November 2022

I’m a bit late with my update on November. I will change the date to 30th November at the end of this month, to keep it tidy. The reason for the delay is that I was very busy in London with my studies. It was a very full and busy month overall, so this is going to be a long post, with loads of photos.

Firstly, we’ve had a short holiday in Nottingham and we went to some fab museums, that I will blog about this month. We also did a pub crawl that involved 4 pubs, including this stunning pub-in-an-old-church… and also the oldest pub in England (from the 12th century). See the link for more details if you are curious.

Another museum I’ve been to was IWM North, to see the exhibition on Ukraine. It was wonderful and I highly recommend it. It’s free and well worth a visit.

On the topic of Ukraine. I’ve made a presentation for university and it was very well received. I am very pleased with how it turned out. Also, I bought 2 pieces of artwork by an Ukrainian artist who uses old paintings to digitally enhance them. I love Dutch still art, hence this is why I got these 2 and they also work nicely on the hallway. I will share pictures with our new kitchen next month, as this month is very busy indeed.

Now… the World Cup. I highly recommend watching FIFA Uncovered on Netflix, it is so well made and very informative. Russia and Qatar paid bribes to host the games. Which makes me think what are the guys in the Olympic committee doing, as their choice of countries seems awfully familiar to those picked by FIFA.

For those saying that engaging in talks with dictatorships and religious fanatics doesn’t work… just look at this amazingly progressive step taken by Qatar.
I have to admit, I had no idea that things were so bad in Qatar before the World Cup.

I mentioned that I was very busy in London. This month we stayed in an inn, on the outskirts of London and it was a fantastic experience. I loved it. The inn is over a pub, and the pub served a full English vegan breakfast (didn’t expect that). We also had a drink in the evening and it was great. I would love to stay there again.

This is the room, so charming and old.

And this is the pub, lovely and full of life, buzzing with customers in the evening, but quiet in the mornings.

We also spent a few days in Westminster, in a Victorian building transformed into a hotel. I have to say that I loved Westminster, I can see why people would spend so much money (£3k/month in rent for a small flat) to live there. I think it was my favourite place so far.

This was the view we had from our room. Once more, this is a place I would love to stay in again.

Again! Did wordle from the 1st try! Yay!

1. Tube. 2. Studying imperialism at Hotel Chocolat. 3. Book delivery. 4. Homemade pizza. 5. Stamps with Patron. 6. Delicious homemade dessert. 7. A small selection of books I borrowed from various libraries. 8. Buying the first Christmas gift in Liverpool. 9. Rococo, a cafe in Liverpool. 10. Ukraine exhibition at Imperial War Museum, Manchester. 11. Hot dog and chimney cake at PANC, Christmas Market in Manchester. 12. Ready for our holiday, this is where we stayed. 13. 13th Element, vegan restaurant in Nottingham. 14. Pub crawl. 15. Caves in Nottingham. 16. Stopped in Oxford. 17. We stayed at an Inn near London, fantastic. 18. Gorgeous graffiti. 19. Beautiful prints, from an Ukrainian artist, are up on the wall now. I am so happy with them. 20. Max won again and the 2022 championship is over. 21. Commuting by train. 22. Christmas shopping. 23. Rainbow. 24. Plant Vegan Shop in L4 – support local businesses. 25. I bought a fun-sounding Lipstick plant for the kitchen. 26. Getting ready for a London trip (the picture was a few days older, didn’t take a picture on the day though). 27. FIFA Uncovered on Netflix. 28. 123V, fully vegan restaurant in Fenwick. 29. Unity Dinner. 30. Books in November.

I’m still a bit far from my reading list target, with 76 books finished this year so far. I have some books nearly done, so the total for next month will be higher. I will also have my winter break and I will, most likely, read more. By the time I published this post I finished another book, but that goes in the December list.

I highly recommend Hitler’s Henchmen by Helmut Ortner, it’s a short book and so well written, with some pretty shocking details on how Germans reacted to being neighbours to ex-SS men and so on. It’s worth a read without any doubt.

Books I read in November:
The Myth of Martyrdom by Adam Lankford – 5 stars
Vaccine Hesitancy by Maya J. Goldenberg – 3 stars
The COVID-19 Catastrophe by Richard Horton – 1 star
The Nazi Death Camps ed. Winston Ramsey – 5 stars
Hitler’s Henchmen by Helmut Ortner – 5 stars
The World Health Organization: A History by Marcos Cueto – 3 stars