Bonding with Berlin

After a tearful goodbye to Amsterdam, we boarded the train that would take us to Berlin. It was supposed to be 6 hours, HOWEVER a pesky delay meant that it was more like 8 hours. Praise be for having bought the book 'Gone Girl' at the airport and hefty supplies of Milka chocolate! ;)

When we eventually made it to Berlin things continued to go a bit downhill.
My boyfriend speaks zero German, and my own knowledge is fairly limited so we found the language barrier quite debilitating, much more so than in Holland for some reason (quite frankly, anyone in Europe puts us firmly monolingual Brits to shame, so this one was probably our fault haha)

Whilst in the station, the information desk was helpful and gave us good directions to our hostel, with clear instructions on how to use the public transport system... or so we thought! When we got out of the Hauptbahnhof (Berlin's central station) we realised that Berlin's transport system was quite a lot more complicated than we'd expected - I'd heard of the U-Bahn, but there was also an S-Bahn, and a tram, and buses... SAY WHAT.

When we FINALLY got our bearings and located the tram that we felt (99%) confident would take us to our hostel, we collapsed in a heap in the corner with our backpacks. However, we'd barely been sat down 5 minutes when we looked up from our tired daze to see an old man in a uniform yelling at us and gesturing to take earphones out (which we weren't wearing - he was just being a rude !*%?). We had absolutely no idea what he was saying, so we apologised and said we were English - but he just yelled at us some more. Suddenly we looked around and realised we were the only ones still on the tram, and that everyone else was walking across the street. Turns out there had been some problem with the tram line which meant we had to get a replacement bus, which would have been fine but since the bus had no stop announcements, we had no idea where our hostel was.

SOMEHOW, we found the hostel. Hallelujah, hooray, joy of joys... at least until the check in guy said "you know you guys are staying in a caravan, right?"
No. NO WE DID NOT KNOW.

I wish I could say the trip got way better from there, but sadly somehow Berlin didn't quite do it for me.
I think because I was so taken with Amsterdam's architecture, Berlin disappointed me a bit. The areas we were in were quite a lot more modern, and it was also just a bit big and overwhelming for me.
Having said that, we did have some highlights there:
The Berlin Wall was really moving, and I loved the graffiti on it.
Kaffee und kuchen. NEED I SAY MORE.
Drinking beer in Alexanderplatz and doing some serious people watching.
We even had a nap in front of the Reichstag, cheeky ;)

The dreaded caravan...

Next stop, PRAGUE!

<3

Three Days in Amsterdam

For those of you who haven't read my last few blog posts, I have just got back from me 'olidays!

(RECAP: I spent 2 weeks having a ganders around Europe)

 I had an absolutely AMAZING time, which I can't wait to share on here through many, MANY photos ;)

I thought about doing one big post, but I decided it would be more fun to chunk it up into the different cities I visited. (Isn't "chunk" a lovely word? But I digress.)

So that brings me nicely to my first leg of the tour, which was AMSTERDAM!

We stayed in the Student Hotel which was essentially a very posh hostel. The city has a cracking transport system with loads of trams all over the place - our hotel was a bit further out but was about a 30 second walk from a tram stop. It was waaay cheaper than staying in the centre so if you're on a budget like we were then I'd definitely check this place or somewhere similar out. :)

Basically, Amsterdam is the BOOBIES. 

The main thing I'd wanted to do was go to the Anne Frank house (although if you do go I thoroughly recommend getting there EARLY as the sight of the queue nearly made me call for the smelling salts). It is definitely worth the wait though, as it's an amazing experience and beats any other museum I've been to hands-down.

The market scene in Am-dam is also amazing, especially the Bloemenmarkt (gigantic flower market which you can see in le photos). I don't think I've ever seen so many tulips in one place in my LIFE. 

Vondelpark is also the dogs dinner. It's a ginormous park in the centre of the city (think Central Park in New York, on a less grand scale). We took a picnic there and it was so lovely - at least until the sun disappeared to be replaced by rain 30 seconds later. But I'd say that's more the fault of the stratosphere than Amsterdam's itself, so we'll let that one slide.

But maybe my favourite thing we did was get an evening river cruise around the canals of Amsterdam. Everyone's always told me that it's a city that needs to be seen from the river, and I will definitely be passing on that wisdom to anyone and everyone. It was so beautiful, in fact, that I turned around halfway to inform my boyfriend to send me a card, for I would be moving to Amsterdam. That's a LOT coming from a confirmed proud Brit. ;)

TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR PART TWO: BONDING WITH BERLIN

I'M GOING TRAVELLING!

A week today, I shall be donning my (very sexy) enormous backpack and heading off to mainland Europe for a couple of weeks!

My boyfriend could only wangle 2 weeks off work so we have had to plan our trip with military precision in order to fit in as many sights as possible!

Our plan is as follows:

Fly into Amsterdam
Get the train to Berlin
Get the train to Prague
Get a train overnight to Krakow
Get the train to Vienna
Get the train to Budapest
Fly home

To seasoned backpackers I am sure this whole trip seems like a breeze, but a seasoned backpacker I am sadly not. To me, this is a whole new experience, which I am 1% nervous about but 99% fizzing over with giddy excitement!

I've never been to any of the countries I'm visiting before, so I have absolutely no idea what to expect from any of them - or the whole experience really. I should imagine the amount of time spent whooshing along on a train will be pretty exhausting, but luckily if there's one thing I'm talented at it is sleeping. :)

Overall, I'm super mega ridiculously bloody EXCITED. I've been working hard all summer pulling double shifts to fund my trip, and it's absolutely amazing feeling like I've really earned it!

If anyone is from/ has visited any of these places, or has interrailed around Europe before and has some tips, I'd be very grateful! :)

The Wonderful World of Whitlingham

Over the weekend I had a few days off (salvation! joy! wonder!) and since the sun was shining, it seemed almost offensive not to jump in the car and find somewhere to enjoy a summery Saturday out.

The original plan was to hit the beach, but since I live about an hours drive away from the nearest coast we felt that it might be nicer to find somewhere a bit closer to home, and therefore reduce the amount of time spent cooped up in a car.

With that in mind, we decided to go to Whitlingham (a good move, as it happened - we ended up passing the traffic heading beach-wards. It was not pretty). 

Whitlingham is a country park in Trowse, just off Norwich. I had a hankering for a picnic, and I was assured it was the perfect spot for an al fresco blanket lunch!

We stopped off at a trusty Tesco on the way, and stocked up on goodies.

When we got there we found EXACTLY where was best to have lunch, helpfully called "Picnic Meadow" ;)

Only problem was, we had somehow managed to jump in the car and leave the picnic blanket I'd spent half an hour seeking out sitting in my kitchen -  but luckily after minimal annoyance I remembered there was an old curtain in the boot of my car (do NOT ask me why, for it is equally mysterious to me!)

But, it did make for a good makeshift picnic blanket :) if marginally less picturesque.

After lunch, we decided to walk off the excessive amount of soft cheese consumed with a brisk walk around the lake.

There were butterflies and bees everywhere, as well as various breeds of duck and several swans... I kept stopping to admire how pretty the birds were and try to take some pictures but I was successfully shooed away by some rather alarming hissing!

After a lap of the grounds (and stopping to take many, many, MANY photos) we decided to call it a day and head home to consume yet more food on a family bbq ;)

It really was a fantastic day, and I'd recommend it to anyone who fancies a cheap but lovely summer day out. Aside from a couple of pounds for parking (and the picnic of course) we really didn't spend anything but could have spent all day admiring the lake and relaxing in fields with beautiful views! 

Next time, I might even try taking a canoe out - perhaps in slightly more suitable footwear. :)

My Happy Place

So I made a garden centre visit t'other day - the same one, in fact, where I got all my last goodies.. just in case anyone has read my last blog post and thinks I make daily pilgrimages ;)

Out at the front was a display of garden furniture, and in among them was a rather sweet little park bench!

It was only £29.99, and since it's summer & I'm out in the garden as much as possible at the moment, I couldn't resist buying it.

Initially, I was heartbroken to find out that it came in a flat pack :(

My assembling skills were relatively virgin, but luckily I did at least know one end of a hammer from the other.

So, with a little (lot) of help from my Ma & Pa, the assembling of the park bench could commence!

And let us not forget the help of my dog. He oversaw the project like a true boss, except a really pesky one who thrusts a tuggy toy at you when you're trying to hold a screw in place.

An hour later... TA DA!

I'm incredibly lucky that my parents work so hard to make my garden as nice as it is, so my new favourite thing to do is take a book & a cushion outside and settle myself on the bench for the afternoon :)

If I'm feeling especially jazzy, I lay down and hold my book up to read so I can see the sky behind the pages (which sounds fabulously romantic and lovely.. for the 10 minutes until my arms start to ache)

I think this will do me quite nicely for the rest of the summer!

It's also pretty beastly when you take out a home made ice lolly.. except it does mean you make some insect friends.

Does anyone else have a happy place for summer? :)

Summer dresses on a budget

Since doing a huuuuge clear out of my clothes and getting rid of dresses I haven't worn since my 15th birthday party, I felt now was high time to inject a bit of new life into my newly spacious wardrobe ;)

However, since I live in England (where we get sun for about 20 days of the whole year) I can never really justify spending lots on summer clothes that I know I will rarely get a chance to wear. I also happen to be a big fan of scouring charity shops for hidden gems.

Put 'em together and what have you got? Bippity bappity BARGAINS!

From left to right: £4.50, £3, £7.99, £6.50, £2.50

I find charity shops a brilliant way to get some unique outfits for next to nothing... and you can smile knowing your money has gone to a good cause!

 As you can see, my most expensive dress still left me with decent change from a tenner, with my cheapest being not much more than a book of stamps. ;)

I love this dress because it has quite a vintage feel to it, but has a tie at the waist so is still very flattering :) 

I also thought it could look quite good in winter with a pair of tights, a retro cardi and some chunky boots!

I wasn't sure about this dress when it was off the hanger as I thought it looked a bit like it should be on a 10 year old haha, but luckily I tried it on and it fitted so well! It's quite a thick material so the skirt flares out when it's on, and leaves you looking teeny tiny at the waist :) 

The only thing that did make me sad with this dress was that it clearly is supposed to come with a belt and the belt wasn't there :( so I will never know what the desired effect was! It still looks good on its own though and I'm sure picking up an alternative to fit the bill would be easy enough.

Again, this picture doesn't do the dress justice! It's very cute and vintage. It was a little too big for me round the waist which was a shame because I think it's designed to be quite fitted :( but it looks fab with a belt to draw it in :)

This is quite possibly my favourite dress I found! It definitely won't be to everyone's taste as it's quite unusual at the hem, but I thought it was really unique and would definitely stand out at a party :)

Only problem is, it IS pretty short... maybe I'll do some squats before I brave this one in public ;)

Finally, I found this little baby!

I can see from the label it's actually a Topshop dress, so I was pretty chuffed that I had found it at probably more than a tenth of what its original price would have been.

It's not something I maybe would have picked up in a shop, but when I put it on it fitted SO nicely! Plus it's nice to step out of the old comfort zone at times :)

It's definitely more an evening dress than daytime as its pretty tight, but it feels like swimsuit material so its very light & would be perfect for a summer night out.

So there we have it, 5 dresses for under £25!

If there's one thing I love more than dress shopping, it's finding bargains when I'm dress shopping ;)