First post of 2014

Start as you mean to go on…
It’s funny how when faced with the start of another year, we tend to look backwards instead of forwards. People reflect back on the year that’s passed.
My Facebook feed was full of precious travel stories, babies born in 2013, weddings… Some friends were wishing the year over as quickly as possible in order to start afresh, having been plagued by poor health or personal problems. And the lists of resolutions were long, from getting fit and eating healthy to resolving never ever to join a gym again. It will be interesting to see how many of these intentions are forgotten by the end of the week…
Last year for the midnight excitement I was at a friend’s wedding in Israel. It seemed very fitting to celebrate entering another year newly married and surrounded by loved ones. It was a wild party under the stars in the warmth. Very different to my experience in rainy London this year. We had a last-minute party at my dad’s house. There was much merriment and sparklers and general giggles were had by all.
I have done the whole central London fireworks and have to say I’m over it. The crowds are horrendous. The only positive thing was that the sheer number of people and their closeness keeps the warmth in, but after waiting 6 hours to get a good spot I was more ready to go home, than look up to see chemistry sparks. Once, on the way home we were groped and grabbed and pushed from one closed station due to overcrowding to another station. Four hours later I vowed never to do it again. Now I prefer to host a NY party, as once the champagne runs out, I put the glasses into the dishwasher, finish eating the nibbles and head upstairs to bed. And that’s exactly how it went this year. A perfect start to the New Year.
We returned to Berlin yesterday. I have seen videos of what happens in our local area of Neukölln over the NY. Friends describe it as a war zone. There is no need for street-lighting as the fireworks go on non-stop. They even have guns which shoot out fireworks – it’s no wonder so many people are injured. In fact, around 500 people are injured every year in Berlin. Over half of these are not self-inflicted. If you are in the wrong place at the wrong time you might end up celebrating the NY in hospital with severe burns. It seems it’s a good thing we were in London!
We saw the evidence of what had occurred the night before on our road on the walk back home from the airport. Sadly it was dusk so the photo is dark, but the entire street is littered with firework rubbish.
From packaging and sparkler sticks to matches, the streets were even more littered than normal. Car windows had been smashed. Broken glass and champagne bottles were everywhere. It’s the first time I didn’t see people walking their dogs, either because of the mess or because their pets must still have been scared senseless. I know I would have been!
It seems a shame to have missed the craziness of Berlin for New Years, but there is still time for all of that. In fact, we have just under a year to prepare for the next NY party. So if you want to see how crazy it gets, book a flight over to Berlin next year and come party with us! For now, let’s enjoy this year. I hope it’s going well already and let’s make this the best year yet 🙂