A Weekend In Italy

Last month I travelled to Italy for a four day stay on the beautiful Lake Maggiore, the second largest of the Italian lakes. It was my first ever visit to Italy and my god was I excited! Ever since I first watched Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday it's been a country I've always longed to visit and I definitely wasn't disappointed!  It has to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been! There's just something about it, I think it's a mix of the history, the culture and the language which creates somewhere that's totally enchanting yet doesn't seem quite real.

We were incredibly lucky with the weather during our visit as with it's close proximity to the alps it tends to be a bit hit or miss around this time of the year. Fortunately it was around 23 degrees celsius each day and warm enough to sit outside of the restaurants during the evening. The beautiful clear skies also meant that I got some great shots of the Borromean Islands which are just off the shore between the towns of Verbania and Stresa. 

A short boat ride took us out to each island, Isola Bella, Isola Madre, Isola dei Pescatori and Isolino di San Giovanni. I think we paid around 10 euros for a boat ride which took us round all the islands giving us an hour to explore on each one. That might not sound like much time but considering it took literally 5-10 mins to casually stroll from one end to the other on each island, believe me it was plenty! There was a gorgeous English style palace on one of the islands that unfortunately was closed off to the public as well as plenty of little stalls selling knick knacks on the rest of the islands and lots of lovely restaurants to have lunch and amazing photo opportunities.



We decided to forgo the busy restaurants and grab some lunch from a little delicatessen to eat on the harbour front. Unfortunately because of the language barrier we ended up with two half loaves of dry bread with a huge chunk of cheese stuck in the middle for our sandwiches! Mental note: learn some basic Italian other than how to say 'Hello' and 'Goodbye' before your next visit!

We stayed in an apartment in Arona which was only about a half hour drive from Milan Malpensa Airport and made a great base to explore that part of Lake Maggiore. A 20 minute drive further north took us to some really beautiful towns with the most incredible views over the lake. I ended up taking  loads of photos everywhere we went but unfortunately because the sun was so bright most of them ended being so over exposed and therefore useless! 

On the last day we decided to go up to the Rocca di Angera, an 11th century castle situated high up on a hill above the town of Angera. It had the most beautiful views but again all of the pictures I took of the castle were too over exposed so you'll just have to google it to see for yourself. We didn't really know anything about the place before we visited, we thought we'd just be able to wonder round inside as well as the grounds of the castle. Turns out it's actually one of the largest dolls museums in Europe! There were dolls everywhere, thousands of them staring out at you from behind the glass and I freaked out big time! I've had a huge fear of dolls for as long as I can remember (except Barbie's obviously!) but a particular memory has stayed with me of a ventriloquists dummy a magician brought along with him to my sixth birthday party. It ended up with me running out of the room and refusing to go back inside thus missing half the party!

It's safe to say we didn't really stick around the castle for long but don't let me put you off, if you don't happen to have a silly fear of dolls like I do then it would be a great place to explore!

I'm already planning a trip back to next year, hopefully to southern Italy. Pompeii especially is one place I've always wanted to visit and the Amalfi Coast looks beautiful too. Have any of you guys visited or maybe live in Italy and have some suggestions on where I should visit next? Let me know below!

A Quick Trip To Amsterdam

I had a whistle stop tour of Amsterdam with my Mum at the end of last last week, she was there for business and I decided to tag along (yay for airmiles!). Amsterdam is one of those places I've always wanted to see so when the opportunity came to go I jumped at the chance so off we went at 4:00am for an hours flight into Schiphol Airport. Once my Mum had finished her meetings and I had had a nap we spent the rest of the day ambling through the tiny canal lined streets past suspicious smelling cafes and dodgy looking shops (yeah THAT kind!). That was when we realised we were probably going in the wrong direction! It was an eye opener to say the least and no, I didn't go anywhere near the red light district or the dodgy cafes!

It really is a beautiful city with such quirky architecture that's so different to the British architecture I'm used to. Apparently there used to be a tax on how wide you built your house hence all the strangely slim buildings squashed in next to each other that Amsterdam is so famous for. It really is a beautiful, unique city and so picturesque!

After some lunch and a little shopping, we successfully managed to avoid being run down by the hundreds of people on bikes whizzing through the streets and made it to our canal pizza cruise for a guided tour of the city. It was a slightly strange set up, you chose which pizza you wanted before you boarded and 15 minutes in to the tour we stopped to pick them up. We did expect to get a table to ourselves considering we'd paid good money for it but by the time we got there all the tables were taken so we had to share. Thankfully we sat next to a really lovely young couple from Australia who were holidaying their way around Europe. They were really chatty so thankfully no awkwardness there. 

Unfortunately one place I missed out on seeing was Anne Frank's House, her story is one I've always been fascinated by since reading her diaries when I was younger. I managed to see the building from the outside but the queue to go in was huge, even at half past eight at night so there was no way we were going to get tickets. If I ever visit again, I'll be sure to book tickets way in advance!   

Amsterdam is definitely one of those  cities that you can see in a day quite happily. I didn't really know much about the place before I went there so I had no idea what to see and where to go. I may well have missed all the good stuff without realising! But do you know what, I really enjoyed just wondering around aimlessly! It's much more laid back than most other cities and has such a great feel about it that you don't feel as if you need to rush, I'd highly recommend a weekend visit!

USA Road Trip - Days 13-14

So as I said in the previous road trip post we decided to leave a day early from Maine so we didn't have to do a four hour drive the morning of our flight. We managed to find a hotel about a half hour from Boston Airport I can't remember the name of the area, all I know is that our hotel had an indoor water park connected to it that I begrudgingly didn't get to visit. After a night spent in yet another hotel room (our 5th!) with a few hours to spare before our flight that evening we all agreed that more shopping was in order! Woohoo! I couldn't wait for another trip to forever 21 and Sephora of course although I was a little disappointed that most things in Sephora were the same price or more expensive than at home. We got some lunch in the food hall and then it was on to the airport. By this point I was getting a little worried as there were radio reports of tornado warnings and thunderstorms so we were keeping our fingers crossed our flight wouldn't be delayed, or worse cancelled. Thankfully ours wasn't but most of the domestic flights unfortunately were, there was immense relief all round as we scanned the screens past all the cancelled flights to see the words ON TIME next to ours.  If you've ever flown from terminal E at Boston Logan Airport (I think it's the main international terminal) you'll know that there really isn't a whole lot to see or do. There's a few shops and a couple of fast food restaurants but lets just say that Heathrow Terminal 5 it isn't! Eventually we made it home after a reasonably short five and a half hour flight and boy did it feel good to be home. Knackered and jet lagged we all fell in to bed and I slept for about 7 hours. Oops not a good idea, cue me at 4:00am the next morning eating a whole bag of share sized crisps whilst watching endless Frasier re-runs!     

 I apologise this post is a little later than all the other road trip posts, I didn't realise I hadn't actually published it.

Birthday Presents From The USA

I thought I'd share with you what I got for my birthday last week, all of which were gifts bought for me whilst we were in America. I'm so lucky that I have the best parents and big sister in the ENTIRE WORLD who love to spoil me once in a while so I'm just going to take the opportunity again right here to tell them how thankful I am for everything they bought me and how much I love them!

 I really enjoys reading blog posts like this about what people have bought and I hope it's something which interests you too. This is going to be quite a long post but lucky for you I did cut out quite a bit of rambling and it's mostly picture heavy so happy reading!

Skull Candy Hesh 2 Headphones-£59.99 Available here

I've been looking for a pair of decent quality headphones everywhere and luckily my Dad bought these at a really great price, $39.99 I think. It's a considerable mark down from the original price of $59.99. The sound is great quality and they're really comfortable which is all I can ask for.    

Betty Crocker Cake Mixes

I've become a bit of a fan of Betty Crocker cake mixes recently so I was really excited when I saw just how many different versions they have available in US supermarkets. Literally rows and rows of them! I'd be lucky to find four of five in my local supermarket! So for that reason I just couldn't resist buying a few to take home. I'm most excited about the rainbow cake, I've never seen a cake like it and can't wait to see how it turns out!    

I only got a few make up bits including a Clinique Chubby Stick mini set, a Mac blush and an Essie Nail polish. The Clinique Chubby Stick Mini set and the Mac Blush were both bought at The Cosmetic Company Store at an outlet mall we visited and boy do I wish I had one of these near me! I've done a little research and there are a few stores at outlet malls in the UK but unfortunately none near where I live. I couldn't believe it when I walked in and they had high end products like Mac, Bobbi Brown and Clinique at discount prices, it was make up heaven!  

Clinique Whole Llotta Colour Chubby Stick set  

It seems like forever that I've wanted to try the Clinique Chubby sticks but I always thought they were too expensive so I had to get the mini set when I saw it. They've soon become my go to lip product and are perfect for the summer when I don't want to wear anything too heavy.

Mac Pro Longwear Blush in 'Rosy Outlook'-£20.00

 Available Here 

     The Mac Pro Longwear Blush in 'Rosy Outlook' was too good to resist at a discounted price. Unfortunately I can't remember how much I paid for either products in The Cosmetic Company Store but lets just say it was a lot less than I would of paid in the UK. It's a pretty Coral/Pink colour and I'm really impressed at how long lasting it is. 

Essie Nail Polish in 'E-nuf is E-nuf'

I've already written a post about this nail polish which you can read here. 

Clothes

All the clothes I got are from Forever 21, a shop which I absolutely loved! The two stores I visited were huge, full of amazing clothes that if I could have taken home with me I would have. You've probably noticed there's a bit of a theme colour wise, I obviously love the colour coral, I didn't actually notice until I got it all home. Again I can't remember prices nor can I find any of these items on the forever 21 UK website, I'm not being a very good blogger today am I?!       

USA Road Trip - Days 7-12

Days 7 and 8 were mostly spent on the road, 11 hours to be exact but surprisingly it passed quite quickly. I spent most of the journey on my ipad watching TV shows and playing games so the drive was pretty easy really.

Eventually we reached our final destination in Maine, a house we were renting for the week in a lovely seaside town. We were all really impressed with the house and were more than comfortable for the week, I guess it was just nice not to have to stay in yet another hotel room! In the area itself there wasn't really much going on but thankfully we had the hire car so most days we travelled about an hour out of the area to the nearest excursions. In fact the nearest shopping mall was about an hour and a half away, I'm so glad the nearest shopping centre at home is only 15 minutes away! Obviously we took advantage of the price difference and did a lot of shopping and just generally explored the pretty seaside towns along Maine's coast.

For a special treat on my Dad's birthday we all visited Fort Knox State Historical Site, which is a fort built on the banks of the Penobscot River in the town of Prospect, Maine to defend against any British invasion.  My Dad was in the Navy for 15 years so anything to do with war, history and the sea floats his boat if you'll pardon the pun. The fort never saw any battle but it was still interesting to see a little bit of American history although we were a little disappointed they hadn't made more of the exhibits etc. I can't actually find any pictures we took of the fort but if I do I will put them up. 

After being so lucky with the weather at the beginning of the week unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse and there was thunder storms/rain the last few days so we couldn't take advantage of any of the lovely lakes and beaches. Partly due to the weather and partly due to the unexpected four hour drive to the airport (we actually thought we were staying in Rockport MA not Rockport ME!) we decided to leave a day earlier than expected to  stay the nigh in a town closer to Boston. The area was just starting to get busy for the 4th of July celebrations and I was really disappointed we were going to miss out on all the fun, but was definitely glad we didn't have to do a stressful four hour drive the morning of our flight. I apologise this was such long post but there was just so much to fit in! 

USA Road Trip 2013 - I'm Home!

This is just a little update to say that I'm home from my travels. Oh it feels good to be home! We got back early yesterday morning and I mistakenly spent half the day asleep which meant I also spent most of the night awake. I'm certainly suffering the effects of jet lag today! But anyway as soon as I feel a bit more human and my brain feels a little less like mush I will post the remainder of my travel diaries. I've also plenty more pictures to share which I'll get right on with tomorrow. We had the most amazing time and I spent so long looking forward to it that I'm quite sad it's all over already. Thankfully I've got my birthday to look forward to this coming weekend and it looks like the weather will be good for a birthday barbecue!

USA Road Trip - Day 6 Niagara Falls

Another few hours in the car today and we've finally made it to Niagara Fallls, woohoo! I still can't quite believe we are actually here, it's somewhere I never imagined I would be lucky enough to visit! We're staying on the US side of the falls (For those of you who don't know Niagara Falls is on the border between the USA and Canada) in a casino hotel about a 5-10 minute walk away, which is lucky because its so

incredibly hot here! It must be in the mid 30s!

The hotel we're staying in is unlike anything I've ever experienced before! For one thing people can smoke inside the building which I can't say I'm a fan of, especially as smoking in public places in the UK has been banned for quite some time. Besides from that the hotel is actually pretty cool, its huge and has literally everything you need inside it including 5 restaurants so there's no need to even leave the hotel!

The falls itself is just incredible, even more impressive than I imagined! We paid to go up on the observation deck for more of a front on view which made for some really great pictures. It was pretty windy though and there was a lot of spray from the falls which made it a little tricky to take pictures. Thankfully it provided some relief from the heat which we were all grateful for! We all felt it was definitely worth all those hours in the car to get here and to be able to say I've been to Niagara Falls is pretty darn cool!     

I'm including these posts as part of the 30 Day snap, If you want to know more about the 30 Day Snap Project click the button above.

USA Road Trip - Day 5 On The Road Again



This is where I got bored and started taking pictures of the road.  

It's day 5 and we're on the road again, this time stopping over for the night in Syracuse, NY on our way to see Niagara Falls. I'm writing this in the car seeing as I've got a lot of time on my hands to sit and write. It's been pretty full on so far and I have to say I'm looking forward to the second half of our holiday which will be a little more relaxed. Don't get me wrong I'm having an amazing time and it's been so great catching up with our US friends. I feel like I've seen the real America, not the touristy parts (which are coming next). We've been staying in a pretty small town and at times I've felt really self conscious of my accent but everyone has been so friendly and welcoming that actually we haven't felt like outsiders at all. We'll be spending quite a lot of time in the car these next few days  and I thought I might get bored with all the driving we've been doing but there's so much to see which is new that makes it a bit different to a trip down the M3 back home!

I'm including these posts as part of the 30 Day snap, If you want to know more about the 30 Day Snap Project click the button above.

USA Road Trip - Days 3-4

Days 3 and 4 we've spent catching up with our friends who live here and exploring the local area. We made our way up to the nearby mountain (yep they live near an actual mountain!) which looked a little different to the last time we visited when it was covered in 6 feet of snow! It's more of a skiing mountain and the whole area really comes alive during the winter but it was great to see it in the warm sunshine. In fact we've been really lucky with the weather so far, it's been clear skies and 30 degrees celsius every day which is amazing considering it was -18C the last time we came out! There's tons of little independent shops in the area full of lovely things which Mum and I especially enjoyed wondering round. Below is a picture of the inn we've been staying in these past few days which is so beautiful and we've really enjoyed staying here. The house was built by a wealthy family who used it as their summer house. Imagine spending you're summers here, it makes me wonder what their actual house looked like!

I'm including these posts as part of the 30 Day snap, If you want to know more about the 30 Day Snap Project click the button above.

USA Road Trip - Day 2

It's our first full day here in the states and we've headed out of Boston and into the mountains of Vermont to visit family friends. It doesn't seem all that different to home, it's very green and the climate is the same, everything's just, well bigger. We've done a lot of travelling the last couple of days so it will be nice to spend a few days in one place before moving on to the next one. It also helps that we're staying in the most beautiful inn with the most amazing views, I'm a very happy bunny right now!

 

I'm including these posts as part of the 30 Day snap, If you want to know more about the 30 Day Snap Project click the button above.

USA Road Trip Day 1 - Flying High

As I write this I'm currently in Boston, Massachusetts. Woohoo! I'm writing yesterday's post today instead seeing as I spent most of yesterday travelling. I took this picture out of the plane window as we were coming in to land of the most amazing rainbow. Turns out we had just missed a huge storm which had stopped a couple of planes before us from landing so we had a lucky escape! Unfortunately my picture didn't turn out that great but you can just make out the rainbow above the wing. I'm sooo excited to be in the US of A! 

I'm also including this post as part of the 30 day snap, If you want to know more about the 30 Day Snap Project click the button above.