a brand new year!

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we spent the days following christmas, and our new years weekend, doing a lot of relaxing and catching up on things that have been at the lower-priority end of our lists. it was nice to not have an agenda and use some spare time to just hang out and check random stuff off, rather than run out on adventures. i have been feeling a bit poorly, and the boy had a crazy busy december at work, so it was a well-timed bona-fide break

but because of this slower pace, i feel like it’s hardly hit me that it’s a brand new year! two thousand sixteen is here! the year that passed has been a really, really incredible one for us. but i have a feeling two thousand sixteen is going to be even more full of (perhaps different types of) adventures. i love the freshness that comes with the first week of january. i always feel so motivated to work harder, to be better, to live more deliberately and gratefully and graciously, to find and share more joy.

to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next, the boy and i went to watch the epic london eye fireworks. we knew this would involve battling some crowds and standing in the cold, but we were so close to one of the best fireworks shows in the world! so we made it happen and it was completely worth it.

the streets were soooo alive on the night of the thirty first of december. since tube stops were closed and buses weren’t running through much of baricaded-off central london, we walked from our flat to lambeth bridge, where we hoped to get a good view of the fireworks (this was the closest spot to the eye that didn’t require a ticket to get into). there were so many people out and so much excitment in the air. we got to lambeth bridge about 9:30 and found a spot only about three rows deep in the middle of the river. and there we waited, standing in the cold, for two and a half hours.

here was our view (taken over quite a few heads!) when we arrived…

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we watched the london eye change colours and the boats start to fill in for prime viewing spots. we challenged each other to boggle games on our phones, looked up facts about new years fireworks shows around the world, shared highlights from two thousand fifteen and hopes for two thousand sixteen.

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by eleven fifteen or so, many more people had filed in behind us, our legs were cramping, and our toes were numb. but the anticipation was building! by eleven forty five, we were counting down every minute. and at twelve midnight, as soon as the fireworks started, it was instantly all worth it!

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i feel like i’ve seen some good fireworks shows in my life, but i’ve never seen anything like this! i held my camera above my head and snapped pictures while watching below (and i got a few good photographs among the many bad ones! – but certainly they can’t capture much of the incredible spectacle!). both the boy and i (along with all the stunned people around us) said “holy cow” or “wow” at least a dozen times as the pyrotechnics continued to amaze us. fireworks shot off of the eye itself, from the river, along westminster bridge…it was totally dazzling.

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a very exhilarating way to start the new year!! we walked home among the revelry in the streets and it was just magical. as we walked between the houses of parliament and westminster abbey, big ben glowed blue in the night sky and the bells from the abbey swept through the crowds. it was so dang cool.

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so here’s to two thousand sixteen!

Comments

  1. Good lick with that "new kind" of adventure! Exciting times!

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  2. "new kind" of adventure?!?! sounds fantastic!

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  3. just to say there won't be an around the world trip in two thousand sixteen! just more settled, working adventures.
    happy new year!

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  4. Feeling poorly.. New adventures... Hmmm 😉 Happy2016!

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  5. Yay fireworks! You know I'd be crying after the first fifteen minutes in the cold. Aren't you just so happy you get to walk home in London? That's where you live! In London!

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  6. Those are some great looking fireworks! Hope you have a great 2016, can't wait to follow your adventures this year (even if it doesn't involve an around the world trip!)

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