Notting Hill Carnival

So in the 3 years I have lived in London I have never once been to Notting Hill Carnival. I have always been out of town and so I miss the fun and revelry! But this year we were around and so with glee we headed to Westbourne Park to join the madness.

We started off by walking the streets and stopping every so often to appreciate the sounds of reggae music and the smell of jerk chicken.

We ducked and weaved our way through the crowds - the amount of people is unreal! We had missed most of the procession as we didnt arrive until later but we still saw some of the floats, music and colour that the festival is famous for.

 

 After queuing for 45 MINUTES for the toilet we met another one of our friends before grabbing some jerk chicken and dumplings which set my mouth on fire but was so very tasty.

We headed down the streets finding one of the many speakers pumping out music and had a bit of a dance under the cloudy sky.

We danced into the night before heading to a pub in Kentish Town for a friends birthday. It was quite a crazy day - with SO many people. I did spend a large amount of time worrying about my bag but it was interesting to see the atmosphere and in general how people tend to react with each other. There is always a lovely people spirit at events like this.

C x

Street Feast

This weekend my friends and I hopped on some public transport and made our way over to Dalston for the much anticipated Street Feast.

Street Feast is a food and drink event that takes place in the evening (5-12pm) and has a variety of different 'restaurants' and a couple of bars that serve pint sized cocktails, ciders, wine, ales and beer. If you arrive before 7pm it's free entry and after 7pm it's £3.

As soon as you walk through the gates you are hit by the aroma of delicious grub, a lively atmosphere and a unique setting. There are seats, tables and fire pits spread throughout the open air venue (although there are covered sections).

The biggest challenge was deciding what to eat!

There' s a Pizza Pilgrims Pizzeria, a B.O.B's Lobster shack selling clam bake and Lobster Mac & Cheese and Smokestak pumping out the glorious smell of barbecued meat.

If you fancy Indian you only have to look as far as Rola Wala and Spit & Roast has you covered for all your Pulled Pork needs. In my eyes the piece de resistance was the appearance of Anne Mae's Mac & Cheese, which I first tried last year at Glastonbury and have been a worshipper of ever since.

Four different Bars sort out the thirst you will have worked up from all the food and you can either try the Gin Store and Cocktail shed or sample the cider from the pop up stall.

There are several different areas to the venue including a lovely area upstairs which is covered in pretty decoration and offers a view on the festivites.

As the evening drew in we sat and chatted surrounded by the bright lights of the Yard.

We had a brilliant time, we ate lots and drank more. It is currently running for 20 consecutive weeks in Dalston Yard from the 16th May - 27th September so if you are in London pop along because any excuse to eat scrumptious food is a good idea!

C xxx

See you on the other side.....

The time is nearly upon us! It is just over a week before I will be taking myself off to Glastonbury for 5 days and to say that I'm a little excited would be the calm version of what I am feeling.

This will be my 4^th year going to the land of mud, music, fun, and smelly toilets. My boyfriend and I weren't too sure if we wanted to go this year as quite a few of our friends aren't going and we aren't too impressed with the line up this year but when we sat down and wrote a list of pros and cons no matter how many cons there were the biggest pro was always IT’S GLASTONBURY!

It is always quite special when we get to go because I met my boyfriend there and it will be our 3 year anniversary this year so it’s nice that we are lucky enough to keep getting tickets and are able to go back. If you haven’t been you have to go at least once in your lifetime. The atmosphere is just incredible, everyone is so friendly and they look out for each other, you get to see some amazing bands that you perhaps wouldn't normally get to see – prime examples and some my favourite are Scissor Sisters, Faithless, Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder, and Coldplay to name a few. The not washing for 5 days is fine as everyone else smells the same and it’s what baby wipes were invented for, there are always strains of music to be heard from somewhere and on the first night going up to Stone Circle and watching the hundreds of lanterns being lit and sent on their way is skin tingling. These are the reasons that we are willing to pay £205 for a ticket despite the line up being a bit crap.

I want to see the following:

Arctic Monkeys

Mumford and Sons

Vampire Weekend

Example

The Hives

Chase & Status

Bastille

Disclosure

Rudimental

Skream & Benga

Sub Focus

SBTRKT

Netsky

Flux Pavillion

I am also taking a trip to Primark at the end of the week to pick up some bits and pieces so I can put together some Glasto outfits. I have been frantically checking the weather and although it’s still 9 days to go and could change it doesn't look too awful currently but if it does rain I've got my brand new wellies to splash around in.

So now it is just a case of buying all of our alcohol – we are going for two 2ltr bottles of vodka & mixer and rum & mixer each and some cans and boxes of wine. I really am not looking forward to carrying it all on my back though!

I am so looking forward to this, it’s going to be different as it will just be my boyfriend, our friend and me but I think Glastonbury is what you make it and we are going to make it a bloody good one! xxx