35 before 35

Photo credit: Eva the Weaver

There are lists all over the blogosphere of things people want to do before turning 30 years old – it seems to be the magic (or rather opposite of magic) number that makes people panic and suddenly realise they’re getting old.

With time running out before my 30th, I decided to leap straight onto the 35 before 35 bandwagon. Anything to help me feel like I’ve achieved something in my life!

You may notice that some of the items on my list were taken from my 101 things to do in 1001 days, which I failed to finish. Hopefully I’ll have better luck with this challenge.

*Update on 13 October 2013* The list is now complete!! Here it is:

1. Visit Belfast and see whether I recognise anything (originally visit Ukraine, changed in 2014 due to events there at the time!)
   
2. Eat fondue in Switzerland (again) (Done on 24 July 2014)
3. Learn Spanish
4. See another musical (I’m thinking possibly Phantom of the Opera) (The Lion King on 5 September 2015)
   
5. Get over my fear of sewing machines and learn to use one
6. Travel round Britain again (done in August 2017; technically only England/Scotland but I’m counting it!)
   
7. Complete a cross stitch picture for myself (finished in September 2014)
   
8. Do 3 OU courses
9. Make cheesecake (Toblerone cheesecake made on 21 March 2015)
10. Go whale watching
11. Spend a night in a 5 star hotel and order room service
12. Ride in a hot air balloon
13. Read (or re-read) 50 non-fiction books (Read: 21/50)
    
14. Go back to Austria and finally try Marillenknödel (Done on 22 June 2014. Read about it here.)
    
15. Read 30 books in German (Read: 30/30) (final book finished in July 2018)
    
16. Spend new year in Madeira and see the fireworks display (it previously held the record for the world’s largest!) (Done for New Year 2013/14)
    
17. See a Shakespeare play (not performed by Oddsocks)
18. Bake 10 different kinds of biscuits (Baked: 10/10) (completed 18 June 2018)
    
19. Find a recipe for garlic soup and make it
20. Attend a world cup rugby match (Attended three in October 2015)
    
21. Read all those books from the BBC Big Read Top 200 list of books that I haven’t before (132 books – I had read 68 before starting) (Read: 69/132)
    
22. Visit the Postojnska cave in Slovenia
23. See the Northern Lights
24. Go to 5 different Christmas markets (other than Karlsruhe and Durlach) (5/5: Burg Hohenzollern 6/12/2014, Speyer 13/12/2014, Colmar 28/11/2015, Rheinfelden 29/11/2015, Bern 19/12/2015)
    
25. Either attend a cake decorating class or buy a book and teach myself at home
26. Paintball!!
27. Spend the night in a wine barrel (http://www.tourism-bw.com/Gourmet-Country/Spend-the-night-in-a-wine-barrel)
28. Play blacklight (i.e. glow-in-the-dark) mini golf (Done on 8 April 2013, read about it here.)
    
29. Visit a continent I’ve never been to before (following the seven-continent model, this means Africa, Asia, South America, Antarctica or Australia) (Visited Asia – specifically Taiwan – from 25-30 August 2014)
    
30. Learn to crochet or knit (or both) (I learned to knit on a loom in 2017 – I’m letting it count!)
    
31. Watch 35 films I haven’t seen before (35/35) (Final film watched in May 2017)
    
32. Start paying off my student loan (First payment made in August 2015)
    
33. Have a poem published
34. Drink champagne in Champagne (completed June 2017)
    
35. The KVV beer tour (drink a beer in each of the local breweries that can be reached by tram/S-Bahn) (Done on 11 April 2015. Read about it here)