January is almost over and 2017 seems like so long ago, but I’ve had this post sat in my drafts for over a month now so I thought it was probably time that I posted it. 2017 was such a good year for me and I wanted to write about my five favourite moments of 2017, but found it really hard to narrow it down, so I’ve ended up with just a few more.

Some of the things I’ve missed out include: holding a raccoon, visiting Brighton, going to two new cat cafes, making friends with an orangutan in Barcelona Zoo, going indoor skydiving and meeting Steps.

My favourite moments of 2017 

Going to Berlin

I went to Germany twice in 2016 and although I enjoyed Cologne the second time around, it’s not somewhere I’d want to go back to soon. When I got invited on a press trip to Berlin, I was excited to discover a different city in Germany and see how they compared. Especially as Berlin, the country’s capital is rich with history. I was only there for 24 hours, but Berlin stole my heart.  I’m now dying to go back and experience it all again and explore all of the parts I missed out. I  especially want to have a look around all of the museums.

Seeing the Cursed Child

I bought tickets to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child the very day they were released in 2015. I’d been waiting 19 months for the 5th April 2017 to finally roll around! Unfortunately, the two (ex) colleagues who were meant to be seeing it with me decided at the last minute that they didn’t want to go (they’d already paid me for the tickets, so they missed out on the money and the show!) so I ended up going alone. Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved every minute and I’ve managed to get a ticket to see it again in August this year.

Visiting Portaventura

The day after I saw the Cursed Child, I flew out to Barcelona to meet Rachel at Portaventura theme park for the opening of Ferrari Land. This was the most amazing press trip, we got to visit Ferrari Land before it was opened to the public, we spent three days on rollercoasters and got to go on Europe’s tallest and fastest rollercoaster twice all whilst enjoying the Spanish sun and Rach’s company.

Getting into University

I had wanted to go back to university ever since I graduated 5 years ago, however I had never been able to afford it. With the introduction of Post Graduate loans, I decided to apply for a Masters in Human Osteology this year. I was sitting outside a cafe along the Barcelona sea front in June when I got the email to say the status of my application had changed. My heart dropped and I didn’t want to have a look at the UK Pass page. What if my application had been rejected? I didn’t want to be worrying about it for the rest of my holiday, so I checked and I’d received an offer! I was so happy and this just made my holiday even better.

Moving back to Winchester and starting my degree

After five years of desperately wanting to move back to Winchester, I finally did it. Okay, I had to borrow money, but I did it. I was back (thanks to my parents and a student loan). Starting my course was both scary and exciting. Honestly, I can’t say I’m finding it easy. Being out of education for five years means I’m a bit rusty on the whole uni thing. Writing assignments and attending lectures seems like a million years agp.  I’ve also had my first seminar this year and I didn’t even know what a seminar was! I do find it lonely being down here on my own, but I’m here for a purpose.

Seeing The National

The National are one of my favourite bands and I had always wanted to see them live. Unfortunately, I was sexually assaulted when I was on my way to see them for the first time in 2014. This means that the memory of that gig was tainted with that awful event. I went to see them on the first night of their four night residency in London in September. This time around, everything about it was amazing. Luckily, I  managed to get to the third row and I had the best time. I can’t wait to see them again in June.

Meeting new friends

At the beginning of the year, Kariss invited me to a group chat with some of her favourite bloggers. Out of that group, I only really knew Kariss and Rachel but we’ve all become firm friends now and I finally met Haydy, Milly and Lizi at various points during the year. I don’t know what I would have done in 2017 if I hadn’t had these brilliant ladies to chat to!

What were your favourite moments of 2017? Did you have a good year?