Summer Review

Hello you lovely bunch of people long time no write :( Sorry about that but I have just finished my A-Levels and it's been a whirlwind. So I thought I would write a little post about my summer so far and all the bits and bobs I have been up to (the summer after A-levels is honestly one of the best in my opinion because a) you appreciate free time a lot more and b) you just can spend time with the people that mean lots to you before going to uni)...

  

This summer I was lucky enough to go to Italy with my family - it was so so lovely I recommend saving up your pennies and planning a holiday to this country, pronto! I love the window seat on planes and these photos just show how different England is to other countries - the patchwork green grass is just beautiful but then again so was the Italian terracotta buildings. Seeing Pompeii was pretttyyyy amazing yet surreal at the same time, I mean, to think that a natural disaster preserved this place...it's crazy. Also I knew it was a big city but honestly it was way bigger than I expected!

Oh the food in Italy. It was insane I really recommend looking on Tripadvisor for places you can go - but make an effort to visit the small independents (the Italian only speaking are the best!).

Of course the World Cup was going on over summer and I was home for the final which was one of the only times I have ever followed football but I loved how it brought everyone closer - plus beer gardens are the best!

I went to my first weekend music festival Boardmasters. It was honestly such a good weekend I mean there are always dramas here and there but overall I had the best time with the best people! One of my highlights from the weekend was going down to the beach with tropical sunshine and dipping our toes in to the sea - it was lush!

There are so many other memories from going on nights out, a city trip to Liverpool, visit to London for the day with my mum going to the V&A to see the Fashioned from Nature exhibition, walks, lunch dates and lots of good food! 

This summer has been one of the best I have ever had! I hope you all have had an amazing summer too!

All my love 

Ames 

<3

Barcelona - escaping from reality

Hello lovely people, hope you are all well!

I have decided to share with you my little trip to Spain and just talk to you as if this is a little review of my holiday (it's funny because when I was younger, we always were asked in primary school to write a report of our summer holidays and I literally hated it, but look at me now voluntarily writing this down). I went to Barclona last summer but really wanted to talk about it so during the January blues I thought I would reminince. 

Right so first of all we arrived in Barcelona and there was the usual whoosh of heat as we stepped off the plane but sadly the sky was an ashy grey which was quite strange (it had been gorgeous crystal blue skies from where we were departing previously that morning) yet I was excited to be in a new place. To begin with I didn't know how close Barcelona was to the sea until we flew over the beach and landed straight after.

The first thing we did was go to a place called VEGETALIA for dinner and it was fabulous, because it a) had English translations which I will tell you now, is like a god send and b) was full of lovely meal options, I had a Thai green vegetable curry!

I also started to read a really good book which was laying on my bookshelf for years so decided to crack it open ~ 'Coco Chanel...The legend and the life', I really think if you are interested in fashion and how it has changed over the decades it would be a great read, also if you were just interested in Chanel and who she was as a designer. It is an eye opener as by reading it I found out that her life was actually quite dark and lonely - yet she had fame and money. Just shows money can't buy you love or happiness. 

So on our first full day we basically went all around Barcelona by foot, we firstly went to the Parc de la Ciutadella and then saw the Arc de Triomf of Barcelona and also managed to visit the outside of the La Sagrada Família and then La Pedrera and the Casa Batlló. It was a busy day but great for taking pictures and learning lots about Barcelona's culture. Did you know that the Sagrada Família has taken longer to build than the great pyramids?

Our second day was more relaxed but we still went to Parc Guell which was really lovely as we woke up early to get there before the crowds (top tip it gets busy by 9 o'clock in the summer holidays). By the afternoon we were knackered because we had walked all the way back to our apartment in the heat of the day alongside the beach (which is actually artificial and hasn't been around for a long time as it was built just for the Barcelona Olympics, crazy!) so we decided to have a siesta then went out for dinner a bit later.

On our last full day we visited Mountjuïc which had amazing views of the city, we decided to go up the cable car because apparently it was a long walk up the mountain. At the top of the mountain there were so many water features, we walked around jumping over stepping stones until we found a lovely place to get ice lollies and ice cream to cool off. We then trekked back down Mountjuïc to find a graffiti square that wasn't too far away. I was amazed by the whirlwind of colours and designs we stumbled across.

Barcelona was a lovely place to visit filled with good grub and so much sangria. I loved seeing the beautiful buildings as well as the colourful graffiti, the city was vibrant and lovely to spend a few days escaping reality.

All my love xxx