Tuesday 11 November 2014

Real Food Market

On Friday my friend Laura and I explored the Real food Market at London's Southbank.
Every weekend, food stalls from around the city flock together in front of the Royal Festival Hall to sell their produce. 














































The sheer quality of produce available ranges from welsh rarebit, cheeses with such weird and wonderful flavours, breads of a huge diverse variety, chocolates, pulled pork buns and doughnuts and croissants galore. 
The list is endless. 
The market arrives here every weekend and some Fridays, bustling with locals, tourists and city workers popping out for a spot of lunch. 

We wandered round for a while, admiring the stalls, peering past the queues and enjoying the different smells that wafted our way. The atmosphere was amazing and we struggled to know where to start with the food. Luckily we managed to try as much as we could.


The only thing I wish I'd picked up were the small bottles of Champagne (you can see the picture above) I thought they looked quite individual and different....maybe next time. 

I even managed to bring home a few different bits of salami and some rather interesting flavoured cheese. 


I highly recommend popping down to the market next time you are in the Southbank area. 

If you want any more information you can find them Here

Have you been to one of the Real Food Markets? Let me know what some of your favourite stalls were?

Wednesday 8 October 2014

Ravello in Italy

On Wednesday morning we grabbed the early morning flight to Naples, Italy.

But before I get carried away in showing you the town and it’s amazing views, I must tell you the reason why we’re here. 

On Friday, one of my very good friends gets married.
This trip has been planned since January so finally the girls…..and the boys of course, boarded a flight to the Amafli Coast. 

We had no idea what amazing views awaited us.


Our trip took us to Ravello about 30 minutes away from the Amalfi Coast.
Completely picturesque, this little village sits on top of a hill overlooking the breath taking coastline. 
















I’d been to Sorrento many years ago but had completely forgotten just how beautiful Italy was. 
We checked in to a little bnb called 'Il Rosetto'. Small, cosy and basic….we didn’t need anything more.
The little room we stayed in actually had a lemon grove courtyard which was beautiful. 

























Our evening was spent eating, drinking and mainly just catching with the girls and everyone's recent adventures.

Breakfast the next morning was extremely tasty. They brought out a huge array of croissants (every type you could image...freshly baked), bread and refreshing glasses of freshly squeezed orange and raspberry juice.

A few of our group decided to go to Pompeii for the day but looking for something a little more relaxing, we got the bus to Amalfi.

Amalfi unlike Ravello rather was busy.
Bustling with locals, mopeds and rather speedy buses,  we escaped onto one of the side streets where we went to explore the shops.








 Some of the gang (Chris, Kelly, Laura, Luke, Ian and I) exploring the streets of Amalfi. 


Shopping for Limoncello and strange coloured pasta.
I actually bought the green, pink and white pasta that's on the top basket on the left. 

Keen to explore as much as we could, we decided to get the boat to Positiano. Unfortunately we had just missed one but fortunately for us we came prepared with our bikini's and so relaxed on the beach until the next ferry arrived. 



We even managed to have a quick dip before it was time to go. 

The ferry didn't take long, about 40 minutes but I could not recommend this journey enough.
Forget the bus. This is the way to see the Amalfi coast at it's best.



Who wants to be stuck in a stuffy car when you can enjoy being on the water, looking at this view. 
I know where I'd rather be. 


We didn't stay for long in Positiano but we did find a little coffee bar that served amazing ice creams and if that wasn't enough just look at this view. 


I would have loved to have explore Positiano a bit more but I guess I'll have to save that for next time. 

Monday 6 October 2014

V Festival Day 2

Yesterday I left you, somewhere on the main stage, dancing away to Bob Marley's band.
On Sunday morning, I grabbed us a coffee and some bacon sandwiches to help us start our day.

Sunday provided us with another great line up with performances from Train, Rizzle Kicks, Tinie Tempah, Jason Derulo, Chase and Status and Rita Ora. Not forgetting 'The Killers' who were head lining on the main stage.

After a spot of rain we made our way to the main stage to watch Train.




And by this point the sun was finally making it's way through the clouds.


We spent most of sunday, running from stage to stage, trying to see as many artists as possible.




Back at the MTV Stage, a huge crowd had gathered to watch Tinie Tempah.
I really don't think I can physically put into words how incredible the atmosphere here was. Everyone in the crowd seemed to move as one. Now I am not exactly Tinie's biggest fan but there is no denying how incredible a performer he is.
He had everyone in the palm of his hand during his set, the crowd moving like a wave rather than individuals.



The great thing about V or any festival is that you get to see so many artists (I know that's stating the obvious) but for anyone who thinks that festivals are expensive; just think about how many artists you can see and compare that to what they would charge for their individual concerts.
Doesn't seem too much anymore.

Back on the main stage, 'The Killers's wowed us with old classics like 'Somebody told me', 'Smile like you mean it' and 'Human' but I'm sure you know what everyone was really waiting for.

Just after the final song, the lights went down and slowly but surely the crowd started to cheer....'Brightside, Brightside.' Getting louder until finally the lights came up and Jimmy Carr was standing centre stage.
It wasn't until after that I realised, The Killers always have a special guest. This time,  Jimmy Carr took to the stage and introduced the song we had been waiting all night to hear.......'Mr Brightside'.

It was an amazing end to what has been one of the best weekends.
I think it's safe to say that my first festival was a success and what a great one to start with. I'm hooked to say the least and a couple of us are already planning where and what to do next year.



Of course, suggestions are always welcome.

Wednesday 24 September 2014

V festival

At the start of the year I made some resolutions and rather than do the usual ‘give up this, give up that’ I decided to make the list a bit more of a ‘bucket list', filling it with things to do, adventures to be had and first experiences to enjoy. 
Going to a festival was on the top of my list and I finally got to tick that off when a few of us went to V Festival this summer.






We arrived early on the Friday and pitched our tents, making sure we had a good spot. After greeting our neighbours and having a few cheeky drinks we decided to explore.


I was surprised at how big V Festival was and how many little stalls, fairground rides and food carts there were. 

As there is no live music on the Friday evening, V hold a silent disco in one of the larger tents.


After partying in the Silent Disco tent till the early hours of the morning we retreated back to our tents for the night.

On Saturday morning we woke up a little worse for wear, grabbed a coffee and planned who we wanted to see that day.


We grabbed some food, a few beers and made our way into the arena.
Stopping off at the different fancy dress tents to try on some of their very silly hats.



 Dancing along to 'The Wailer's, Bob Marley's band.

On the Saturday we saw Pixie Lott, Kaiser Chiefs, Blondie, The Wailers, Justin Timberlake who I thought stole the show. He might not be everyone's cup of tea but boy did he put on a show.

More on the V Fest shenanigans tomorrow. 

Tuesday 23 September 2014

Take me to the Water

When I last saw you, we were quad biking through the dusty roads and getting rather muddy, so on our next day in Turkey we decided we needed something a little more relaxing….a boat trip.
Up fairly early again, we wandered down to the beach and boarded a boat for the day. We were surprised at how quiet our boat was and so took to sunbathing on the top deck.














The water was crystal clear and it reflected the brightest shade of blue I've ever seen.
It wasn't long before we were sailing along to our first stop.

As the sun in Turkey reached almost 40 degrees, you did not have to tell us twice to jump in.
The water was cold but fresh.














For our next stop, we went to a place called 'Butterfly Island'.
Our driver told us you could trek half an hour up to the waterfall to see the butterflies but as we had only an hour, we decided to snorkel instead. 

And relax too. 
















































The chef on board cooked some lunch on the barbecue and we eat happily, knowing we had nothing to do for the rest of the day.

Our next stop was at 'St Nicholas Island'. We were told that the view from the top was worth the steep climb and that on a clear day you could see the island of Rhodes.
Naturally I had to see this view.

On the way, we stopped to take pictures of the church ruins and got a little carried away shall we say....





















These are some of my favourites photos I took on the holiday.
Our last stop of the day was to a little cove, where because of a natural spring, the water was meant to be quite cold.
Let me tell you now that cold was an understatement......it was freezing.














I promise you I'm in there somewhere.
After a wonderful day at sea, we went back to our favourite restaurant by the beach.


I thoroughly recommend Turkey for any kind of Summer Holiday. Whether you are looking
for a bit of adventure or simply want to relax on the beach, there is something here for everyone.












The question is, where will we go next?