30 for 30: Favourite Travel Memories

Next week, I will turn 30. I'm going to be on holiday when it happens (OF COURSE) but to celebrate this "milestone", here are my 30 favourite travel memories.*

* i.e. the first 30 that popped into my head.

In no particular order...

1) Being far too drunk at the Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood

2) Spending an entire day in Santa Monica with new friends and no plans

3) Climbing to the top of Arthur's Seat on my 29th birthday

4) Watching the sunset from the viewing point on the tallest hill in Laguna Beach

5) Dancing on the beach at Barasti Beach Bar in Dubai

6) Using the Virgin clubhouse for the first time

7) Pegging it through a ridiculous rain-storm in New York with the family

8) Having an Aroma Bath outside at the Rasa Sayang Shagri-La Hotel in Penang

9) Skiing above the clouds on my 16th birthday in France on a school trip

10) Being chosen by my school to be one of the 20 or so pupils to go to Canada on an exchange program

11) All and every minute spent by the pool at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs

12) Playing Sissy Bingo with Linda at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs

13) Forgetting what the handbrake is for, while stopped on a very steep hill in West Hollywood

14) Hanging out at the Cafe Arabe in Marrakech on a sunny afternoon

15) Indulging in a little wave machine pool time in Las Vegas

16) Enjoying the excellent water park Aqualibi in Belgium

17) Everything about the weekend I spent in Paris with a, now-ex, boyfriend

18) Visiting the stunning Santa Barbara City Hall

19) Being so much more awed by the whole Vatican experience than I thought I would be

20) Skydiving onto the beach in Australia

21) Camping in California

22) Being completely over-awed by the amazing deal we'd swung with Expedia on arriving at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach

23) Eating chips and soup for lunch whilst skiing in Austria

24) Gambling in Vegas. By gambling I mean playing Bingo...

25) Crying because I didn't want to leave Florida / Crying because I didn't want to leave a baltic cruise / Crying because I didn't want to leave Canada

26) Going to Cannes for work

27) Everything about Wales. Just, everything.

28) Relaxing in the Szechenyi thermal baths in Budapest
29) Arranging a great hen-do in Stratford-upon-Avon
30) Every single time I've booked something, ever.

Weekending: Edinburgh (March 2015)

Edinburgh is one of my favourites. I've been there with friends and with boyfriends, for romantic trips away and to the festival. I have been there enough times to have my favourites that I always visit as well as always having a list of new places to try. On our most recent trip we (me, my boyfriend, my friend, her husband) were there mainly to visit a friend, but my boyf and I decided to make a long weekend of it to get the most out of the city.

Travel

We got the train there and back - going up at around 11am on the Friday and returning about 2.30pm on the Monday. My friends who joined us got the sleeper train up overnight arriving Saturday morning and then flew back Sunday evening. Like most UK cities, Edinburgh is easy to reach via a number of travel options, and if you book well enough in advance then it's more than affordable.

Accommodation

Once again, we stayed in the Nira Caledonia hotel - one of my favourite hotels in the world. This was my third stay there, and we definitely had the best room I've stayed in there so far as our bathroom had a bath with jets rather than just a shower that I've had in previous stays. The bed was as big and comfortable as I remembered, and I gave the huge bath a go (and used the jets, though be advised to not try and figure out how to turn them on until the bath is full) which was delightful. The hotel gifted us a bottle of wine as well which was a lovely touch. We ate there for breakfast all three mornings during our stay, and also ordered some room service on Sunday night, and each meal was exactly what we were after. I cannot recommend the Nira Caledonia highly enough - with the lovely staff and relaxing rooms I can't imagine staying anywhere else in Edinburgh.

Food

Friday night - burgers at Red Squirrel - one beef and one chicken. They were awesome. We also shared a beetroot salad which was deffo in my top ten salads.

Saturday morning - breakfast at hotel (I believe I had poached eggs on toast, followed by some fruit and yoghurt)

Saturday evening - Hanams. We left it until that afternoon to decide where to eat, and after some googling I came across Hanams, which serves Kurdish and Middle Eastern cuisine. It's also BYOB with no corkage fee, which definitely made it a cheaper meal. Definitely one I would return to if I was in the mood for that type of food.

Sunday morning - breakfast at hotel (think this was my scrambled eggs and smoked salmon day)

Sunday lunch - Set-menu at Wedgwood. This was delicious, and such good value! I'd eaten there before on my birthday last year, and the food was just as inventive and interesting as I remembered. I believe I had goats cheese with curried lentils to start, then sooomething for my main (i'm annoyed I can't remember this) and then sticky toffee pudding. The food here is delicious, and the set lunch menu costs £12.95 / £16.95 for 2 / 3 courses. You can't really go wrong!

Sunday evening - room service. I had a smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich, with some chips. Obviously.

Monday morning - final breakfast at the hotel.

Monday lunch - train picnic!

Sights

As we had all visited the city before, we didn't feel the need to do any of the touristy sight-seeingy bits this time around. Instead, we did a few geocaches along the Leith River Walk, and visited the Camera Obscura museum, which, although pricey, I would definitely recommend.

Shopping
The main shopping street in Edinburgh is Princes Street, which is full of all the standard high street shops. A couple to look out for though are Zara, which has a huge section upstairs of their child and baby clothes; Russell and Bromley, which has a great selection particularly from their mens range; and HMV, which has a really awesome vinyl section (I picked up Purple Rain and Blue whilst I was there).

Writing this all up now it doesn't seem like we did much aside from eat. But that's the great thing when you visit a city you know so well - you can just relax and wander and have a lovely time without feeling like you have to be go-go-go all the time. For me, that's what Edinburgh is all about.

Book Review: Three Men In A Boat - Jerome K. Jerome

I should probably start by saying this is not my sort of thing. I find this sort of rambly around-the-houses humour tiring rather than enjoyable, and more often than not I was rolling my eyes at this rather than tittering along. I found a lot of the sections long and uninteresting (though boring would probably be a step too far) and it was rare that I found myself speeding through the pages. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and to be honest there aren't many bits that I can still recall, though I did enjoy the disparaging remarks about Reading (I inadvertently got punched in the face there once). I don't want to be super negative though, so here are some of the plus points for me:

* I thought that the characterisation was good - it was easy to make sense of who was who by the behaviours being described.
* I appreciated the concept of the novel that it wasn't about anything in particular, and just about the everyday mundane intricacies of life.
* Montmorency is a good name for a dog.
* Short chapters - good for commuting.
* I enjoyed the way it ended - the way they just decided to finish up their trip when they did made it more accessible and, actually, this was the part I found most humorous.

To sum up! This just isn't a book for me. There was nothing wrong with the writing or characters or fundamental idea of the story, it's just that taking so long to get round to the point over and over again bugs me. I felt a few times when reading it that it would have worked better as a series of short stories, though, actually, I guess that's exactly what this is.
3 / 10

#ExploreTheElements Thomas Cook Travel Challenge

I'm not usually one for entering competitions on my blog, but when I saw this on Angie's I suddenly found a load of ideas popping into my head. The idea of this competition is to present four photos that represent the four elements. The photos I ended up going with don't take the themes too literally, but I really enjoyed reminiscing and writing about them.

Water
Represents the fluid, flowing, formless things in the world. Associated with emotion, defensiveness, adaptability, flexibility, suppleness, and magnetism.

Apparently, in part due to origins in greek mythology, the jellyfish is associated with the idea of feminine wrath. Being feminine myself, I can definitely say I can be defensive and emotional, but more importantly I can be adaptable. When I was looking for a photo to represent the element of water, I found myself inundated with pictures I had taken of various beaches (I love a wave shot) and waterfalls, rivers and lakes, but then I came across this one and it struck me as the perfect accompaniment to water element because the focus is on the jellyfish, rather than the water, one of the most flexible and supple creatures there is, along with the connotations mentioned above. Although needing it to survive, a jellyfish will also of course use the water for its own purpose, moving smoothly (and dangerously!) around it at its own will without a care in the world. [Disclaimer: I don't actually know if jellyfish have many cares, but I suspect if they do they're quite minimal.] Jellyfish have that combination of being beautiful to look at but risky (!) to touch, and I think they symbolise this element perfectly.

Picture taken in the Monterey Aquarium, California, USA.

Fire

Represents the energetic, forceful, moving things in the world. Associated with security, motivation, desire, intention, and an outgoing spirit.

What represents fire better than a massive, flaming ball of it? Everyone loves a sunset picture, but what I love about this picture - taken in Dubai - is that it captures all the elements of the city that make it what it is. What first stands out in the background of this picture are the outlines of all the super-yachts, however there are also some smaller fishing and tourist boats there - showing the contradictions Dubai represents. On the one hand you have the huge global businesses occupied by ex-pats, and on the other you have the smaller businesses of the local population. What they both have in common though is their motivation and desire to thrive and succeed in a place that has changed so much in the last 50 years it is almost beyond comprehension. When we talk about energy and moving things in a travel sense, the history and legacy of a place like Dubai must be included in that conversation. While it's definitely not for everyone, it's definitely a sight to behold.

Picture taken in Dubai, UAE.

Air

Represents things that grow, expand, and enjoy freedom of movement. Associated with will, elusiveness, evasiveness, benevolence, compassion, and wisdom.

This picture was taken in Jemaa el Fna in Marrakech. We'd visited the square earlier that same day when it is pretty much just an empty space (minus the tourists) and returned that evening to see the spectacle of it once it had grown into the enormity that it is at night. There are so many things I love about the pictures I took that night - the steam in the air from the heat of all the people and smoke of the cooking food; the blue lights in the left of the picture in the crowd that aren't smartphones but locals selling light up toys to tourists; the sheer amount of people moving freely, and the fact that you can only really appreciate everything that's going on when you're sitting above it all looking down. I think this picture is a great one to symbolise air, as you can tell by looking at it that the air is thick with smoke, steam, heat and anticipation. Marrakech was somewhere I felt really out of my comfort zone, but at the same time felt like it was somewhere really important to see. The market really highlighted these parallels to me - understanding and feeling compassion for the people working there, at the same time as being an elusive and different world to my own.
Picture taken in Marrakech, Morocco.

Earth

Represents the hard, solid objects of the earth. Associated with stubbornness, collectiveness , physicality and gravity.

My final picture in this series was actually not taken too far from my own home, but to me this is what makes it the perfect picture to represent earth. To me, the earth element means being grounded in knowing who you are and where you come from - after all, it's only when you know these things that you can really start to think about where you want to go. Home is where I feel most together, there is a physicality to knowing your place that is hard to find elsewhere. In this picture we are cycling from our own village to the next, riding through country lanes and woods - the hard, solid parts of the earth that I always associate with being close to home. It is this part of the world that I truly feel I can connect to the stubbornness, collectiveness, physicality and gravity of the earth.

Picture taken in Kent, UK.

As part of the competition, I have to now tag five other bloggers in to complete this themselves.

Rainbow Roadtrip

Beatravelling 

Orange Champagne

Peony Rose

Unica & Tigris

If you want to enter, you need to…

1) Publish an Explore the Elements post on your blog with an image for each element
2) Spread the word and nominate five of your fellow bloggers to take part
3) Let Thomas Cook know you've entered by tweeting @ThomasCookUK
4) Keep an eye on the Thomas Cook twitter account to see who's won!

Planning: New York

In April this year my boyfriend and I are visiting New York. I have been a few times before but he never has, so the holiday is going to be that mix of the sightseeing bits you have to do on your first trip, and the more relaxed things you can do when you've seen it all before. This will surprise nobody, but I have been planning planning planning pretty much since we booked it, and here is what I have so far...

Accommodation

One of my favourite hotels in the world is the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. They have a few hotels across the US (plus one in Shoreditch, London) including one in New York, and so it really was a no-brainer as to where we would stay. Luckily enough, the hotel is in a great location - Midtown - so we won't have to factor in loads of travel time to wherever we want to go just so I can stay there!

Museums

One of the reasons I wanted to go to New York this year is because of the upcoming Bjork exhibition at the MOMA, so this will be a definite must-visit when we get there. In addition to this, currently on the list are visits to the New York Transit Museum (boy's choice) and the Museum of Mathematics as it is a 5-minute walk from our hotel.

Sightseeing

So, as I said, I have visited NY a few times and have seen a lot of the sights already. This is my list for the things I really think a first-timer has to make time to do.

* Ground Zero

* Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Centre (hoping to do this at dusk)

* Central Park

* Brooklyn Bridge (will schedule in walking across it when we have a Brooklyn day)

* Times Square (at night, as this is when it is at its most spectacle-esque)

Eating

Current choices on the list are:

* Don Antonio

* Breslin (breakfast?)

* No. 7 Sub

* Tipsy Parson / Bareburger / Coppelia

* Breads Bakery

* Egg

* Agave

* Brennan & Carr

* SOMEWHERE SUPER LUSH FOR STEAK!

Other Stuff

It will be my birthday while we are there and we have booked tickets to the Brooklyn Nets vs Chicago Bulls Basketball game at the Barclays Centre. I'm still not 100% on what I want to do the rest of my birthday but I think maybe spending the day at the beach if the weather's up to it, so maybe a trip down to Coney Island? Something new since I last visited is the High Line so we're definitely going to do that and then there are a few bars I've been eyeing up but I think it's probably best to keep that open and see what we fancy while we're there. We're definitely going to spend some time in Williamsburg, and then I'm quite intrigued by the Brooklyn Night Bazaar.

Any must-dos I've missed off the list?

12 in 12 in 2015

Project 12 Months

Aim: 12 trips in 12 months. And not running out of money by August...

January: A Food-Heavy Few Days In Wales

February: A Guide To: Rome

March: Edinburgh - Weekending: Edinburgh (March 2015)

April: New York - Planning: New York / A Week In… New York

May: Paris - I Heart Paris! Paris thinks I'm "just ok"

June: FAIL!!! 

July: Slovenia - BOOKED!

August: Camping in Walmer - BOOKED!

September: Whitstable - BOOKED!

October: TBC

November: Tenerife TBC

December: Bath TBC

Update July 13th:

Can't believe I failed in June! I had a few up-in-the-air plans and was considering a last-minute weekend away - work was far too busy to contemplate taking many days off - but then it all fell apart at the last minute when I had a boring work disaster to deal with. I did some other fun things in June though, such as visiting Field Day, and I'm not going to let it deter me continuing with the project for the rest of the year.

A Guide to... Rome

Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill

You can buy a ticket that grants you entry to both the Colosseum and the Roman Forum (plus Palatine Hill) for €12 per person. The best way to get your ticket without having to spend too much time queueing is to buy your entry pass from outside the Roman Forum - the queues here are much smaller than at the Colosseum, and when we got there at around 9.30am we were only waiting for about five minutes. Once at the Colosseum, if you are after an audio or visual guide you have to queue again, but this is a much (much) shorter queue than if you were buying your tickets then and there. The audio tour we did cost €5.50, but we found it a bit lacking in information and wasn't all that clear. Also when we went, two of the 6 audio-tour points were closed off and there is currently no replacement audio so these two sections were a bit redundant. Probably worth doing for the cost, but maybe do a bit of reading-up on it first.

Circus Maximus

En route to the Colosseum, and open to the public to walk through. Has a running track around the edge if you are that way inclined!

Vatican Museum, St Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel

Everyone who visits Rome will tell you that the queues for the Vatican Museum are ridiculous. Well, they were being kind. The museum opens at 9am and when we got there at that time the queue was already enormous, so goodness knows what time the people at the front had arrived. Luckily, we had planned ahead and booked our tickets and tour in advance - there are a few options but we pumped for the 3-hour one that took in the museums, Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica, at a cost of €37 per person. Our tour guide was spectacular - she knew her stuff and made the whole thing so much more interesting and engaging than I could have ever imagined. She gave us a detailed overview of the paintings to look out for in the Sistine Chapel so when we got in there we knew what we were looking at (no loud conversations and no photos allowed at this point) and it made the whole experience so much better. At the end of the tour we climbed up to the top of the dome of St Peter's Basilica (which has some very questionable steps) and the view of Rome from their was breathtaking. I highly, highly, recommend this tour, and even if this one doesn't take your fancy then you really must look online and book something in advance. 

Pantheon

Free. Can get very busy - we wandered past a few times and there didn't seem to be a quiet time. They request silence as it is a sacred building, although the large crowds mean that this isn't often adhered to. The bar directly opposite does a good bottle of house red wine if you fancy a drink with a view, although I wouldn't bother stopping for the food. Instead, walk about five minutes and eat at Maccheroni instead.

Trevi Fountain

Beware: this is currently under renovation and covered in scaffolding. Google suggests that this will be the case until Autumn 2015, but as there is no clear date it suggests this could be an ongoing process. You can still walk over the top of the fountain so you can get the scale of the structure, but this is currently not a trip highlight.

Spanish Steps

Currently has scaffolding and a large Fiat advert at the top so slightly underwhelming. Is worth it to sit on the steps and take in the surroundings, plus there's a very nice coffee bar nearby.

Piazza del Popolo

Rome is awash with various piazza's, but Piazza del Popolo was our favourite. Large, relaxed and with a beautiful fountain, this would make a great pit-stop.

Piazza Navona

Probably our second favourite piazza. Another good one to have a wander around in, before stopping for food and great service at Cantina e Cucina.

Stadio Olimpico

Rome's largest and main sports stadium, this is primarily used for football but also hosts rugby games. It is a bit of a walk out of town but if you're going to an event there the atmosphere will drag you along.

Altare della Patria / Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

A beautiful building, particularly when the sun is shining. There are two guards watching over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which makes for a moving memorial.

Santa Maria in Trastevere

A beautiful church in the equally beautiful Trastevere. The square outside hosts a number of bars and cafes, and this is a great spot to stop and have a drink and people-watch, before heading to dinner at Ivo a Trastevere for a pretty incredible pizza.

We flew to Rome from Luton on Monarch.

We flew back from Rome to Stansted on Ryanair.

We stayed in Trastevere, in an AirBnB apartment.

Planning a Low-Key Valentines Day

My boyfriend and I aren't particularly ones for big romantic gestures, but since he moved in a couple of weeks ago we've been conscious of not falling into that trap of never having date nights, not spending time chatting over dinner, and becoming more like housemates than anything else. So this year we're trying to find a good mid-point, and are going to stay in but do something special.

DINNER

Usually when we have people round I do the cooking, but it seems a shame to have only one of us do it (even if it does mean I may have to help with the washing up afterwards). However, I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to food, so we have decided that I will cook the main and he can cook a starter and dessert.

I was reading with interest last week on both Buzzfeed and the NY Times about the 36 questions supposedly designed to make you fall in love with someone. VD seems like the sort of occasion when you should talk about important things rather than moaning about your work colleagues, so I've google-drived them here and figure I can cut them out and then we can take turns to pull them out and question the other.

PRESENT

We've already said that we don't need to get presents for each other, however I have loved the idea of a Date Night Jar for a while and seeing as we're trying to not fall into that easy trap of not really planning anything together anymore, this VD seems like the perfect occasion to introduce this. I've already ordered my giant lollipop sticks and jam jar, and am excited to start writing ideas on the sticks when they arrive. The idea is that you put a date night idea on each stick, and then when you're at a loose end for ideas you pull one from the jar and do whatever it tells you. You could do this for any occasion really, I think the Recipe Jar idea would be quite a good one. Anyway, for our one I've decided to split the sticks into two categories - daytime dates and evening dates - and will colour the tops so it's easy to pull out the correct one. Some of these ideas are a bit lame and I might change them, but at the moment I think I'm going to go with...

Daytime Dates

* Lunch set-menu deal at a Michelin Restaurant

* Boxset Day

* Bowling

* Geocaching and Pub Day

* Geocaching and Tea Room Day

* Make pizza from scratch

* Double Cinema Day

* Steam Train Ride

* Crazy Golf [this one will probably require a trip to the seaside]

* Hush Heath Winery Tour

Evening Dates

* Film and Takeaway

* Dinner and a Movie

* Bowling

* Drinks at Topolski [we had our first date here]

* Wine and Cheese Night

* Prince Charles Cinema Date

* One Aldwych Film + Fizz Night

* Mamma Mia Dinner [fave local restaurant]

* Mishkins Dinner [fave London restaurant]

* Everyman Cinema Date

I'll let you know how this is all received...!

News Reviews: WEEK 5

This week, a few things have been tickling my pickle:

In our office we are quite heavily invested in the decisions regarding how the election debates will be handled, and DC's continual refusal to get involved has been a talking point for us all. Nick Clegg's description of him in this BBC News article seems appropriate.

As a big Neighbours fan (sorry not sorry) I definitely enjoyed reading that Australian schools will receive Sex Education in the form of a new DVD 'Ask Grandad' starring none other than Harold Bishop. 

And while we're on the subject of Neighbours, here is some good news for Lou Carpenter. 

As a travel fiend, the disappearance of MH370 really tugged at my heartstrings, as I expect it did everyone else's. This week it was officially declared an accident, described as a legal move to enable the victims' families to claim compensation. I'm sure that finding out what happened to them would mean just as much, though.

I love it when there's a tennis grand slam, and especially when Rafa is on his game. This week he crashed out at the quarter-final stage to Tomas Berdych, who was then beaten by Andy Murray in the semis, but my nerves were really tested the previous week during this match... 

And finally, on to Kim Sears' swearing - who really gives a fuck?

2015 Travel Plans

So following on from my post on my 2014 Travel and Events Round-Up, I figured I would write one detailing my plans for the rest of the year seeing as we are now at the start of it. It will be interesting to see how many of these plans actually pan out before the end of the year, and also I LOVE writing a list.

* My first trip isn't too far away - I am going to Rome for a long weekend in early February with a couple of friends. None of us have ever visited before so we are planning carefully to try and cram in all the sightseeing-y bits as well as check out some awesome restaurants and bars - I have been given the last two as my research responsibilities so if anyone has any recommendations please do let me know! We are also fitting in a six nations match - I've never been to the rugby before so I'm definitely looking forward to that. Will probably need a few thermals though I reckon?

* Not long after that my boyfriend and I are going to Edinburgh with another couple we know. We are staying in the Nira Caledonia (one of my favourite hotels) and I can't wait - I'm excited to re-visit some of the great places we ate and drink at on our last visit. As well as this I want to fit in a visit to the Camera Obscura museum as I have never been, and MOST IMPORTANTLY! Visit our dear friend who has just this week had a beautiful pair of twins. 

* In April I have a birthday. To detract from the horror of this we are going to New York for 5 nights, incorporating the dreaded day itself, and I'm so looking forward to it - I have been to New York an handful of times but not for a few years and I can't wait to get back there. I've already got a few bits planned (such as a basketball game on my birthday) and we're staying in the New York branch of the Ace, so I can't see how this is going to be anything other than awesome.

* Next on the list is our summer holiday. We've decided to have a bit of an adventure this year, and are hoping to go interrailing in June, taking in Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Bratislava and Prague. I need to really start planning this, but I've got the basic schedule down (including train times from place to place) and so the next step is looking at accommodations. I'm thinking a mix of cheap hotels and airbnbs, but any recommendations for this for any of these cities would be welcomed! I've never been to any of these cities before and am definitely excited to explore some new areas.

* In one of the blogs I read - Emma's Travel Tales - she mentioned staying in the Citizen M hotel in Glasgow. Not having Glasgow near the top of my destination list (sorry Emma!) but intrigued by the hotel I had a look at the other locations they have, and Rotterdam caught my eye. I haven't been to Holland since I was young but Amsterdam has never really appealed, and so we're thinking maybe a little weekend away later in the year may be in order?

* My school friends and I all have big birthdays this year (hence the New York trip I am taking) and so we have been talking about doing something to mark the occasion. At the moment the current favourite looks like a little weekend break to Whitstable in September before it gets too cold - beach, fish and chips, pubs and walks. Sounds right up our streets!

* At some point last year I read a post in What Joanna Ate about a stay she had at The Pig. It sounded lush so I got googling, and saw that they have a few hotels in various places. We're thinking about maybe doing a little pre-Christmas trip in December to the one in Bath, probably mid-week to avoid as many people / tourists as possible!

Now I just need to stop spending money so I can afford it all...