Weekend Away: Paris Getaway!

 Over the half term break, we didn't have time to go away for very long (as the Husband didn't have much leave for taking off work), so we booked a long weekend break away to Paris! It was also dictated by the travelling procedures and how much testing we had to do, which made Paris an even better choice! Add in that our 5th wedding anniversary is only a few weeks away (but during school time - and on a parent teacher night no less!) so we decided to splash out a little on this trip.

So after I finished work for the half term on Friday night, we packed our stuff ready for Saturday morning. We had a train around 9 am so we headed to the station at 7 to St Pancras. The train journey was fine - I always forget how much I like travelling by train! We had things to do and naps we could take, so even when we were delayed an hour we were not that bothered by it.

We arrived in Paris around 2pm and headed straight to our hotel in the 7th Arrondissement, right near the Eiffel Tower. We stayed at a cute hotel called 7 Eiffel in a deluxe room. It had a living space and a small terrace (although it was too cold to use it really), and we had breakfast included. We couldn't actually check in yet though, so we dropped our luggage off and walked over to the Tower itself. We decided to go up it and had a little bit heated discussion about how we were getting up/down it. In the end the line for the lift was actually shorter, so we got that ticket for all the way to the top! We headed up to the 2nd floor on the lift then joined the queue for the summit, as that has a separate lift! The top was such a good view, and we bought a tin of macaroon and a glass of champagne to share while we admired the view!

We then took the lift back to the 2nd floor (that's the only option) and walked the rest of the way down. By the time we got to the bottom it was just after 5pm so we headed back to the hotel to check in and chill for a little bit before dinner. We wanted something 'properly French' for dinner, so we settled on a Brasserie only 5 minutes walk from the hotel, Le Recrutement Cafe. It was exactly what we had hoped for! Husband had french onion soup and I had hot goats cheese for entree, then we had a steak (he) and a salad (me - although mine was better because my salad included an egg, bacon, half an avocado and blue cheese!). We thought about going to a creperie for dessert, but He wanted to go for a walk, so we headed off towards the Louvre. It was a lovely walk along the river, even though I was super tired by that point, and it meant that as soon as we got back to the room we rolled straight into bed!

Sunday we woke up in time for our room service breakfast, which was actually 40 minutes late! He was planning on going for a run, so once it arrived we had a bite to eat together and then I was able to get ready while He went for his run. Then we headed out (around 11ish) to Les Invalides and the Musee d'Armes. We did about half of the museums floors before deciding we needed our lunch. Rather than having an overpriced and not great baguette in the cafe there, we actually left the museum and headed a few blocks away to a local boulangerie (one of the only ones open on a Sunday, apparently) for fresh rolls and sat outside to eat it picnic-style. We had a lovely sunny spot so it was great! Then we headed back in for Napoleon's Tomb and the other bits of the museum we hadn't done yet. By the time we finished we headed back to the hotel to change and get ready for the highlight of our trip - the Moulin Rouge! 

We were headed for dinner and the show and after arriving and queuing were shown to our seats. As we ate and shared a bottle of champagne, there were a pair of jazz singers who serenaded us, even inviting people on to the dancefloor at one point! There was a family with 3 girls there who basically took over the dancefloor after a while... I'm not sure why you'd bring your young kids (one was like 8!) to the Moulin Rouge, but oh well. After dinner it was time for the show! Unfortunately the dinner didn't fully agree with me and I had to duck out at one point (there isn't an interval so I couldn't wait for that to come around), but oh well. The dancing was pretty awesome, especially when everyone on stage is doing a unison jump split!

I do think that the highlight of the performance was the can can, although there wasn't actually as much high kicking as we thought there would be! And some of the side acts were incredible. There was a couple on roller skates who did tricks where the girl went up in the air and that one amazed me the most - I think I gasped 3 separate times!

After the show we picked up a souvenir, then headed back to the hotel - via a crepe stand for dessert!

Monday morning He had another run to do, but given how slow the breakfast was we ordered it for earlier - and then it showed up 5 minutes before the allotted time! We couldn't time it exactly right, but oh well. I got ready and packed up most of the room then He got ready too and we checked out, leaving our bags at the hotel. We didn't have the return train until 6 or 7pm, so we headed up to Montmatre. We pottered through some fabric shops (the main reason for going to that part of town in the first place!), I bought some double gauze, poly viscose and some sweatshirting which I am very excited to sew with. We had lunch at a cafe at the foot of the hill looking up, and after we ate we walked up and then back down to look at the view. Then we headed back to the hotel to grab our stuff and head to the train!

We got back to London around 8.30pm local time, and were home with dinner by half 9! Not a bad way to start a half term break.

BIRTHDAY Weekend Away: Leeds Castle Day 2

The next morning we took the biggest sleep in we could. We met for breakfast at 9:30 in the morning. I had slept very well and was ready for a fun day! After a really lovely breakfast of eggs on toast we went back to the room, packed our things, left them in the car in the courtyard and headed to the castle.

The castle had been built of different parts from the 13th and the 15th century. Part of it had been destroyed when there was a fire, when it was a monastery. Lots of bits had been rebuilt on top of old bits and there was a very rich history. However, because there is are a lot of rooms available to rent and they host weddings and other events in the castle, you cannot actually see that many of the rooms. The rooms you could see were very interesting, and there was a lot of historical information available to read and find out. Particularly interesting to me was that this year, 2020, was actually the 500th anniversary of King Henry VIII’s visit to Leeds Castle. He visited on his way back from meeting a French king in Calais, and he was believed to have stayed with his retinue for at least one night. So as I’m very interested in Tudor history, that was of particular interest to me. Unfortunately, the room that Catherine of Aragon was believed to have stayed in with closed for renovation. So was Lady Baillie’s room which was right next door. It seems that that would’ve been the main attraction of the rooms of the castle, however they all seem to be closed for renovation which was a bit disappointing.

Overall, as far as the castle itself goes I think I was a little bit underwhelmed? Certainly, there was a lot of things we couldn’t see that I would’ve liked to have seen and it took us a lot less than expected to go through the rooms and come out at the front of the castle.

After doing the trip through the castle, we of course stopped to check out the gift shop. They had a really lovely range of bits from books, to mugs, to lots of swans. The Black Swan is actually the emblem of Leeds Castle, as black swans were introduced to the castle grounds in the 1920s by Lady Baillie. Before that black swans literally only lived in Australia and she actually imported them herself. So they had a lot of swans on souvenirs. The other thing I had that I was really excited about was their own gin. I had bought one at Highclere Castle last weekend as a souvenir and it was very lovely, so I was excited to be able to get another gin as a souvenir. Despite it being only just midday we sampled a few drinks and ended up buying the special Leeds Castle gin and also a bottle of honey flavoured mead. I also got a book that has a short history of every king and queen of England, and we bought some birdseed to feed the ducks and swans on the grounds with for just a pound.

After that we went back onto the grounds, wandered around and make sure that we had walked every path. This eventually lead us through some of the planned Gardens, and out the back to an area where they have the children’s activities. This includes the bird centre, as they have birds of prey which you can visit and wish to shows most days even in the winter, a café and children’s playground, and the maze. I was definitely excited about going into the maze, as I had read that on its opening in 1988 even the designer and creator of the maze managed to get lost in it.

There was a sign at the entrance that said that on average it took seven minutes for people to find the centre of the maze, so I look made a point of looking at my watch before we went in to try and make sure that I could be faster than that. Initially the husband and I went in together but after just a few turns, I decided to make a break for it and go and find my own way. This was proving unsuccessful when I bumped into my brother, who had entered just in front of us but had taken a different path right from the beginning. We decided to band together as clearly neither of us really knew what we were doing and we continued on. Only a few turns later we found my husband and we continued on together. Just after this we started finding the clues. There are four clues within the maze that tell you up to certain points whether to go left or right, and we listened to them. Not long after that we think we actually worked out how the maze was designed and very quickly after that we found the centre. After looking at my watch we had managed to solve it in only four minutes which is faster than average. So I was pretty happy about that.

In the centre of the maze was a viewing platform which we still on and waved to my mum and dad who were waiting outside the maze for us admiring the view. Then we headed back down and into the grotto which is the way out. As this is very modern, and clearly designed for children, we found it a little bit tacky. It was certainly designed to be atmospheric and interesting, but we didn’t really feel that so much. He did have good lighting design though.

After emerging from the grotto, we decided that we had done all we wanted to do at Leeds Castle and that we would start heading home. We had a look at some local pubs on a map and decided to go to one in particular that was quite close by. However, when we got there it was very full for Sunday lunch and they didn’t have a table for five. Fair enough, so we went along to the next nice looking pub. Same story. Just as we were about to change our mind and go back to London for lunch, I noticed a pub just near where we were – in fact it could be seen from the car park of the second pub that we tried. We drove just down the road to this third pub and they had one table. Perfect!

So we had a really nice, long, leisurely pub lunch. I had a gin and tonic (of course) and a very nice serving of fish and chips, which I hadn’t heard yet since coming back from Germany. We took a few hours over lunch, before we headed back the hour or so drive to London. All in all, a lovely relaxed weekend especially after how busy Germany was, and the fact that I am spending the evenings with my family while also still working during the day. It is quite tiring although I wouldn’t have it any other way.

BIRTHDAY Weekend Away: Leeds Castle Day 1

The morning after my birthday, we had a leisurely start and all left the flat in the car around 11am. Our plan was to check out Hever Castle first before heading on to our main destination for the weeks, Leeds Castle. We arrived at Hever Castle about an hour later, only to find that it was closed entirely until the 8th of February! So that was rather disappointing, and to add the the initial disappointment, when we arrived my phone fell out of my pocket and it broke. The home button cracked and now it doesn't work! On the plus side, there is a work around and I can still use it just fine.

Instead, we went into the small church near the carpark. It turned out to be the church where Sir Thomas Boleyn, Anne's father was buried! So that was very interesting to see anyway, and we can go back to Hever another time. We also stopped for lunch then at the nearby pub (appropriately called Henry VIII), where we had amazing baked camembert and I had a toasted baguette which was delicious. It ended up being a rather long lunch and we really took our time.

After we had finished lunch, we drive the other hour or so through the country lanes to Leeds Castle. Not actually in Leeds (it is in the south of England rather than north!), the castle is gorgeous, and we were staying there! We stayed in the Courtyard B&B, which was the old courtyard and servants quarters which had been converted to bedrooms and also included a restaurant and a few other bits that were open to the public in the daytime.

All the rooms are named after famous people who stayed in the castle when it was owned by Lady Baillie in the 20th century. We were in the David Niven room, and it was a lovely homey room with a huge bathroom and free fudge as well as biscuits! After we arrived we dropped off our stuff and headed straight back out for a quick walk before it got dark. The castle is beautiful and while it was closed to go in, we wandered around the grounds and explored a little. Then we headed back to the rooms to chill for a little while before our dinner reservation.

While we hardly needed a lot of food, we had a dinner reservation in the Castle Restaurant. The walk over to the restaurant took us past the view towards to the castle where the lights were shining and it looked really beautiful. For dinner I had a pumpkin risotto and a really delicious plum tart tatin! The whole meal we had a beautiful view of the lit up castle, and I was even sung to (something which doesn't happen at a fancy restaurant like Heston's)! Then we headed to bed nice and early to curl up in our big hotel beds.

Weekend Escape: Ghent, Belgium #1

This past weekend, we decided to head to a real, European Christmas market! Especially as we recently acquired a car - a bright red (therefore fast) Polo GTI and we wanted to give it a chance to put it through its paces on a road that was faster than 40mph!

It was a very early start, with us getting up at 5am after a long week and piling our stuff into the boot (it's not big, but we were only away one night!) before heading quickly down to Folkestone to get to the Eurotunnel (le Shuttle). In quite quaint news, the terminal going into France is called the Victor Hugo terminal, and the one coming back into England is the Charles Dickens terminal! Very sweet. We arrived just in time to straight away join the queue to get on our train, which was quite the interesting experience. After a lot of queuing, you simply drive on to the train! As we have a small car, we were in the double decker section, on the ground floor on the way over. You literally park the car and stop it on the train, with the windows down, and chill in your car until you have arrived in France!

Once the train has arrived, you drive off the train, on to a sliproad and then you're on the motorway! To drive in Europe you have to have a few extra things: a GB sticker or numberplate (we installed ours on the Friday night before we left), high vis vests, a safety triangle, a pair of breathalyser tubes (you have to have one legally, but if they test you and then you have none left you're instantly illegal, so you carry two), and if you have an older car, you have to have headlight adjusters so that you can tilt your headlights to being on the other side of the road. Because our car is brand new (like, actually), it simply has an option in the settings to change the road settings to 'Europe', and the displays to metric. So we were off!

First we headed to Dunkerque (Dunkirk), to have a look at the famous beach. Unfortunately, the museum was closed for the winter (although just about to reopen for the Christmas period) so we couldn't go there, and the weather was pretty miserable, so we wandered around for a bit and read some information before deciding to head back into the car and on to the next destination.



We drove along the coast towards Ghent, stopping next in Oostende. Unfortunately along the coast road it was mostly closed, so the route was not as scenic as we had hoped. They had cool sculptures along the beach, and we had delicious ham and cheese baguettes in the French style. We did briefly check out the beach, however this backfired once we got exposed into the driving wind. Sand getting in our eyes and into my tights and I bailed on that part of the beach pretty fast! Then we were back on the road, next stop being Ghent. 





On arriving in Ghent, we drove straight to the hotel, checked in and got into our room. We stayed in the Marriott near the city centre as it was conveniently located and had a carpark! After freshening up, we decided to head for a walk into the city centre and find the Christmas markets. Lucky for us, they were super easy to find! The map we were given by the hotel was actually more spread out in real life, with the market being in 3 main parts but actually being only about 10 minutes from one end to the other without stopping. We started with drinks - Richard having beer (duh) and I tried a fantastic jenever (gin) which was waffle flavoured! I ended having a few over the course of the evening. We ended up walking the whole length without buying anything, before deciding it was dinner time. We wanted to sit down, so we went looking for a restaurant to eat at. It did turn out, however, that without a booking we couldn't get in anywhere!



So we went back to the market and had food from there for dinner. Frites, a bradwurst, hot chocolate... Plus we bought a few things - marzipan, coconut biscuits, chocolate truffles. It was a delightful evening, but we were quite cold by the end, and ended up back in the hotel reasonably early, curled up with a cup of tea to watch a little TV before bed.

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell Am See - Day 4/5

It’s race day! While the Husband didn’t start his race until 11am, we headed to the start around 9:30am in order to get prepared and so that I could try and get a good spot to watch the state . This didn’t work at all because I couldn’t see the race start for all the people, not to mention the fact that everyone is wearing black wetsuits, white swim caps (in his age group) and goggles, so it’s virtually impossible to tell who is who!

Either way, I watched the start of the swim and until most of the people in the white caps had at least started the leg back, then I decided to head back to the apartment via a supermarket to get lunch (I felt guilty about yesterday so I had a salad). I had a few hours to eat, chill, do some creative stuff, before I got the notification that Husband had headed through the cycling checkpoint which was the last one before heading back into town. I got ready and headed into town (literally a minute away), but actually I still missed him! He must have been going really fast...

So instead I headed back to the apartment for more chill time, and then headed to a different spot of the race to watch Husband on the run leg. We had looked at the map the night before and worked out a place that I could go to see him in both directions, but once the race had started I couldn’t work out how to get there and picked a different spot. The first time he ran past, he didn’t even see me (even though I thought I was super obvious) because he was so focused on the running and wasn’t expecting me where I was. So then I waited a little bit before he came back past, actually seeing me this time. He made a comment about how hard he was finding the run, although I think by that time he was already recovering a little bit. Then I moved over to the finish, and had a prime spot to cheer and scream as he came running past to the finish line!

I was so so proud of him, and I met him as soon as I could afterwards and we walked (he stumbled) back to the apartment. It took about an hour for recovery and a shower before we were able to get up and walk back to the start to get his stuff. As he was picking it all up (I couldn’t go help as I wasn’t a competitor), the heavens opened and it started to rain. By the time he was done, it was POURING! We ended up walking back in a horrendous rain storm, which mostly lasted until we got back to the apartment but meant we got completely soaked and so did most of the stuff. After that Husband was feeling so tired and ill that he couldn’t even bring himself to go the few minutes out for dinner, so we ordered pizza online and I walked into town (in the rain, best wife here!) to pick it up. We didn’t even stay up that late.

The next day doesn’t even deserve it’s own entry because it was so uneventful. We messaged the owner of our apartment on Sunday to ask about getting a late checkout, which was fine, so the next day we got up late, had a hotel breakfast (walked to a local hotel), and then headed back to chill and pack. We left Zell am See around 1:30 and drove back to Munich for our flight. We didn’t get back to Wimbledon until 10pm, but we were happy to be back in our beds and with the kitties!

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell am See - Day 3

On Saturday I got to sleep in while Husband went to the race briefing first thing in the morning. I didn't think that many partners that weren't racing would go so I stayed in the apartment (although apparently a lot did go), so I was just ready to go out when he returned.

Then we had most of the day to do touristy things, so we headed out to a cable car. There are a lot of cable cars in this part of Austria (mostly to double as ski lifts in the winter time) and we planned to head up to 3000m, the highest point you can get to locally, and to see the visitor centre up there as well. So we headed to the Panoramabahn Schaulfelberg and went up as high as we could get, but it wasn’t until we got to the top that we realised our mistake! We got off at only 1200ish metres, and when we got to the top we noticed a map on the wall that we had missed at the lower level. It showed all the cable cars, how to get in between them, and which ones were open. All the ones we wanted were open, but we weren’t on any of them! The cable car we had gotten on didn’t connect to the top and we ended up just having to go straight back down.

Unfortunately, by that time we didn't have enough time to get to the correct one for the 3000m summit, given that would require driving and then a few other cable cars. We did have some more time though, so we headed back into Zell am See to one of the two cable cars that was in the town, the Schmittenhohebahn. This one took us to the summit behind the town itself, on a very large cable car that was designed by Porsche! It was a super view, we explored at the top (there was a lovely chapel up there too) and had lunch at a ski hotel at the very top (I made a very mature choice and ordered chicken nuggets).

Then we headed back to the apartment so that Husband could organise his things for the race. There was a time slot in which participants could go to the swim start and practice/experience swimming in the lake, and also around the same time Husband had to drop his equipment in the transition area for the bike and run legs of the race. I decided to work out how to get to the start on public transport... There was one local train which you could catch one stop for free and then it was a 10 minute walk to the start - but then it turned out that it was also just a 20 minute walk! So that was frustrating, but actually good in that I worked that out for us before race day (especially with only one train every half hour). Husband cycled on ahead to get started. By the time I joined him I was wishing I had brought my swimsuit, given it was super warm and sunny! They had actually closed the pool though as it was too busy, and by the time I got there Husband was finished anyway, so we walked back with ice cream instead.

We got back to the main part of the lake near the town just in time to see the daily display of music and water show, which was lovely. Then Husband decided that pizza was best for dinner, so we found an Italian place for dinner (there were a lot in the town) - although in the end he ordered pasta and I ordered pizza! We had a lovely lake walk as dusk fell and headed to bed nice and early to be ready for race day.

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell am See - Day 2

Friday happened to be more about me than the Husband in the end. I decided that I would also run a race this weekend - the Iron Girl 4. 2km race, which was held on Friday. But first I had to register, so the first thing we did on Friday morning was to go to the conference centre and register me for the race, as well as picking up the Husband's registration pack for his race (on Sunday). Given we were in town then, we picked up pastries for breakfast (I had this delicious pastry that was a combination of a cinnamon roll shape, but with baklava type filling, which was great!)

Then Husband decided he wanted to drive most of his bike course (80km total), to have a look at the climbs and the road conditions. We stopped in a small town called Dienton (about 80% of the way up the climb) so that he could ride down but then mostly so he could ride up the climb and decide how hard it would be on the day. While he did that, I went for a walk through the town, then climbed a hill in the outskirts of the town to visit a lovely little church. It had really cool wrought iron headstones in the graveyard, but the gate was closed so I didn't go in. However, there was a walking trail which went up further and into the forest, which I followed until it got too muddy for my converse. It was a delightful way to spend an hour or two!

After that we drive the rest of the bike course, stopping in a town bakery to pick up some fresh rolls and ham for lunch. We think it was Maishofen, but we didn't make a note of it at the time... Then we headed back to Zell am See for a quick rest before my race!

It was a lovely place to race, running through the cobbled town before heading about 2km out of town along the lakeside path, then turning around and coming back. I actually ran practically all of it, which was a record for me, and I even made it 1.3km before I saw the winner coming back the other way! In the end, I ran the 4.2km in 27:27, which was pretty quick and I was very pleased with the result (about 200 out of 270 ladies). Plus, I have a new finisher shirt and a medal now!

Then I only had time to shower and change, really, before heading back to the conference centre for the pasta party! Basically, it was a huge buffet with lots of types of pasta, and they used it as a welcome dinner, with a few speeches and discussion about the race and the Iron Man organisation. It was pretty delicious and a great reward after my race!

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell am See - Day 1

The last weekend of the summer, we were headed to Europe for the Husband to compete in the Austrian IronMan 70.3 in the lakeside town of Zell am See

We were up early at 5am for our 9am Heathrow flight, which we made just in time! We were actually flying into Germany, so we landed in Munich, which is a lovely small-ish airport. That made it easy for us to get our car. We even got a free upgrade to a van, when the guy behind the counter saw that we had a bike bag with us. I think we would have been fine without a van, but it certainly made it easier!

Then we made the 2.5hr drive through Germany, to Austria, and over to Zell am See. Just before we entered Austria we stopped at a service station for a special motorway sticker (which I don't think we actually used in the end, but better to be safe than sorry) and some fresh rolls with salami. Then we made it into Zell am See, heading straight to our apartment.

It was a really nice little studio apartment with quite a lot of space, and we were so centrally located, a 2 minute walk from the conference centre, centre of town and the finish line! We decided to have a rest though before heading into town for a walk around and dinner. We ended up at a restaurant where I had the best dinner - fettuccine with mushrooms that had been picked from the local forest that afternoon, and a local gin made with local botanicals and made 10 minutes up the road! So delicious...

Weekend Away: Cardiff

Monday morning, another little sleep in. We got ready, checked out of the hotel, left our bags behind, and headed back to the bay. This time, past the Millennium Centre, all the way to the Doctor Who Experience!

 

 

It starts with an interactive adventure, which I actually really enjoyed, even though I wasn't a kid. I got to help fly the TARDIS! Although after we got the crystal from the Daleks, I was the last out of the room, and I didn't close the door! I may have been responsible for all of us turning into androids...

 

 

After the experience, there was a really cool exhibition with loads of aliens and costumes. I even patted K9!

 

After the exhibition we decided that because the weather wasn't great, that we'd head home early. Well, that was a drama. I paid extra to switch to an earlier train, which then arrived late. It got held along the way, and was so packed people were standing in the aisle. Luckily I got a seat, but by the time we arrived at Paddington people were definitely ready to get off (more than half an hour later than scheduled). Then, there were major delays in the Bakerloo line and I had to walk the last few stops!! I was so glad to get home.

Weekend Away: Cardiff

This morning was a relatively slow start, after such an early morning yesterday I needed a little bit of a sleep in! Today el Husbando and I did our own things (ie. He went off riding his motorbike around Wales for the day), and I was left to my own devices. Once ready for the day, I went to Queen Street station to get a train to Caerphilly for the day... Only to realise that the next train was an hour and a half away! Turns out there aren't that many trains to Caerphilly.

 

So I went back to wander the lanes for a little while before returning to the station. Caerphilly is a lovely (if small) town. The castle is very cool, the largest in Wales and second largest in the UK. It took a good couple of hours to explore the Castle properly and read all the stories... And there were dragons too!

 

 

Then I got the train back to Queen Street. I headed to Castle Street (funnily enough, the street outside the Castle), to do a little souvenir shopping, before heading back to the hotel for a rest. I found myself walking past a place called Science Cream, so I had to get myself some liquid nitrogen ice cream! Brown sugar and cinnamon flavour, with toasted marshmallow on the side... Delicious.

 

Once el Husbando returned, we got dressed up ready for dinner. Tonight, we headed into the city rather than to the bay, and we noticed the difference. The city was more... Busy, but also more run down, more drunk people and things. Anyway, we found a lovely pub for a drink (I drink gin and tonic now) and a delicious meal (chip shop platter). Then, more ice-cream for the walk home, followed by another drink at the hotel bar. Now, time for bed.

 

 

Weekend Away: Cardiff

It's another bank holiday weekend! This weekend, we've escaped to Wales, to spend the weekend in Cardiff. I've visited once before, on my gap year, and have fond memories of my last visit.

It was a very early start - I was up at 5:30, headed to Paddington station for the 7am train to Swansea. The journey was very uneventful, in that I dozed until the train stopped at a station, then jolted awake thinking it was my stop, before dozing off again. Every time.

I arrived at about 10am, dropped off my luggage at the hotel, then wandered to the city to explore a bit. I walked around the outside of the Castle, but didn't go in because I needed to get back to the hotel to meet el Husbando, who had left London the same time as me but rode his motorbike.

 

We headed back to the city, found a pub for lunch (delicious fish sandwich), then went into Cardiff Castle! We checked out all the filming lessons from the Castle (including Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sherlock), and the rest besides. It was a little windy, but it had stopped raining, so that was a definite improvement.

 

After the Castle, we really just meandered out way back to the hotel, both ready for a rest. On the way, we picked up some Welsh cakes (basically, scones cooked on a griddle), which were yummy. Tasted exactly how they sound.

 

We went to the Bay for dinner, ended up at an Italian place near the water. Then, a quick walk along the water, visiting Ianto's shrine. Still quite an emotional place! Then it was back to the hotel for bed...

 

Weekend Away: Land's End

This morning we got a sleep in... Kind of. The house we're staying in has breakfast included, so we got up for that at 8:30, then got on the road for the day! Our main plan for the day was to go to Land's End, but that was only a few hours away, so it wasn't our whole plan. We headed off without too much in particular planned though.

 

It was proper British weather this morning - grey and just drizzly enough to both ruin my hair and make us wear raincoats. So when we saw the sign for the Eden Project, we thought we'd check it out. It was quite cool (even though it was on the expensive size), with lots of outdoor areas which we intend to explore on a day it isn't raining... But the main attraction, the biomes, are of course covered, so those were cool.

 

One biome is Mediterranean themed (although included plants from Australia, yay!), and the other is a rainforest. Loud to explore, look at, and learn about the environments. They had a Corpse Flower in the rainforest (not currently flowering, but it will in a few weeks) and I even saw pineapples growing on their pineapple tree (bush?). Pineapples in Cornwall, not something I thought I'd see...

 

After the Eden Project, we headed towards Penzance, before realising that we were really close to St Michael's Mount. So we went there, walked along the causeway through the ocean, and checked it out. The gardens were closed due to the weather (although by this point the rain had stopped, and it was almost sunny), and we decided that we'd save the castle for the next visit as well. We just took a few gorgeous photos before heading back to the mainland.

 

A quick stop in Penzance for excellent fish and chips (highly recommend Fraser's), before continuing to Land's End. We drove through Mousehole, a lovely tiny town, but couldn't stop because we couldn't find anywhere to park... And the tide was at it's lowest at that point and not ideal for photos. Our last stop before Land's End was the Merry Maidens stone circle and Tregiffian Burial Chamber. This is a weird thing about England, they're almost blase about some of their history. The battle was literally just on the side of the road, with a little signpost. No parking or fees or anything. And the stone circle was in the middle of what is presumably someone's field. So strange to have such old history and no road signs (we would have missed it if not for GPS) or anything.

 

Then, finally, Land's End! The rain had stayed away, thank goodness, but boy was it windy and quite cold! We looked at the free exhibition, browsed the gift shop (bought a magnet!), checked how far it was to Canberra (11211 miles, in case you were wondering), and took many photos. 

 

By that point we had to return to our part of the country. We drove via another barrow (I can't remember its name), which was very cool, much more obvious with stone ring around it and all. Again though, no signpost leading the way, just a small info sign on the side of a tiny road. Then we went back, past St Ives to dinner... At the same pub as last night. Well, it was just so good!

 

We've also been taking and planning some future trips we'd like to take in the next few months, so here's hoping we can pull them off! And in the meantime, back to London tomorrow.

Weekend Away: Land's End

We are lucky enough to have 2 long weekend this month! The beginning and the end of the month. We had planned to spend one in England, and one somewhere in Europe (we'll see how we go on that one, haven't found a cheap enough flight yet though).

 

So for our first adventure, a road trip to Land's End! We started of our day by picking up the hire car (a super cute baby blue Fiat 500!), and heading out of London. We had a lot of driving! We had a motorway lunch, and reached our main (well, only) destination, Tintagel, around 4:30.

 

Tintagel is beautiful. It's a castle ruin from the 12th and 13th century, fabled to be the place where King Arthur was born. The best part is its location... It's on the top of what's essentially a cliff, and the ocean today was sparkly and blue. There's also quite a lot to explore, including a cove and beach (as long as you're there before the tide comes in). We made it just in time!

 

It's even still English Heritage, so it was free! However, by the time we were finished, it was 6pm and it was closed. So we headed to our accommodation, Tredethy House, where we're staying all weekend. It's so lovely, the room is huge! Only odd thing, the bathroom has carpet. Wierd.

 

We drove 5 minutes up the road to the nearest town for a pub dinner. It was amazing. And now, an early night for us before more driving tomorrow.

Weekend Away: Brighton

Brighton

8-9 April 2017

Husbando planned to run the Brighton Marathon on this weekend, so when we got up on Saturday morning, we packed an overnight bag and headed straight to Victoria station! Turns out it only takes an hour to get to Brighton... We emerged into the bright sunshine of Brighton. In fact, it was one of the warmest weekends in a long time (marathon day was 21+ degrees!) and gorgeously sunny!

 

We headed straight to the hotel to drop off our bags, then to the beach (or "beach", depending on who you're talking to...). Some people don't believe that Brighton has a 'real' beach! We walked along the beach to Brighton Pier.

It was actually quite strange to be back in Brighton again after so long... It's been 9 years since I was last there (on my gap year), but some things were exactly the same (like the food places we used to frequent, and the tattoo parlour I got my ears pierced in!), but obviously some things were very different. Very strange.

 

We ate a delicious lunch on the Pier itself, reasonably priced and exceedingly yummy! Generally though, we have realised that London is expensive. Everything in Brighton was cheaper... After lunch, we went further down the beach to the Event Village for the marathon to pick up the race pack for the following day. Then we wandered the Lanes a little (I had put visiting Choccywoccydoodah on my must-do list, and it was AMAZING to see in person!), but then we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the next day. 

We tried to go for italian for dinner, but realised after the third fully booked restaurant that maybe we should have booked, given the 10,000 runners who were also in Brighton that weekend... (Also apparently a lot of hen's parties - we saw 4 that evening!) We ended up at Jamie's, where we could have nibbles and a drink in the bar while we waited for a free table. Luckily it didn't take long.

 

On Sunday morning, I slept in... Oops! I ended up with 20 minutes to get ready, but I managed it - just. We headed up to the race start with all the things (including sunscreen...). It was already very warm, which was mildly concerning. I watched the start and the lap of the park, then headed back into the Lanes. I wet back to Choccywoccydoodah to look again at their amazing creations - and I had seen a green chocolate dinosaur that I wanted to take home with me. However, they had sold out in less than 12 hours... Which made me very sad, and instead I got a chocolate coin (a huge one!). I also visited the Duck House, a cute shop that only sells rubber ducks!

 
 
I tried to catch my runner at mile 18, but I was too slow and missed him. Silly me. So instead I had picnic sushi in a park, then began the very very very busy walk to the finish line. It was madness, and with spectators on both sides of the track, very busy especially at crossing points. Somehow though, I missed my runner finishing (so sad about that, it was such a big achievement!), but I met him at the predetermined spot. It only took me about 10 minutes just to cross the road though, madness. And after all that, he forgot to put any sunscreen on, so Husbando is lobster-esque at the moment! We rested a bit, then began the long trek back up the hill to the hotel.

It was such a crazy busy weekend, but really enjoyable. We have plans to go back for the day, only on a day without 10,000 extra people there!

Weekend Away: Cambridge

Cambridge

3-4 February 2017

While staying out of London when we first arrived in the country, we realised we were on the train line to Cambridge. In fact, we were halfway there from London already! So we booked an overnight room, and headed up on the train for a quick minibreak. We had originally planned a Saturday evening, but since neither of us were working that week, we went with a Friday night for accommodation instead. Much cheaper.

So, on Friday, we got up and got on a train around 10am from the town out to Cambridge! After dropping our luggage at the lovely B&B we were staying in, we headed straight to, you guessed it, the university! We walked pretty much all the colleges (unfortunately, each one charges you separately), and we got confused/lost a bunch. we also browsed a few shops (including Cath Kidston, where I bought a bag to use for school). We stopped for lunch at a Yo! Sushi which it turns out was a bad idea. You guys, it's super expensive - just go to a Wasabi instead.

 
Then, back to more wandering... We basically did a lot of walking and wandering, wandering and walking! After a few more hours (and some delicious fresh churros from the market), we returned to the guest house for a rest.

Just before sunset, we headed out for photos, but it was too cloudy :( However, while we were walking, we got a call from our agent to let us know we got the apartment we wanted! So, that made our day.

 

At 5:30 we were back at Kings College Chapel for Evensong with the choir! It was totally a magical experience which I loved. Also, hot tip - Evensong is free, and will save you paying to get into the Chapel during the day. Just saying. Down the road, we found a pub called the Eagle, where they 'invented' DNA (or discovered it, I suppose). They also serve amazing food - I had yummy sloe gin and scampi with chips! So delicious, and the perfect first British pub meal.

For breakfast the next day, we followed the recommendation of one of my Instagram followers and went to Fitzbillies. I had one of their famous Chelsea buns - it was so delicious! It was even still warm from the oven. Yum. It was raining, so we started with a pair of neighbouring museums - the Sedgewick Earth Sciences Museum and the Museum of Archaeology. The Earth Sciences one was quite interesting, lots of fossils and interesting artefacts to look at.

 

Then we toured the last college, St John's. It was the biggest colege and had some super beautiful buildings. We took so many great photos! We headed to a local pub (forgot the name!) for lunch. We whiled our afternoon away with more general walking/shop browsing/exploring, ending with a hot chocolate. We were back out just before subset, but where yesterday was too cloudy, today was not cloudy enough! Oh well.

We weren't super hungry, so we grabbed some quick sushi, before going back to Kings College Chapel. It turns out that on Saturday nights after Evensong, they have a free organ recital, and as we didn't have the organ at Evensong the previous evening, we went to that. They guy was so talented and even though the music was very modern, it was a gorgeous sound. Then, we had to go home.