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10 European Cities I Want To Visit

February 1, 2017 Leave a Comment

With my trip to Berlin in February I’m feeling a sense of wanderlust, and I’ve decided to draw up a list of my top ten European cities that I would like to visit. Since going to Belfast a couple of years ago on my birthday, I have made it my goal for every year around my birthday to visit a new city.

As a poor student I can’t really afford to go too further afield, and I find city breaks to be a lot of fun. When I travel I like to visit destinations that have a wealth of history and attractions to visit so I feel like I’m not simply looking at a place, and not taking anything in. I like to gain something from it, whether its learning some phrases of a new language or learning about the culture. I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to history, and obtaining new information I may never have found out is always a good feeling in my eyes.

Anyhow here are my list of cities I wish to visit in the future, and some reasons why I want to visit them.

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Holiday Pictures

July 5, 2015 Leave a Comment

Hiya everyone- so I’m back as you’ve probably guessed already after posting my review of The Bad Beginning!

I had a wonderful holiday, managed to catch a bit of sun without burning myself- success! It’s lovely to be home despite having work today, but everyone missed me haha. I managed to squeeze in a book and a half whilst away, I just finished The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (review coming) which I’ll count as a July read.

Anyhow I will be uploading my June Wrap-Up tomorrow as I’m still writing it up. So today I just want to share with you a few holiday pictures, I confess a lot of them are of me and Mollie haha.

The place we stayed was Mojacar, and a cheeky fact I have for you all is that this was the birth place of the legendary Walt Disney! His parents later on emigrated to America like a lot of Europeans, he was than orphaned and then adopted by his next door neighbours Mr and Mrs Disney! I was amazed with this story, and its wonderful to share a story I don’t presume is well known.

I hope you’re all well and I’m glad to be getting back into blogging again 🙂

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Belfast #2

January 18, 2015 Leave a Comment

The end is near, the last morning in Belfast- I am quite sad about leaving. it never feels like there was enough time to explore everything.

Me and Mum got cornered by the city tours bus guys and so our last couple of hours was going around the whole of the city, a great way to spend it in all honesty.

Sight seeing is definitely wraps everything up and particular monuments such as this- the Albert Clock was pointed out to us. In fact a lot of places in Belfast are for Queen Victoria and Albert, many of the street names are named after her too.

Embarrassingly I can’t remember the name of this ship- don’t hate me! All I can remember is that its sat in the docks for a long long time and is used in the Navy as a training post (I think- oops!).

Here we have Stormont, otherwise known as the Parliament Buildings in Belfast- pretty spectacular. Meetings are held here as well as other functions to the present day.

A slightly more upsetting photo (excuse the reflections in the photo I was on a bus haha! The Shanklin wall, a political wall so to speak. Every night this is all shut off to prevent troubles from happening between the Unionists and the Republicans, I still don’t quite understand the full extent of it all. Only that the republicans wanted to separate from the rest of the United Kingdom, whereas the Unionists wanted to remain as part of the UK- hence the separation of North and Southern Ireland.

Enough with the political stuff, the famous Crown Bar- one of the oldest in Belfast was just in front of where we were staying is a pretty stunning building. Unfortunately we didn’t get to have a drink inside as it wasn’t open until the afternoon- another excuse for me to return to this city!

Alas I couldn’t leave Belfast without having these beauties- Taters! Perfect for the journey back.

Well here we have it, the end of my time in Belfast. A truly beautiful city, rich in history and so much more for me to explore. I will most definitely be back soon. In the meantime I am looking into going to someplace new in Ireland I’ve never been- maybe Limerick, Cork, Galway, or Kerry. I can’t decide, any one will do. In fact all of them someday…

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Belfast #1

January 17, 2015 Leave a Comment

Another beautiful day in Northern Ireland and today is the day of the Giants Causeway coast trip- one of the main attractions we wanted to visit on our trip.

Hello to Carrickfergus Castle, this was a mere photo stop before heading further up the north-east coast. Our coach driver told us various stories concerning the castle referring to its Norman structure, and how its played an important role throughout history and is the most well preserved castle in Northern Ireland.

Woah a decent picture of me and my Mum? Surely not?! One of my best buys of 2014 was definitely my Sony camera, it came in handy on this trip!

For a good two hours we were sat on the coach listening to the coach driver chatting away, telling us all sorts of stories about Northern Ireland. The views were spectacular, I took so many amazing photos along the way and I adore these one’s in particular. The view kept changing with every turn we took, every winding road brought us to new stunning views of the wonderful Irish countryside.

I could picture myself living there, the small villages where fisheries are the most important source of income and yet everything is so calm and soothing. If I could afford to move there I think I would, if I ever won the lottery this is where I would love to live. Peace and quiet, nothing to care for except chucking another log on the fire to keep my cottage warm- listen to me I sound about 80 not 20!

We experienced every season as we climbed up the hills, the sunshine, the rain and then snow. Across the hills we went and came across this disappearing lake- the driver told us this could empty within a few hours in good weather. Fortunately today it was there amongst the blanket of white- simply gorgeous scenery. I have to admit at one point I thought we were going to be stranded on top of the hill as the weather conditions progressed to get worse.

Another highlight of the trip was briefly visiting The Old Bushmills Distillery, the finest whiskey in Northern Ireland- so I’m told! I may not have tried it myself but it was a cute town to visit.

Something I was definitely eager to get my teeth sunk into was this steak and Guinness pie- scrumptious! Proper food as my Gran would say.

Then here we are, the main purpose of this trip- The Giants Causeway. Admittedly it wasn’t the best days to visit, what with the pouring rain and waves crashing against the structure. Despite this it was pretty fascinating how this could have been formed- apparently one of the many wonders of the world and quite rightly too. This photo doesn’t give it justice, in better weather I think it would look even more stunning. We found old coins amongst the stones that people must have left there for perhaps good luck I don’t know.

A wonderful day in the Northern Irish countryside, places I’ll never forget for their natural beauty and wonders.

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Goodmorning Belfast

January 16, 2015 Leave a Comment

Getting up at half past four in the morning certainly wasn’t the highlight of my day, although at that time of the morning everything is so peaceful and the sense of anticipation of the thought that in a few hours I’ll be some place I’ve never been before.

What I most enjoy when going away is the flight itself and weirdly enough, the times I have been on an aircraft I’ve always been in a seat next to the wing- if anything its more enjoyable as you can see if we’re turning and keep an eye that it doesn’t suddenly descend below haha. I’m not a nervous flyer but my Mum definitely is, a window seat is her worst nightmare. What’s beautiful about flying for me is when you’re above the clouds and its like a whole new world (no Disney pun intended) up there and its just stunning!

We left London Gatwick at around ten past nine and getting in to Belfast International at around an hour later, so a lovely short flight. Ironically you spend most of your time in the airport than on the actual flight.

Here we have the Travelodge I was staying in which was central to the city, we stepped out the door and City Hall was across the street- the perfect location. Although Travelodge are seen as a budget hotel, they’re decent. They have everything you need; a bed, en suite bathroom, a TV, and even a kettle to make yourself a cup of tea or coffee- in my opinion this is all you need. I don’t understand those who spend the majority of their time away in the hotel- bizarre!

I knew it would be even colder in Northern Ireland but I didn’t quite realise how cold, to put it in perspective- it started to snow. In the distance we could see the hills covered in white, rather beautiful but me and my Mum realised our fate as we begun walking towards Titanic Belfast!

Battling through the cold towards this fantastic building we reached the doors and huddled in to the warmth of its inside and grabbed ourselves a cup of tea and a scone with jam- perfection! Typical English folk, can’t go anywhere without getting a cup of tea but who could blame us in that weather! Excuse my mum for looking away from the camera, I tried to tell her where to look but it didn’t sink in- bless her!

I’m not going to spoil the Titanic Belfast for you, its simply a brilliant museum where I learnt so much more about the famous somewhat ‘unsinkable ship’. Not only this but it provided you with the history behind Belfast being the shipbuilding capital of the world, it really opened up my eyes as to why it really is such a wonderful city.

‘The Beacon of Hope’ is of a lady holding the “ring of thanksgiving”. The globe she’s standing on indicates the universal philosophy of peace, harmony and thanksgiving. Its also marked with the cities where the people and industries of Belfast migrated and exported to.

Well this was day one of Belfast, see you tomorrow for day two!

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Autumn in Somerset

November 6, 2014 Leave a Comment

Autumn is my favourite time of the year, the warm colours, big jumpers, hot drinks, and the build up to Christmas!

The weekend just passed I visited my Great Uncle in the wonderful countryside of Somerset, literally one of my favourite places in England. Its simply the best get away and to visit during this season was just so peaceful and enchanting!

Its been a number of years since I’ve visited my Uncle and it was touch and go this year if I would be able to even get the time off work, but thankfully after making up my hours during the week I was able to go and had the best weekend away in a long time. If anything it was a great escape from goings on in my life, things I need to break away from and the fresh air and long walks certainly helped.

On the last day of my visit me, my Mum, Aunt and Uncle walked up to Cadbury Castle close to where my Uncle lives. The castle is a Bronze and Iron Age hill fort and is a scheduled monument associated none other than King Arthur. Although its not physically still standing, remains can still be found dating back to human occupation and use from Neolithic to post Roman eras.

So after a slightly tiring climb to the top we were greeted with views across these wonderful countryside views, and in my opinion they’re best to be seen during the autumn months with the changing of the leaves on the trees just makes everything look even more beautiful.

If I could recommend anywhere to visit in England, Somerset is definitely the top of my list. Country walks, foraging for berries and simply breathing in the fresh air (with the exception of animal dung!) is the perfect remedy for getting away from the stress of work and day-to-day worries. I only wish I could visit this beautiful place more often- I’m hoping next April!

I couldn’t resist showing you all my Uncle’s beautiful (and slightly muddy) dogs Bliss and Samantha who gave me warm cuddles during the chilly evenings and making me wish I lived in the country with dogs like them and farmland of my own.

Happy autumn thoughts to you all,