Summer Trip Plans: Liverpool

I don't know about you, but it's been over a year since my last holiday and I am desperate to get out on a new adventure! Now that the Government has announced hotels can (hopefully) reopen on 17th May, and with foreign travel guidelines staying uncertain, I've been planning a summer trip to visit my family in Merseyside for my birthday, including a stay at my favourite UK hotel- The Titanic in Liverpool.

Winchester Christmas Market

Yeah, ok. It might be a little late to write about Christmas markets now but I never got round to it and I don't want to waste all the time I spent editing photos. Just pretend Christmas hasn't happened yet.

Thorpe Park Fright Night 2016

As is now my Halloween custom, I travelled up to Thorpe Park for my third Fright Night (2014 and 2015 here). This year, Marie was at a convention, and we'd been to Alton Towers Scarefest anyway, so I took Myles along with me instead.

Alton Towers Scarefest

For the past couple of years, Marie and I have gone to Thorpe Park's Fright Night for Halloween (see here and here). This Halloween, we decided to level up and visit Alton Towers for their Scarefest instead. Since Alton Towers is a three hour drive away, we thought we'd go all fancy and turn it into a short break with an overnight stay at the Alton Towers Hotel. As well as being able to take our time and make full use of our visit, we also got the benefit of free entry on our second day and free Fastrack tickets for both.

Review // The Stable, Winchester

After Ami and I went to The Stable in February (wow, was it really that long ago?), we've been promising to go back for more pizza. Somehow we've never quite managed it... until she moved to Devon, that is. Somehow, her being 200 miles away meant we actually put our plans into action!

Review // Kipferl Islington

You know how I love Austria? Of course you do, I never shut up about it. Well, I was recently looking up best places to buy stollen in Salzburg (I'm going back at Christmas, you see) and the Google results were less than helpful. Instead they just showed me the best places to buy stollen in London. However one of these places was a cafe called Kipferl which- get this- is an Austrian cafe. A frickin' Austrian cafe in London! You better believe I made a special trip to London just to get some Almdudler.

48 Hours in Liverpool

Back in February, I visited Liverpool to help my little sister Millie buy some make up and kept meaning to return for a proper visit. It was Millie's 16th birthday at the end of August so Rich and I went up for a meal at Smuggler's Cove and decided to get a hotel for a couple of nights to really explore the city.

Discovery Tours Jack the Ripper Tour

Newer readers may not know that I'm really into true crime and have a specific interest in serial killers. (If this is the first post of mine you've read, I promise the rest of my content is a lot less morbid!) I can still remember when my interest was first piqued- I was nine years old, reading the Horrible Histories Vile Victorians book and came across the recount of Jack the Ripper. I was absolutely fascinated and that was the start of a lifelong interest in the crimes of this mysterious Victorian figure. Although I've read many books on the subject, I had never explored the exact locations of the infamous case and had been meaning to attend a tour for the longest time. Then Discovery Tours offered me a place on their Jack the Ripper Tour and I finally had my chance!

London Aquarium Sea Life Centre

Every year, Rich's work rewards some of their workers with a fun day trip. Last year we went to Thorpe Park and this time, the trip was a Wagamamas followed by a visit to the London Sea Life Aquarium. For reasons I'm not entirely sure about, one of my 101 in 1001 goals was to visit the aquarium so that was very handy!

Oxford Day Trip

Last spring, Helen and I popped over to Bath for a day trip. This year, we decided to do arrange another day trip and settled on another historic city- Oxford. I'd never been before, and Helen had only been for one brief visit years ago, so we were excited to explore. Unfortunately, neither of us thought to do any research before we went so, once we arrived, we weren't really sure what to do.

London Transport Museum

I've wanted to go to the London Transport Museum for a long time. I'm not even that sure why. Maybe once I saw something on TV about it and it inspired me. Whatever the reason, I'm very into social history. Keep your monarchs and your battles, it's all about the common folk for me. So an exploration of the way people have travelled around London for the past 200 years? Yes please!

Spring in Whitstable

Whitstable is my favourite place in the whole world. In 2003, my grandparents moved to this little seaside town in Kent and I'd spend my school holidays with them. They were such happy times. As there's not a whole lot for a teenage girl to do there, I always found it so relaxing. No friend drama to worry about. No keeping up pretences. No stress. Just relaxing with my grandparents- reading, drawing, visiting the beach. Bliss! After a few years they moved back to our hometown so they could be closer to the family (and didn't have a huge garden to tend for!) and I've only been back once since, when Rich and I spent my 21st birthday there. We'd intended to return for my birthday this year but unexpectedly ended up there earlier this week.

The Smuggler's Cove at Albert Dock, Liverpool

My little sister is now 15 (they grow up so fast!) and she recently messaged me on Instagram to ask if I'd go shopping with her to buy her first high-end make up products. As she lives near Liverpool, I don't get to see her too often but I had already made plans to visit my brother in Manchester so figured I could nip across the M62 while I was up that way. In the end, our brother and dad came too so we had a nice little Bedbug Family day out! 

Junkyard Golf Club, Manchester

While visiting my brother in Manchester last week, he told me about a pop up bar called Junkyard Golf Club with two mini golf courses made up entirely of salvaged materials. After grabbing food in Almost Famous- as is becoming our Manchester tradition- we headed next door to experience Junkyard Golf for ourselves.

#TheStableWassail // Pizza and Cider at The Stable, Winchester

Being a blogger in Hampshire has some unique challenges. We're close enough to London that it's very possible to attend blogging events that usually take place there, although the train fare does add up, but there are very few events going on locally. Lana at Fashion Fake decided to solve this problem by hosting her own event in Winchester for us Hampshire bloggers.

Hampton Court Palace

As a kid, I was fascinated with the Tudors. I absolutely loved all of the Horrible Histories books but The Terrible Tudors was my favourite by far. (Later in life I took a Tudor history A level but the less said about that, the better) My grandparents took me to Hampton Court a few times and I still have really strong memories of how much I loved it there. For years, I've been meaning to return and this week I finally managed it. Only it was entirely as amazing as I remembered.

#BloggersBelowZero // Ice Bar London

I've wanted to visit an ice bar for ever. (In fact, when we went to Florida in 2014, we were planning to pop into the one on International Drive but since Matt was under 21, we had to stay in the hotel and babysit him. Jeez, Matt!) When Lauren of LDN Meet Up emailed to let us know that she was hosting an event at Ice Bar London, the only permanent ice bar in London, I was super excited. 

Arty London // 4 creative things to do in London

London is, in my humble opinion, one of the best cities in the world for experiencing the arts. There is such a rich, varied history of culture that continues to this day so there's no end of wonderful arty things to do. Of course, there are the obvious choices but I've tried to list my favourite slightly-underappreciated creative ventures in the capital.

Brighton // The Breakfast Club

Thursday was Jordan's birthday and I was honoured to be invited to Brighton to celebrate with a bunch of lovely bloggers. Jordan booked a table at The Breakfast Club which I was very excited about as I loved eating in the Spitalfields cafe on Pancake Day last year. 

Christmas Break at CenterParcs

I hate nature. Like, hate nature. Born and bred in a busy suburban town, the darkness and quietness of countryside freaks me out. For a while it's been a joke between me and Rich that a trip to CenterParcs would be the worst possible holiday for me. So what did we decide to do before Christmas? Go to CenterParcs, of course. No, I don't know why either. I think it was my idea too, which just makes the whole thing even stranger.