Becky ate at... Marwood

I'm the worst at blogging. I must have about 15 blog posts to write, and I have no excuse at all given that my days are spent mostly doing nothing. Soz. Gon' try harder now.

Anyhoo. A long time ago Dan took me for dinner. We were originally going to Bolero (or bollllero if you're an idiot like me) but it was shut, so instead we opted for Marwood - an ordinary looking pub from the outside, but bright, cosy and sophisticated inside. Side note: we've recently got a new bed, which means outfit photos are near enough impossible. Enjoy the bottom of my Miss S dress and Primark heels.

I can't actually remember the menu names of these, but they were delicious. I've never eaten Halloumi before, but thoroughly enjoyed it. As per, I went for the salmon. It also came with a potato salad which I was less keen on, but generally the starters were good.

Looking at that photo on the left you wouldn't believe I'm a photographer would you? Dan had a fillet of seabass with new pots, capes and greens, with sweet potato fries. He cleared his plate within seconds, so I assume that was the seal of approval. 

Finally, I had beef bourguignon and bubble and squeak. Despite eating it in June (?) it was genuinely Christmas in a dish. So yummy, and nicely filling without leaving me bloated. Just look at that crisp pastry, oozing thick, juicy gravy. Mmm.

Stop licking the screen.

Seriously.

I had my usual tipple of gin, lemonade and lime (x2) and Dan had a beer. The whole meal came to around £60, so much more of a one-off than a regular £30 meal that we might ordinarily have. Worth it though.

As were these. He isn't so bad, I suppose.

Becky wandered to... Croome Court

It's no secret that I'm an old lady inside. I love old houses, I love walking round the countryside, and I love baking a cake in an afternoon. I'm not one for lots of shopping and clubbing that probably most 22 year olds do.

I'm a National Trust member, and try to visit one at least once a month. I've been going to Croome Court for years now - it used to be to walk my little doggy Henry, but after we lost him I found it difficult to go back for a while.

It was a beautiful sunny day, full of families and PUPPIES everywhere, which made me sad. It's the perfect place to come and walk dogs.

It's like running through a meadow; so peaceful and beautiful. The gardens were designed by Capability Brown, and have grown so much during the last few years.

There's the main house. It's only been open for a few years, as they've struggled with money for a long time. We didn't go in, but I know it's lovely. It's bright and airy, and there used to be a small room in the cellar with lots of info on RAF Defford and the housekeepers etc who worked here during the war. Really interesting.

They've even got little deck chairs you can sit on (for free for once!) and marvel over the field to the house, in amongst buttercups and bees and other lovely country life.

I truly love it here. When we finally get ourselves a dog then this'll be my new home. Plus it's free for us oldies who are members!

Game of bowls anyone?!

Becky travelled to... Barcelona

I left you at the end of our holiday in Porto Santo. Less than a week after we got back, we were jetting off again slightly north this time, to beautiful Barcelona.

I've actually been before, but it was a school trip and I really helpfully thought it would be good fun to develop flu, so spent the majority of the time cooped up in a small hotel room while everybody else got to enjoy Gaudi. I was determined to go back and have a good time!

The whole purpose of this holiday was to go the festival, Primavera Sound. I'd never heard of it but The National, War on Drugs, Foals and Haim were playing so who could refuse?!

A group of us went for the whole week, drank lots and lots of sangria and danced til the early hours.

I'm lucky enough to have a friend living here who gave us a guided tour and introduced me to the biggest burger in the world. Literally bigger than my head, and so, so yummy. Average price too. Obviously I couldn't eat all of it, but it was delish.

That evening we took a trip up to Tibidabo, an amusement park and church on top of a big hill that overlooks the whole of the city, and also the surrounding countryside. Most of the rides were shut, so instead we took a wonder inside the church.

It's beautiful inside, and we quickly realised you can actually climb right to the top. First there's an old boy who takes you up in his elevator up a few levels, before continuing up staircase after staircase. The views are just out of this world.

We took the plunge, and decided to climb right to the very top. As high as possible. Which was a little bit scary. 

Here we are. Dan was terrified; I wasn't very happy, to say the least. But the weather was perfect and the views just went on for miles and miles. Not something forgotten about!

This was the docks near to our apartment. I think my photography degree tried to escape here, I liked the lighting and took at least 30 seconds to frame.

The next day of our tourism began in the Gothic Quarter - lots of teeny tiny interlocking streets full of artwork and pubs.

It's very easy to get lost here. Well it was for me anyway. 

I was slightly entranced by this; a humongous wall literally plastered in red flowers, from top to bottom. My Cara Delevinge side tried to come out here, as you can see.

I wish I had lots of money to buy ornate fans and stunning jewellery, but alas I'm left to stand and dream, until the shopkeeper had enough of me walking around in circles quietly sighing to myself and started glaring at me to leave.

We then took a trip to Castle Montjuic to the west side of the city, up a mountain close to the olympic stadium. This was on the way here - very pleasant gardens with hardly a sole in sight, which was desperately needed as the main city is heaving.

A little taster of the festival - we chanced upon some extremely talented buskers in the metro station, playing snippets from the Four Seasons and doing a fantastic job too. Swarms of people were crowding into the small space, eager to listen to the trio.

Finally, I was able to visit Gaudi's Sagrada Família, which was... interesting, I suppose. I found it all a bit too weird and large for me (surrounded by tourists which probably didn't help). There were shapes that looked like christmas trees on the one side. I'm sure I've missed the point, I can appreciate the effort that went in but it didn't touch the heartstrings unfortunately.

And finally, the festival. This was Haim - I fell in love with her dress (just her really). We lost our minds slightly here and danced and 'cresped' (yep) for their whole set.

Highlight of the whole week - The National! This was during one of my favourite songs (with my favourite line ever: Hey, are you awake? Yeah, I'm right here... gives me chills now! I know, weirdo). Their set was brilliant, I sang until I was hoarse and could speak no more. When's the next gig please?

The beach at the end of the road we were staying on. I like Barcelona, but I'm not sure I'll return in a hurry unless to the festival again. It was a bit too busy for my liking, and the people were quite rude. The city itself is wondrous, and there are sights and sounds to see and do from morning til night, so definitely one to go to for a good city break anyway!

Where next?!

Holiday in Porto Santo

Before I begin, I should let you into a little secret. Whenever I've been on family holidays, we've never been abroad together. Clambering over rocks and mountains in Scotland is the norm for the Winter's - and don't get me wrong, I love it. But I've always been curious of 'how the other half live' - travelling abroad to sit on beaches and coming back brown. Now I'm the palest creature of them all; my body simply refuses to tan.

Anyway, due to final year university commitments last year I didn't have a holiday - so this year I rinsed this, and booked 3! Dan's family invited me to Porto Santo, a little Portuguese island off Madeira. I visioned sun, sand, villas, beautiful Mediterranean men and women and not a paley like me in sight.

It also turns out I'm terrified of flying. Have only flown a handful of times, and it is NOT fun. It's a shame I want to travel the world - I'm gonna have to become accustomed to roadtrips I think!

This was on the beach. Our first day was spent lazing around, exploring what our hotel had to offer, drinking yummy cocktails and debating whether or not it was too windy to jump the waves (it was - but this was a necessity so we did it later on in the week). Unfortunately we had to pay to lie on these loungers. Which we didn't realise until we'd already had a good hours napping on them anyway.

There's one town on the island - there isn't really much there bar a few cafes and a couple of supermarkets. It's not quite the Mediterranean experience I'd dreamed of; maybe I'd been looking too hard at the country villas in Italy on google... nevertheless, the cobbled streets and white buildings were bright and cheery.

Above is Christopher Columbus' house, with little trinkets belonging to, and information on the American discover-er himself.

The next day we hired a car! Cutest little thing, one seat behind the other, just what we wanted. The whole island is 7 miles x 5 miles, and very mountainous. Originally we'd planned on hiring bikes, but neither of us are crazy so we hired this beast instead.

Did a carving.

There's an old house decked out how it would have been years ago, with a little shop selling homemade jams, wines and biscuits. Which were yummy.

We plan on building a villa here, overlooking the sea and literally miles away from anything (except a bar located a mere 1 minute walk away - essential).

Dan's in a band, and has decided that ^ is going to be their recording studio.

I have a big obsession with old phones.

We accidentally came across a zoo - more of a bird sanctuary really. So peaceful, it was created in the 90s by one man.

Hello - is it me you're looking for? I turned the clock back and dressed circa 70s. 

Dan, sporting a topknot. Rockstar in the making.

This was the coach that took us into town from our hotel. It reminds me of something Jeremy, Richard and James would conjure up on a Top Gear episode.

And here was our pool. My first 'pool' holiday. It showed as well - I can't swim. I used to have lessons as a wee sprog but in 14 years I can embarrassingly confess I have only plunged into a pool once. I made it my mission to learn this holiday, and let (made) Dan be my teacher. Bless his cottons, he managed, and by the end of the week I'd gone from bouncy bouncy, clinging on to the side for dear life, to swimming lengths and widths to my hearts content.

Side note: We actually live behind the swimming pool in our home city, Worcester, so there's now no excuse to get our 'kinis on and go for a dip!

Hello there

Welcome to the crazy world of Becky. This is the 4th blog I've tried to work, but each time I've gotten distracted, and forgotten all about it.

I'm going to try again this time, and use my own little corner of the internet to document my life through pictures, and ramblings.

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