Glastonbury Packing List

I've gone a bit Glastonbury mad on the blog this month, but it's hard not to be excited when I know what to expect and that's a whole heap of fun!

I've put together this guide in case this is your first time and just a handy checklist if you are an old timer and want to make sure you have everything before next week!

Backpack

A selection of your favourite festival clothes, you can see mine here.


In the washbag:
Antibacterial gel
Baby wipes
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Shampoo
Deodrant
Razor
Tweezers
Minimal make-up - eyeshadow, eye liner, mascara

For the hair:
Dry shampoo
Hairbrush
Hairties/Hair grips

Randoms:
Torch
Toilet roll
Water bottle
Berroca
Sunglasses
Pen/Paper
Paracetamol
Suncream
Glowsticks
Camera
Phone

Food:
Nutri-grain bars
Multi-pack crisps

To attach:
Sleeping bag
Pillow

If you are going I hope you have such a lovely time and I'll see you on the other side!

C x

A Day Trip to Oxford

As it is the bank holiday weekend what better time than to take a little jaunt out of London to Oxford. I have never been before. When I was growing up I always wanted to go to Oxford University to study English but that just never worked out so instead I contented myself with a lovely day wandering around and looking at the beautiful buildings.

We took the Oxford Tube down from London and arrived early afternoon. We had such a lovely walk through the streets admiring all the architecture. It is such a shame that a lot of the interiors are off limits as I can only imagine how stunning they are.

This is a very picture heavy post so grab a cup of tea and have a scroll!

 

After we has our fill of everything  we could see we followed a tip on a pub and we were not disappointed. Hidden down an alleyway 'The Turf Tavern' is a perfect little hideaway with a very good pub grub menu and plenty of seating and some fire pits. The courtyard is framed with original mid 13th century city walls. I would highly recommend visiting if you are in Oxford.

 

 

We honestly has the nicest day. It was lovely to do something different and get some fresh air over the bank holiday weekend.

I hope you had a lovely Easter.

C x 

Amsterdam - Arrival

I have a very good friend who I have known for a good few years and every so often I like to see her. You see my friend is Dutch and thus what better reason is there to book a little jaunt to Amsterdam!

Leigh and I booked our flights for a few days in the half term break (the pain of working at a school!) just for 3 nights, but we know from experience that with a city break that's all you really need.

We hopped on a plane from Gatwick early afternoon...

...and 50 minutes later we were at Amsterdam airport where we were met with lots of hugs and kisses by my friend. I haven't seen in her in over 2 years so you can imagine the shrieks of excitement.

After jumping on the very large double decker train we pulled into the gorgeous main station building in the city center to commence our 3 days of exploring.

We stayed at the St Christopher Inn on Warmoesstraat, literally in the middle of the red light district. We figured what the hell, and we wanted to be in the center of town as it made a good base. The hostel in itself was very nice, we opted for a private room and we had our own bathroom, a very comfy bed, and fresh linen and towels daily. The decor was a little unusual - our room was spray painted silver with a Crystal Maze type theme but as we were only there to sleep it wasn't really an issue and made for some laughs when we first walked in.

Dropping our stuff off we headed out to find somewhere for dinner. My friend had to leave us at this point but not before she had handed over some instructions on where we should eat. I have to say when I saw the recommendation I had my doubts but it turns out that you really shouldn't judge a book my it's cover or a restaurant by it's name. Cannibale Royal. Does that fill you with joy? It should. If you are ever in Amsterdam go here, you can find it tucked down a little street called Handboogstraat. The burger was one of the  best I've ever eaten. As for the service, they weren't quick to seat us and so when we decided to seat ourselves we got a bit told off. But the food more than made up for it. I wish I had been able to take a better picture of my meal but lighting was nightmare, the dark, macabre atmosphere not making for well lit pictures!

Strolling back to our hostel we walked through some very pretty streets before stopping in the bar attached to our hostel for a couple of drinks and proceeded to eavesdrop on all the other conversations around us. After flirting with the idea of heading out to a nightclub we realised that we were far too old and far too tired to do anything of the sort and so we went to bed to build our strength for the following day's exploring!

C x
 

The Final Day

With a frowny face I awoke on our final day, desperate to try and top up my tan as much as possible before I left.

Our flight wasn't until 9.35 that evening so we had a little bit of time to sit in the sun and take pictures in the grass.

We stopped posing to have some lunch, which was yummy Chicken Lasagne served by my very lovely Grandad.

After saying our goodbyes we headed to the airport to fly home, which was very sad indeed. The mood was not improved when we got to the airport and were told that our plane was delayed for 40 minutes so we wouldn't be flying until 10.15pm. In the end we got back to my parents house at 1.45am so it was a very long day indeed.

It's been such a lovely holiday and I hope you have enjoyed reading about it, I've enjoyed doing these so much - although daily blogging is quite hard! I hope it has been entertaining :)

C xxx

A Trip Down Memory Lane

On our second to last day we decided to take a trip down to Monchique, the village at the bottom of the mountain and my old home.

First we drove down to Caldas de Monchique, it's a tiny little village with a spa and is famous for the water - apparently it has healing properties...

...what it definitely has is lovely picturesque areas.

We had a walk round and bought a few bits and pieces before getting back in the very hot car and heading to Monchique where we stopped off at some of my favourite places and had an ice-lolly. Monchique really is a beautiful place and I was so lucky to be able to spend time there.

Once we got back to the Villa we had a splash in the pool before getting changed for mine and Leigh's anniversary meal, which the whole family was invited to as it was also our last night!

We headed to a restaurant called Solar Do Farelo, with as much wine as you can drink with your meal on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays so we took advantage of that!

We chose our starter and mains from the blackboard, there is only one blackboard and no menus so the owner comes to your table with it and talks you through the options and reads the specials before noting down your order.

I went for the Prawn Cocktail to start and Leigh went for the Wild Boar Salad, both of which were delicious. Sometimes I find you don't get enough prawns in your Prawn Cocktail but I had 10 massive ones so I would highly recommend it if you decide to go.

After a very tasty starter we moved on to the main course. I had duck with orange sauce, which was cooked perfectly and so lush with the sauce. Leigh had Oxtail Stew which was one of the specials.

 

We had such a lovely meal and I would highly recommend going there if you are in the Algarve. Remember to book though because it gets very busy!

 After we went back to the villa we spent a little bit of time looking up at the stars which were out in their millions. It is so lovely to be in a place where there is no light pollution and you can even see the Milky Way spread across the sky which is beautiful and a lovely end to our four year anniversary.

C xxx