Home in Time for Tea

A Big Stunning Country Cottage in Herefordshire, A Christmas Roast, and a Group of Friends! This weekend a group of us all kicked back and relaxed at 'The Granary' - an eight-sleeper cottage in the tiny village of Yarpole, in Herefordshire. I guess 'rural' aptly describes the setting - there is no mobile phone signal for starters (except on certain networks in certain random spots outside). This adds a refreshing simplicity to the the 'weekend getaway,' and in a group of 8, if you can't enjoy  each others' company then you're screwed anyway! The cottage had an 8-berth hot-tub, a huge games room with a pool table and a wood-burner (shared with the other cottage if occupied), and a wonderfully large kitchen and living area. On the Saturday we all cooked a Christmas roast and sat around the huge table to eat and play silly games! The owner of the cottage supplies fresh, quality produce, and The Bell Inn pub in the village has excellent home...

      Going to a Concert at the O2? Why not make a day of it and add some sightseeing, shopping and possibly a 4/5 star  hotel... After a day shopping at the enormous new Westfield shopping centre in Stratford City (East London), and a trip on the cable car across the Thames to the Greenwich peninsula where the O2 is located, I was inspired by the possibility of combining these activities with a concert at the O2. (At this point I'm angling for a trip to see Maroon 5 but it depends how much money I can not spend this month)... It seems like the perfect day out in the City. Especially if you add in a night's stay at the beautiful and modern 4/5 star Grange City Hotel (beside Tower Gateway DLR station). Shopping in East London - Westfield at Stratford The Stratford Westfield is simply enormous, I can't explain it any simpler than that! The M&S is amazing, the biggest one I've seen. There was so much...

  Winter Holidays - Escape Winter or Embrace it? So you want to get away for the winter - or do you want to get away from the winter??? Although winter can be a dark, depressing time when all you want to do is hibernate, or pack your bags and get away from it, have you ever considered celebrating it? No - I mean a real winter. Not the rain, and certainly not the damp... Winter Holidays in Scandinavia, Scotland, and The Alps Stare up in awe at the Northern Lights, ski in fresh powder, experience the Polar Night and Northern Lights, see the skies littered with the brightest of stars, slide through the Nordic forest on a wooden dogsled, swim in the blue lagoon with thick snowflakes cascading all around you, visit or stay in an exquisite hotel made entirely of ice... (For Northern Lights info, visit my page on How to find the Northern Lights ) Winter Holidays in Northern Sweden and Norway In Northern Sweden and Norway the atmo...

Stay Warm and Cosy This Winter! Two Excellent Pairs of Reccommended Women's Winter Boots for Snow, Apres Ski, and Style of Course... Although I'm relieved to see that this year, UGG have finally realised that slippers are not correct attire for the snowy and rainy outdoors - especially ski holidays - and have brought out some (still over-priced) sturdier options this year, I am still much more partial to the expert makers of winter and apres-ski footwear. Here is a review of two brands of fantastic winter apres-ski boots - Merrell and Sorel, and some winter boot anecdotes to brighten that wintry, blustery day! Joan of Arctic - Women's Winter boots by Sorel These apres-ski boots are so amazing! Funky and stylish fur, contrasting stitching, and d-ring lace-ups adds touches of feminity to a pair of sturdy, reliable and serious winter boots. When I first got these boots I couldn't believe how invincible they are! The cold...

Road Tripping in Western Europe: Journey to Elba through Belgium, French Alps, South of France, Northern Italy, Tuscany, and Switzerland It's the night before we leave for our road trip to Tuscany's Elba Island and I haven't packed. We have been planning to visit too many places and I'm so excited about every one of them, I'm worried we won't actually get to Elba so I try and pick out a few unnecessary ones - Richard is as helpful as when he suggested I only take one pair of shoes when I'd filled my suitcase... What a pointless piece of advice!  Eventually I resolve to decide along the way without worrying about planning our road trip too religiously. We never did much planning on our first road trip and we saw so much - maybe we'll just as lucky this time, if not more... Annecy, Haute Savoie, France We made our first overnight stop in Annecy in the French Alps because it was highlighted on our map and we were feeling inquisitive (...