2012 - Its all going horribly wrong

Well not really. Im hoping that the Chinese New Year will change things for the better. Ive had a couple of days off this week after I came down with a cold / chest infection and this after piling into a crash barrier after misjudging the exit ramp from the A14 in the dark.
Were starting to formulate some (modest) travel plans for the year, plus this year there are also the Lympics. Were taking mum to the Olympic stadium on her birthday. Coming into London from the East is actually pretty exciting though you dont see so much from the train - watching the extraordinary structures grow - The Olympic stadium, the Velodrome, the Aquatic centre and the Anish Kapoor sculpture. The surrounding area is still pretty derelict though criss-crossed by canals - the motorways of the Victorian era.
Hopefully we'll be embarking on our first expedition in a couple of weeks - probably to Portobello Road / Notting Hill using Andrew Duncan's excellent Walking London book. I picked up Derek Sumeray's Track the Plaque last year but have yet to try it Duncans book gives a round experience of the area that youre wandering round and yes there are little enclaves of like minded individuals that are congregated togethre i.e. the musical community in St John's Wood but often its the weird and wonderful juxtapositions of plaques that make fir the interest.
Besides those we’re planning a trip to Brussels and the Tintin museum plus possibly a couple more city breaks – maybe within the UK and maybe relatively close to home – Amsterdam, Paris or Western Germany. After our Mexico trip were taking it a little bit easy with a view to a big trip in 2013.
In the meantime we endure the delights of the British winter. I still don’t understand why people take summer holidays (well obviously if you have kids then you fit in with school holidays) when winter is just so pants. Still the days are getting longer (he says in a desperate attempt to convince himself) Both M and I have been a little down, suffering from the post holiday blues (not to mention various sneezes and wheezes) – the drawback of a good break is the contrast between it and the return to work.