May's Adventures

May was a nice month.  I kicked off the 1st May by waking up bright and early to compete in a 5k race.  It wasn't the best I had ever performed but I think that is understandable considering I had just completed London marathon the previous weekend.  The next day I then went on to do Milton Keynes marathon, which was horrendous.  If I learnt anything that day, it's to not run a marathon a week after the last, no matter what your best friend says.

Slam Dunk Festival 2016

This May bank holiday brought Slam Dunk Festival, my first festival of the year.  Slam Dunk Festival is held from Saturday to Monday.  Saturday's festival was held in Leeds, Sunday in Birmingham and Monday in Hatfield.  I went to the Birmingham venue.  Having previously only been to the Hatfield festival I hoped that Birmingham would be just as good, and it was!

The Start of Festival Season

Summer is comingggggg, yes it is!!  With summer comes my favourite time of the year: FESTIVAL SEASON!!  This bank holiday weekend I am heading off to Slam Dunk, a day festival with the likes of Panic! At The Disco, Of Mice and Men, New Found Glory and Mayday Parade playing.  There are many festivals happening all over the country this May bank holiday weekend including BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend - Who's going to that? Jealous!

With festival season comes that all important question.  What do I wear?!  It can be a tricky one, the weather can change with the blink of an eye and you need to be prepared! I have a choice of three outfits for my first festival of the year and I cannot decide which one to wear! If only the festival was 3 days long!!

Marathon Training: My first half marathon experience

For me, running a half marathon is a big thing.  A couple of months ago I could barely run two miles.  So to reach the target of running 13.1 miles, in a race.  I saw this as an unachievable target.  But I believe that if you really want to do something, you can achieve it, no matter what it takes.  After all, in April I will be running a full marathon.

Me on the right after completing the race

Summer Holiday: Las Vegas - Hawaii - Los Angeles

I don't know about you but I have been so tired recently! I have been coming home from work, lounging on the sofa under a blanket after work, going to bed early just to stay warm, then waking up and going to work the next day.  I blame the weather and the time of year.  January is officially the worst month ever.

A friend and I have been dreaming of summer.  Hot weather, the beach, the sea, so last night we decided too book a holiday.  My friend came round and over a Chinese takeaway, cups of teas and excited squeals, we managed to book our dream holiday.  Me being me, it was nothing uncomplicated.  I do like an elaborate and complicated holiday.  I am going to give you a little insight to what we booked.

We had carried out lots of research over the last month.  We had checked prices with a few travel companies, and calculated the price of doing our own thing.  In the end we called Virgin, who were really helpful, patiently listened to out girlish high pitched excitedness, and offered us the best deal.

In July we are flying out to Las Vegas. Where we stay for 3 nights.  I cannot wait to check out the fancy hotels, visit the Neon Museum, go to the Grand Canyon, go shopping and check out what else Vegas has to offer.  Virgin threw in a limo ride from the airport to the hotel, what a great start to the holiday!

Image Source

We are then flying over to Hawaii where we stay in a hotel on Waikiki Beach for 6 nights.  I am excited to check out the beaches, hike up diamond head, go to Manoa Falls, go to the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve and visit Arizona Memorial and Pearl Harbor.

Image Source

I feel like I will never want to leave Honolulu but then we are off to Los Angeles where will be spend three nights.  Here I am looking forward to check out some rooftop bars, maybe do some yoga, look at the Hollywood sign, go to the Hollywood Bowl, visit the Runyon Canyon and much more.  We certainly won't be able to fit everything I want to do into three days.

Image Source

As you can imagine, I am SO EXCITED!! I am doing two of the things I wanted to do this year, visit somewhere I have never been before and travel outside of Europe.  I don't like to wish time away but I cannot wait until July!!!

Have you been thinking of summer holidays?

Switzerland Adventures: Part V

Earlier on in the week I shared my stay in Bern with you, which you can read here.  Whilst I was staying in Bern, I took a day trip to Geneva.  

Switzerland Adventures: Part IV

Bern was like no place I have ever been before.  After researching the place before I traveled, I expected it to be smaller, I didn't expect to enjoy it so much.  I took 621 pictures in Bern (don't worry, they are not all in this post!!), expect clocks, the amazing buildings and architecture, creepy stalker men and Albert Einstein.

Winter Wonderland

In December, a friend and I decided to plan a trip to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, but with both of us being so busy we did not have a single day free so decided to visit on the 2nd January, the day before it closes.  So we finally went yesterday and I was super excited, I love Winter Wonderland.  It contains everything I love about winter.

Switzerland Adventures: Part III

Visiting Basel after Interlaken was a stark difference.  You can read all about my Interlaken experience here.  Whereas Interlaken was calm and serence, Basel was busy and bustling, but that was fine as I wanted my adventure to include a range of Switzerland.

Switzerland Adventures: Part II

This post may be a little delayed.  Ok very delayed.  I took this trip back in the summer.  But with dark, cold January approaching I think we could all do with seeing pictures of beautiful mountains and sunshine.  You can read all about part 1 of my Switzerland trip here.

After Zurich I took the train down to Interlaken.  I got off the train with my massive bag and suitcase and started the walk towards the hostel, following the map around the little streets.  My bag was ridiculously heavy, it was a boiling hot day and I was sweating.  But the scenery kept me going, and I didn't get lost!  I had never seen a scenery like it, it was the most stunning thing I had ever seen!!! The pictures will do the talking!!

Weekend in Canterbury

On Saturday I went off to Canterbury for a short weekend away.  I had never been to Canterbury before and it was lovely to see the Christmas markets, the cathedral, lovely Christmas lights and the cute little streets.  I had already completed my Christmas shopping so it was nice to have a relaxing stroll around, exploring the place.

The hotel room.

Sink envy  You know you're getting old when you start liking sinks.

Bathroom selfie and a weird hand.

Canterbury cathedral.

Cute little streets.

The most adorable bookshop.

My outfit for the evening.

It was a shame the weather was so pants.  It was SO cold and windy!!

Despite the rubbish weather it was nice to get away and chill out rather than spending my weekend working.  It was good to relax!

Reading Festival - The end of festival season

May be a little bit late in posting this.  But nevertheless, here we go.  It took me ages to upload the photos.  Oops.

For me Reading Festival signals the end of festival season.  It is the last festival of the summer that I usually attend, and it means that autumn is coming.  I have been to Reading Festival numerous times, and each time I come back, feeling like I cannot wait until the festival next year.

On the way to Reading Festival... the cleanest we would be all week!

This year I was super excited as I didn't get to show my presence at last years Reading Festival and I missed it!  I went with 1 friend and we had early bird tickets.  I had never bought an early bird ticket before.  But having a regular festival weekend camping ticket means waking up ridiculously early on the Thursday to get down to Reading for the morning to secure a good camping spot that isn't drowning in mud.  Having now experienced an early bird ticket, I can safely say that I would get this every time from now on.

Our home for nearly a week.

It should only take less than two hours to get to Reading from my home, so at 2.30PM we set off... and didn't arrive in the camp site with all out luggage until 9PM! Yes, that's right.  It took us 6 hours in the car due to traffic.  We couldn't believe it!! We were so frustrated by the time we got there we just wanted to crack open a can and chill out.  However we had to choose a camping area to set up the tent, we already had a camping area in mind so we headed to green camping area.  We then had the challenge of choosing a good spot and setting up the tent, however it was dark, so this involved stamping around the soggy ground to see which was the least soggy and then making good use of the head torch to set up the tent.

After this mishap, everything was fine.  We woke up the next day to sun.  Then rain. Then sun.  We were incredibly lucky with the weather for the whole weekend.  It did rain, and the place pretty much turned into a mud bath at some points, but there was a good bit of sunshine and dry weather too.  I have previously been to festivals where it has rained non stop.  During this festival I tanned... a lot!!

Gin and beans for breakfast!

Foo Fighters - Broken Leg Tour

Last Sunday I was sitting in my apartment wondering what to do with my day, then I remembered that the Foo Fighters and Royal Blood were playing locally later on that day.  I was on holiday when the tickets went on sale and I just assumed they had all sold out.  I rather dubiously looked online, not expecting there to be any tickets left... and there was!!! Without hesitating, I bought the ticket, and that was the plan for my day!!

I drove over there, normally it would only take 30 minutes but due to the concert traffic it took hours!! I started panicking that I was going to miss the first band on, Royal Blood, who I love.  Eventually I managed to park up and only ended up missing one Royal Blood song.

Walking into Milton Keynes Bowl I couldn't believe the amount of people there!! I headed straight for the crowd surrounding the stage to catch Royal Blood.  It was a lovely sunny day and the crowd was packed tightly around the stage meaning I couldn't get very close, and the sun behind the stage was blinding.  That being said, I do love a gig outside in the sun, and it was Royal Blood, I love this band!!  They put on a good show as expected, playing well known songs like Figure It Out and Little Monster with added riffs and jams.  They played some of my favourites and I was super happy to see this bands, one of my favourite bands at the moment.

Next on was Iggy Pop.  I wasn't fussed about seeing this band, I didn't know their music.  I watched their entire set anyway, I was there so I figured I might as well.  I ended up knowing one song, and they weren't as bad as I expected.  I wouldn't see them in their own concert though.  The people dancing in the crowd amused me when my mind drifted off during the set.  They did put on a good show I suppose, but I didn't know their music.

Foo Fighters 6th September 2015 @ Milton Keynes Bowl

Then, on came the amazing Foo Fighters.  I have been wanting to see this band forever.  I think I have now seen every band I have ever wanted to see live, I have waited for this moment for so long.  They were amazing, it was everything I expected and more.  Dave Grohl sat on a specially made chair, due to his broken leg, you could see he wanted to move around.  They put on such an awesome show, and had great crowd interaction.  The show seemed to last forever, but went by so quickly.  By that I mean that sometimes when bands play two plus hours set, you start wanting it to end.  But I never wanted this show to end.  It was just too good.  Seeing as it was outside, it became absolutely freezing, and I started to wish that I hadn't worn shorts.  But I didn't mind, I was seeing the Foo Fighters!!  They played well known songs, All My Life, The Pretender, Best of You, Everlong, and so much more.  I can't even describe how good it was!! I had the time of my life.  I didn't even mind that it took me two and a half hours to get home,  I had seen the Foo Fighters.

Foo Fighters 6th September 2015 @ Milton Keynes Bowl

In other news, I have been writing up a post on Reading Festival which I can't wait to share with you, and have been making new additions to my home.. I can't wait to show you the finished thing!!

Have you seen Foo Fighters before?

Switzerland Adventures

Guess what?! I finally have internet! Woohoo!! So I am here today to tell you about my adventures in Switzerland. I will have to do this in parts as I went to 9 towns and cities, and took 2000 photos.

On Tuesday 14th July I set off from London to Zurich.  I felt so unprepared, I had only booked it a week prior to the trip, but had spent that week doing so much research.  I was so excited and couldn't wait to land in this country I had never visited before.  I nearly cried on the flight there, I thought I had forgotten to take my bank card, but I was saved and found it in my luggage in Zurich airport.  I took the train into Zurich, then walked to the hostel.  I'll admit, I got a bit lost.  But thanks to the google maps images I had screenshotted on my phone, and the research that I had done, I was able to re-trace my steps and eventually found the place late afternoon.

Disneyland Paris March 2015

It's been a while!! Far too long in fact!!  I have been away from this blog far longer than I intended to but my life has been crazily busy recently.  I was meant to be moving house in March, along with a trip to Disneyland, I applied for a job I never thought I would get, got an interview which I only had a couple of days to prepare for, I got the job which I started a week later.  I did not end up moving house in March, it was put back to April, and then to late May (which means I have't moved yet boo).  Anyway, that's all for another blog post.  Here I am going to tell you all about my trip to Disneyland Paris.

I went to Disneyland from 16th March to 18th March.  I had been before when I was 6 years old, so going back almost 20 years later, a few things seemed familiar but I did not remember too much.  I took so many pictures, 560 to be exact, so I am going to let the pictures do the talking (don't worry I won't show you all of them, although here are a fair few)!