself for managing to do it without any debt. Plus, it shows that it's possible when you put your mind to it *Cliché klaxon*. Sorry to sound so smugly, I'm not generally the type to pat myself on the back, honestly.

So in April I took a trip to Barcelona then on to Coín to visit my uncle in the South of Spain. We spent a few days in each place before getting a ferry over to Morocco and then a very long train ride to Marrakech. I blogged my travel wardrobe back then but didn't include any touristy snaps so here are some of my faves.

Park Guell, Barcelona

Sagrada Familia

 At the top of Sagrada Familia

 Walking up to the Olympic Village

 Palau Nacional

 Arc de Triomf

 On top of La Pedrera

Casa Batlló

 Casa Uncle Chris, Coín

View from his terrace

 In the Marrakech souks

 Jewellery making

 Moroccan tagine

 The teeny pool in our riad

Inside Yves Saint Laurent garden

 The roof terrace at our riad

 On the way to the Zagora desert

 Getting ready for camel riding

Hanging with the Berbers in the Zagora desert

Later on in the year, in June, we went to a friends wedding which involved lots of bunting, cheese, cider and camping. It was a great day and we had the hangover to prove it in the morning, let me tell you. I posted pictures of our wedding outfits here.

In July we made the most of some of Gloucester's free events like this party in the park and the Gloucester food festival.

The AMAZING weather in July also meant getting into our garden for barbecues and sunbathing.

August brought with it a very exciting trip to New York. It really was one of the best holidays I've been on, despite all the back breaking walking (does anyone else get a really bad back from sightseeing?) The weather was sweltering in August, it was particularly unbearable in the subways but it didn't matter because everything else was AWESOME.

I uploaded my best NYC pictures in my New York travel diary but here are some of my favourites again.

 Walking along the East river

 Authentic cuisine

 Times Square

 At the top of Rockefeller Center

 On the Staten Island ferry past the Statue of Liberty

 Grand Central Station

Rowing in Central Park

I was in New York for my 25th birthday (I KNOW!) but still needed to celebrate with my besties when we got home, so in September I had an eighties cocktail party.

I bought a pineapple and cocktail addendums from the pound shop, made a sick 80s playlist and told everyone to bring some mixer. As we tend to host all the parties in our group we always end up with left over alcohol, so the cocktail part was partly to use up what we had. In the end everyone brought mixer AND alcohol so we ended up with even more than before but it was an epic night so who cares!

At the end of September James and I took a short trip to see my Mum in Turkey. We weren't originally going to go because we had so little leave left but we really felt like we needed a proper relax. Despite going away twice already, both holidays had been quite intense with a LOT of walking so we needed to have a proper lie-down-in-the-sun type trip.

My mum lives in Marmaris which happens to be an hour ferry ride from Rhodes, so we somehow shoehorned a day trip into our five day holiday. I'm so glad we did because Rhodes is just as beautiful as Greece always promises to be and it's definitely inspired our travel plans for this year.

After Turkey we were in the countdown to Christmas so the end of the year was much quieter. Halloween marked a leaving do at work so naturally we got dressed up and got inappropriately drunk.

 I was a sea monster

Then in December James turned 26 and of course Christmas was upon us. I never seem to take many pictures at Christmas, I guess because it's nice not to 'see it through a lense'. Also, my camera died really early at the work Christmas party, so I literally couldn't take any pictures.

This was my Christmas party outfit.

New Year's Eve was a quiet one. We saw in the new year with curry and board games because we are rock'n'roll.

In 2014 I intend to do lots more travelling and (as always) try to lose weight (I say while eating leftover After Eight's). Hope you had a great new year! What are your 2014 goals?