Actual baths in Bath

Not quite the right kind of tired to fall asleep on the train, I thought I'd do a little writing.

My visits to Bath have become more frequent of late and it's been really lovely to familiarise myself more and more with the city.

This weekend I was visiting for what turned out to be an incredibly civilised and very lovely Hen party. Upon my arrival on Friday evening I was very proud to find my way to our accommodation with very little assistance from Google Maps... or at least the way to the street where our accommodation was. Busy trying to break into totally the wrong apartment building, I was suddenly 'halloo'-ed from across the street by two ladies armed with luggage like myself. Realising they were Mother and Aunty of the bride, we joined forces and together with a bridesmaid who we also found along the way, managed to let ourselves in to the right building where we eagerly awaited the arrival of two more bridesmaids and the bride herself.

Saturday began at a leisurely pace with a breakfast of pastries, jam on toast, and orange juice. Fuelled for the day, we ventured out to the Roman Baths. Despite my more frequent visits to Bath, I have still somehow managed to avoid the city's most famous attraction, so was glad for a chance to go.

I do feel as though Bath is a place where in certain places particularly you can almost filter out modern life and vividly imagine figures of the past wandering about or clattering through the streets in something horse-drawn.

A spot of culture was followed by Nepalese food, the admiration of architecture at the Royal Crescent, and a pub stop before we headed back to the apartment to add a bit of sparkle for the evening.

We ate at the Roman Bath Kitchens, and filled with smoked duck and blue cheese gnocchi we then made for the Canary Gin Bar which was well-located just round the corner from where we were staying. Here we enjoyed a plethora of gin cocktails and I drank a twist on the more classic G&T.

Today I have been revelling in the friendliness of seemingly every shop assistant and waiter or waitress. With a couple of hours to spare between the bride's departure and a catch up with a good friend, I managed to tick off a fair few items on Santa's shopping list!

A stop at the Georgian Tearooms was a welcome break. Enjoyed a brie and cranberry baguette and 'tea for the brave' while festive jazz played in the background.

Although I'm running on very little sleep, I return feeling full of festive spirit and ready for countdowns to begin!

Traditions old & new

It's my favourite time of year again and I'm feeling incredibly festive. Lots of musical occasions, beautiful lights and displays and a good amount of time spent at home have definitely got me in the mood this year. Today I'm left wrestling with a glum sensation knowing that it will soon all be over and eager anticipation at what the year ahead might bring.

Tradition is always an important part of the festive season, comforting in many ways, and this year seems to have welcomed in quite a few new ones; although I am, however, unsure as to whether or not they can yet be referred to as 'tradition' or whether one waits for at least a year or two more to see if they stick...

It all began this year when I was accompanied by a selection of kind and willing members of CCC (City Chamber Choir) in leading some carol singing at school. We sang last year too and the children loved it then but knew no carols. This year then I decided to teach them a few in the lead up to our singing together and the difference was remarkable; words can't quite describe the atmosphere but needless to say, it was not replicated by any of our audiences for other carol singing around the city. As always, carols at Leadenhall Market and St Katharine Dock were freezing but festive!

We have been denied our full two week's holiday this year which has felt a little distressing, especially when being at home for a mere 5 days meant I only had a week left until the return to work. The day before heading home I had decided I would do another one of my Christmas Tree Crawls; a 'tradition' I began last year. I was not, however, anticipating that so much of my day would be taken up getting a spare cat-sitting key cut. Three keys and four trips to varying Timpsons later and I finally had one that worked. In an attempt to make the best of a bad situation, after my initial visits to my nearest branch I decided that my next visit would be to one in the vicinity of trees. So I headed to Holborn where I then also stopped to admire the trees at Rosewood London, Somerset House and the Savoy Hotel; each of them, truly worth the detour.

At last I was on a train home and on Christmas Eve the first of the new traditions appeared in the form of a fry-up for brunch. I'm calling this a tradition in the hope that my mum does it again because it was truly tasty and there's something quite fun about sharing Christmas crackers over bacon and egg. Brunch set me up well for an old tradition, a walk with close friends around Wolferton before exchanging presents and playing silly games (this year, we leapt on the bandwagon at had a go at Speak Out).

Christmas Day brought yet more new tradition as a little while after our breakfast muffin to accompany stocking opening, we were then treated to cooked ham on toast. Two breakfasts down, novelty then ensued as we headed to a neighbour for cocktails and canapés before returning home for roast. We seem to manage to stretch the day out more and more each year but finally, at about half past 6 in the evening, we'd opened everything under the tree and were indulging in the thousandth round of food and hot drinks.

Upon writing this I'm realising that most festive traditions involve food and that theme continues as 'Boxing Day Baguettes' are up next. A while ago in Norwich I had lunch with Mum and Dad at Logan's Good Food Shop. My choice was a Brussels sprout baguette which I enjoyed so much that I decided I'd have a go at making my own over Christmas. I was of course worried that I wouldn't do them justice at all but I have to say, they were just as delicious homemade and went down incredibly well. 

As well as a total abundance of food, home also saw plenty of walks both beach and woodland, a plethora of games and jigsaws and lots of tinkling on the piano. It's always a must to have things back in London to look forward to when I'm torn away from sky, fresh air, peace and tranquillity...

It's now New Year's Eve and while yesterday evening we completed this year's Christmas Tree Crawl from the Tate Britain all the way to Claridge's, tonight we'll be hibernating with good beer and something of the homemade food variety (I'm going to rifle through Nigella (which doesn't sound great) in a minute and see what catches my eye...) to see in the new year before hopefully taking a walk tomorrow; starting as we mean to go on. It's been so long since I've written and I really hope I don't go for this long again any time soon. Expect a resolutions post on the other side when I eventually figure out what on earth they might be.

Un comiat a Barcelona

I think it's safe to say, now having been twice to Barcelona that it does not disappoint on food. Over the past few days we have done many wonderful things but ultimately as I walked back to the Plaza España to catch my bus to the airport, all I kept thinking was 'my goodness, we've eaten well.' I'm writing this at the airport (far too early as usual) sitting by a window watching planes take off and land with a tummy full of Iberico ham sandwich - bliss. Tempting as it is, I won't just write a food blog because actually, there are so many other lovely things to write about too.

Stranded in Bruges not so long ago when I forgot that mobile data isn't just available when abroad, this time I'd been smart and printed off directions to the accommodation. With Barcelona being made up of lots of long streets and blocks, I found it easily enough and was soon settled in and headed out for lunch (and Sangria).

The Hen Party was a jolly bunch, all distinguished by our sweet home-made 'Hen Party' badges. Once we were all safely gathered together, we ventured out for a glimpse at some of the sights; an introductory walking tour with our very own personal guide.

With the heat as intense as it was, we took a nice, leisurely stroll around the Gothic Quarter, along Las Ramblas and into the food market where we all cooled down with fresh fruit juices (I went for watermelon). Soon we found our way into the Plaça Reial where we enjoyed more Sangria in a stunning setting.

For dinner we decided to try a Tapas bar recommended by the hostess of the apartment we were renting. Sadly once we got there, the wait for a table was longer than any of us cared for but fortunately we found a very happy alternative not far away where we enjoyed a plethora of dishes and lashings of red wine.

Friday came around all too soon. Having had a whale of a time in Carrefour the previous evening, we were able to kick-start the day with a hearty breakfast of Nutella and banana on toast with a side of watermelon. We had decided to have a beach day so moved at a leisurely pace although still decided to take the scenic route to get there.

First we passed Gaudi's House which last time I had only seen briefly from an open-top bus tour (I absolutely love the skull-like balconies). Next we made our way to the Spanish Arc de Triomf which I must admit I preferred aesthetically to the one in Paris. From the Arc, we strolled along the avenue behind it and into the Parc de la Ciutadella where we were greeted by the most beautiful fountain. Here we stayed a while, oohing and aahing at the base before ascending its steps to the top and back down the other side.

Just before we reached the beach, we stumbled upon an ice cream parlour offering lots of tasty flavours. I was a bit strange (as always) and just went for two flavours that I'd never tried before; licorice ice cream and pear sorbet; both seriously yum but not necessarily the cleverest combination, I admit. The beach was much busier than it had been when I visited before but we still found room for ten towels right on the water's edge. Sun, sea and sand. There really is nothing better.

Luckily we had made a dinner reservation at the restaurant next to the ice cream parlour so we had motivation to eventually tear ourselves away. We chose seafood and between us we really did try it all; padron peppers, cuttlefish, razor clams, fried fish (ie giant whitebait), calamari and anchovies to start before Arròs Negre of gigantic proportions.

After such a lot of food, we decided to walk it off and wandered home via the marina and along Las Ramblas again. The evening was spent in true style... well, admiring the all singing, all dancing Font Màgica while we enjoyed a few glasses of Cava (one of our Carrefour purchases at €2.60). There really is nothing more luxurious than sitting outside for the entirety of an evening when it's so blissfully warm.

The whole trip was over all too soon but we definitely made the most of the last morning. We kicked it off with the most amazing brunch ever at a little café out in the sunshine before we then made a visit to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's masterpiece and another landmark I'd only seen from the atop the tour-bus before. I'm so glad that we decided to go in this time as it absolutely took my breath away. It had me oohing and aahing all over again; a seriously good way to bid farewell to Barcelona.

One more refreshing ice lolly and it was time for me to head home. I'm so glad to have been back to Barcelona as it's left a very different impression on me and definitely left me wanting more. I must say that it was an absolutely beautiful trip for an absolutely beautiful bride. 

Celebrating a Quarter of a Century

I'm still undeniably child-like when it comes to birthdays. So of course I woke up at stupid o'clock on mine, automatically full of birthday beans and eager to commence celebrations.

Presents were opened in bed with the best company and I even got a plate of cupcakes to enjoy (lemon & poppyseed complete with lemon curd filling) accompanied by a rendition of Happy Birthday to rival all others and two candles to blow out. The day made an excellent start!

It was gone 11 by the time I had recovered enough from the excitement to partake in a shower and to generally make myself more presentable. And so we made the long and winding journey to Kew.

Actually although I was a little bit worried about not having enough time to fully explore the gardens (we had an early dinner reservation), I think at this time of year, just a few hours was plenty.

First we headed into the magnificent Victorian Palm House where some robins had made themselves very much at home and we were well and truly steamed (in the literal sense). Then it was straight to the Waterlily House which I managed almost to convince myself could quite easily be in one's own back garden... in my dreams.

Strolling around vast lawns, into exotic worlds and between rocky canyons (of miniature proportions) was truly a delightful way to spend an afternoon. I think we've resolved to return in the summer months where a whole day could be spent lounging beneath, upon and amongst an abundance of greenery.

The evening's dinner reservation was at Bob Bob Ricard, a restaurant in Soho serving luxury English and Russian dishes. The interior and atmosphere was ooft. The service was ooft. The food and drink were seriously ooft! We definitely didn't want to leave.

Two grown up activities were sandwiched between the frivolities of the morning and the Jenga contest that ensued upon our return from the restaurant. This frivolous, denial of being a grown up theme was the one that then continued into the following evening.

Our strength was built up in Breakfast Club where the true diversity of their menu was proven when all ten of us ordered something different! There was lots of mingling for silly photos and catch up conversations before we moved on to Bounce for some serious ping pong.

I don't know quite what I was expecting but what greeting us when we arrived was a pleasant surprise to all. Neon, graffiti everywhere and a shrine to the founder - or would you call them inventor - of ping pong, it was special. An hour flew by way too fast though!

Once our time was up and drinks were polished off, we wended our way back to Seven Sisters for continued game playing; a bit more Jenga, a spot of Uno Dare and Mousie Mousie, a personal favourite of mine and one of those party games where I always scare people with my lightning speed reactions, even after a few birthday cocktails.

Somehow, next thing we knew the dawn chorus was in full song and it was almost 6am. Apparently vigorous games are the way to induce wide awake-ness so as to extend celebrations... I certainly wasn't ready for them to end.

Dreading 25 though I may have been, so far it's been pretty excellent!