Brighton: A Day of Running and Cheering (Mainly Cheering...)

Brighton: A Day of Running and Cheering (Mainly Cheering...)

One of my best pals lives in Brighton (oh hey Simon *waves*), so it doesn't take much for me to jump a train to the beach. This time, I was going with a purpose - head cheerleader. Simon was running the marathon for the second year on the trot and wanted to beat his personal best.... challenge accepted - I grabbed my pal Milla, warmed up my vocal cords (and northern accent, cheerleading switched me into full northern mode 'go on love, you can do it') and went to shout words of encouragement very loudly.

I suppose pom poms would have been more appropriate attire, but I went with pink velvet boots - let my feet take part in the action, you know? I loved the whole day, marathons bring out the best in humanity. Everyone standing on the sidelines was cheering (genuinely) for every single person that had made it to the last mile and you could see it in the runners face that it made every bit of difference. We saw one guy who looked completely ruined but the determination to finish was driving him on, we all started chanting his name and it was like he had been re-fuelled! He started running again like a complete badass.

Simon conquered the marathon and managed to beat his personal best (we obvs made it happen), we ate a lot of chips and I managed to locate the coat of dreams in the Brighton Marks & Spencer. The day was a good'un.

Top - & Other Stories, Jacket - Missguided, Pants - Topshop, Boots - ASOS, Earrings - Toujours Toi Family Affairs, Ring - Made be ME!

South to East

South to East

This weekend was for adventures and exploration.

I left my south London cave and made the journey east to spend the day with Sheldo, sashaying around wearing the trench coat and tote bag of dreams. Work is busy... GREAT, but busy, with that in mind I wanted this weekend to involve a smaller quantity of booze than prior and a larger quantity of fresh air. I met Laura in Shoreditch, hotdog in hand, ready to head to our first destination - Anorak Magazines 'Drawing Imaginarium'.... It wasn't exactly what we were expecting... there were a lot less activities and a lot more children. In true trooper style, we gave the event a solid 30 minutes before giving up and heading to the Whitechapel Gallery. The main exhibit "Parallel I-VI" by Harun Faroki was super interesting, the space was made up of a variety of screens leading you through the evolution of gaming, it's actually amazing to witness technology growing at the speed it is. I still think I prefer the games that actually look like games, super obvious pixels and such... but alas, Assassin's Creed it is.

Although the pictures look pretty sunny, Saturday was freezing so we decided to base the rest of the days itinerary based on where the pockets of sun led us... we arrived at St Katherine's Dock and explored every small alley along the way. We found an open door to the Thames, a dolphin fountain, a peace garden where all faiths can congregate and be at peace, Morris Dancers, a building that looked like a remnant from War of the Worlds and a really good pub.

Overall, it was the perfect London day - oh hey Monday, I'm ready for you!

Laura Sheldo has a new collection of T-shirts, prints and totes out today - go, go, go! I 100% need this tote bag in a T-shirt!

Trench - Marks & Spencer, Top & Pants - Topshop, Tote Bag - Laura Sheldon

Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens

My pal Hazel always highlights the importance of watching Country File on a hangover, it replaces that part of your soul that you quite possibly killed off the night before. Kew Gardens is the IRL version of this activity - super wholesome, restorative and refreshing. I actually wasn't hungover for this trip, but you catch my drift....

Anyway, my Nanna came to visit for the weekend and we decided to visit Kew Gardens in the rain (read: Manchester - same old, same old). I loved it - we devoured a lot of cake, drank a lot of coffee, explored the gardens on a land train and managed to catch this years Brazilian themed 'Orchid Festival'. The palm house was sweaty and incredible, trees are fascinating... super geeky but oh so true. I was also amazed to find out that the palm house in Kew was completed in 1844 - managing to survive two world wars!

Slightly off-topic story - there are a set of trees in Malaysia that decided to start working together. One of the trees was super tall but super skinny, and the other tree was weak and couldn't access the sun. So, in the spirit of true team work - the weak tree, wrapped around the other tree which meant that the weak tree could get sunlight and the super skinny tree gained strength. Incred.

The Japanese Garden was a firm favourite from the day - current addiction to Japan aside, these gardens were incredible! It boasted indigenous plants, architecture and had a distinctly different atmosphere to the rest of the gardens. I will definitely be making a trip back, maybe when the sun is being a bit more cooperative.

What are your wholesome London activities? I need more brilliant Sunday options.

Happy Saturday!

Coat - Zara, Top & Pants - Topshop, Jacked - Missguided, Boobie Pins - Coucou Suzette

When in Rome

When in Rome

'When in Rome' - yeah, I'm that guy.

I'm also the guy that quoted Gladiator whilst walking around the Colosseum... I mean, who wouldn't?

If you have been slinking over to this area of the internet for a while, you will have probably heard me endlessly gush about my travelling experiences. If not, here is the short version, breath and....

I went travelling for just under a year with one of my best buddies, we visited some of the most exciting, stunning and awe-inspiring places on the whole entire planet, including Moscow, the Trans-Siberian Railway via Mongolia to Beijing, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia and North America. When our year was up, I had obviously had an incredible time, but it also made me realise that I had a lot of European destinations / places I could hop for a long weekend that had been un-explored. Un-touched territory.

My European takeover started in 2015 with Berlin, before scooting over to Italy... ah Rome, you were endlessly sweet... So, I thought I would share some of my pictures and thoughts as to why Italy is so goddam beautiful, here we go:

1. Rome is kinda rough around the edges, nothing looks primped and perfected. The paint on the walls is crumbling away, the graffiti shouts wherever it likes and the buildings are worn. To me, that is beautiful, it shows history, fun and a life lived. The wrinkles of the world not being hidden away, but celebrated.
2. The food - pizza, pasta, pizza, pasta..... a revolving stream of delicious carbs that manage to taste nicer in the cheapest places that Rome has to offer than the fanciest places of anywhere else. 
3. The drinks - anyplace that serves me the most delicious wine and coffee and every occasion is a bloody banger of a place in my eyes. 
4. I love how old Rome is, how steeped in history, how many huge events in the history of the world has happened there and how many stories began in Ancient Rome. I spent my time wandering around in complete awe, my eyes had no idea what to look at first and my brain was constantly wishing wikipedia would pop up in the street and describe a certain paving stone or fountain to me (best idea ever?).
5. Rome (I'm assuming all of Italy possesses this..) is the most passionate city I have ever encountered. Everywhere I looked there were young couples, old couples and new couples openly in love and showing it - not worrying for one second that people would stare or find it remotely unusual that they were snogging each others faces off at every moment, and why should they? 
6. Also much amusement was gained from witnessing the male sculptures genitalia being carefully hidden away with a strategically placed leaf....

We stayed on a campsite, yes a campsite... sounds like a rather odd choice for a November trip to Italy, but hear me out. We had wanted to visit Rome for so long and we knew it would be rather expensive to stay in a city centre hotel / apartment so we started to look into alternatives. My friend suggested 'Camping Village Roma' and the deal was done. This place was great, super close to the centre of Rome (10 minute bus), clean, friendly and above all, super cheap.

Anyway, I adored Rome, have you been? What are your thoughts? Favourite parts?

I know need to pick my next European destination... any ideas?