My visit to London!

This week my boyfriend went down to London for a design award event (D&AD), and seeing as I had no university and the majority of my friends were all busy I thought I would join him. In fact, I booked my megabits tickets down the night before, definitely an impromptu decision to go! 


Whilst I was in London I did spend some time at the design show with my boyfriend and some of his course mates, but I also had to go off and kill some time myself. On the Wednesday I got on the subway and went to the Natural History museum. The Natural History museum is definitely one of my favourite places in London and generally one of my all time favourite Museums! I've been to the New York one too, and I've got to say the London one is just as amazing! 

My favourite exhibition is definitely the dinosaurs, I just love anything related to dinosaurs and I could literally spend hours just walking round taking it all in. This time as well I also really enjoyed the Ecology exhibition! Being a Science teacher I just loved all the science and how much all the exhibits related to topics I have recently taught to my pupils. The water cycle display was amazing and explained the whole process extremely well, likewise so did the display for the carbon cycle, food webs etc. I would love to take my pupils on a day out to the Natural History museum one day! I may have to suggest it at my new job! 

Whilst in London I also met up with one of my university friends, who I hadn't seen since New Year. She is currently doing a PGCE herself in London so she came to meet me after teaching at her Primary School. We walked around some shops and then spotted a Nandos so we went for some food there (we used to go Nandos a lot in Leeds!). It was really great seeing her and catching up with her, as we're both so busy lately with our university courses and teaching, so it was great to spend some time together.

On the Thursday I managed to persuade Mark to come to a museum with me for a bit before I had to catch my bus home, and so again we went to the Natural History Museum haha, just because Mark wanted to go and he loves it just as much as I do. Last time we went together we didnt get chance to look round the Earth and Space section so we had a walk round those exhibitions. Afterwards we managed to find a lovely little Italian round the corner from the Natural History Museum and we stuffed our faces with gorgeous pizzas! Being in the restaurant was like actually being in Italy too, as all the staff were Italian, and the majority of the people sat around us were also Italian! Stepping out of the restaurant reminded us that we were in London not Italy. The restaurant was called Pierino and I would definitely recommend that people go! The food was amazing! 

After the food I had to then say goodbye and run to catch my super long bus journey D: 

The megabus journey down wasn't so bad, I mean it was a 6 hour journey but it didnt feel too long because I kept having little cat naps. However the journey back was atrocious! It felt so long and plus the bus/ the people sat near me were all weirdos! haha. I actually checked I still had my belongings after I got off the bus haha. Plus every time the bus stopped the smokers on the bus thought it was there time for a fag break so would get off an waste another ten minutes, the bus in the end was over 1 hour late. Definitely put me off megabits for a long time! 

I do love going to London, and I do wish it was cheaper to go visit our Capital. But I've got to say it isn't my favourite city in England... Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool are all fantastic cities and if you are ever visiting the UK make sure you check out those amazing cities too! 

Our amazing pizzas! 

Exhibition for the Water Cycle! It was like a giant disco room with videos displayed in each square. 

This part was all about how each species is adapted to their own habitat and environment, the images shown on the large flat stones changed every couple of seconds to show different habitats. 

Sadly I didn't get as many photos as I would have liked, one because I forgot my camera so these were all taken on my phone, and then also because my phones battery dies so quickly! 

Reunion time!

Last weekend I went to Birmingham to see my university friends. It was such a lovely catch up and was a perfect little break. We only arrived late friday night so only got just over a day or so together to catch up. 

What I loved about the little reunion was the fact that it felt like we hadn't really been apart, it was just like what it was like when we lived together. Sadly I hadn't seen my two friends since we left University in June, as we have all been so busy and also we graduated on different days so we couldn't meet up then either. It did remind me how much I miss living in Leeds with them both though! 

On Saturday we went into Birmingham to go round the German Christmas markets and round the different shops. Unfortunately I didn't buy much whilst I was there, which was definitely not the plan, as I can't seem to really shop when its busy or when I'm with other people. The only things I did buy were my Christmas cards for everyone, a new phone case and then a gingerbread heart for my boyfriend. My lovely friend also treated us to the yummy chocolate covered strawberries, which is definitely a must at the German Markets! Think a trip to the Manchester German markets will be needed to buy more presents and treats! The Birmingham markets were fairly similar to the Manchester ones, with the similar kind of stalls as well as similar food and drink. I really wanted to have a good look through Forever 21 whilst I was in Birmingham as I can spend a fortune whilst in there, but as soon as I walked in the shop I noticed that the queue was basically out the door, definitely a no go... ha. We basically shopped all day, only stopping for a Nandos and lovely Costa hot chocolate so by 7 o'clock we were ready to go home. 

On Saturday night we got some bottles of wine and watched The Fault in our Stars, I've read the book so I told them both to prepare for the tears, and of course we did all end up crying at the film. Sunday morning my other friend and I had both booked early trains/coaches home so we would be back in time to spend the rest of our Sunday doing work ha. When I got back to Preston I managed to do a bit of Christmas shopping, I got my boyfriends mum her presents and also my brothers girlfriends presents. Actually fairly prepared this year for once! 

It was a great trip and was fantastic to see a couple of my favourite people again, definitely think a day trip to Birmingham is needed again soon! 

This is the larger version of the cookie I bought my boyfriend. Next time i may have to get him one this big considering how fast he ate the other smaller one! 

Yummy yummy chocolate strawberries! 

The famous jelly bean Birmingham Bull! 

Little Trip to Galway!

Last week I went on a little summer holiday to Galway in Ireland with my parents and boyfriend, we flew to Shannon and stayed on the West side of Ireland. We have family friends who live out in a little town called Quin so we went over to see them. The flight over to Shannon took approximately just 40 minutes.


On Wednesday we went round to our friends house in Quin and stayed there for the night, we had a BBQ and got to meet some other lovely people. Quin is a picturesque small quiet town, and it is just how you imagine Ireland to be. When we got to Quin we walked round the town and the Quin Abbey. 

Quin Abbey

On Thursday we travelled to Galway where we stayed for the rest of the holiday, we were house and dog sitting for our friends parents-in-law. Whilst staying at the house we looked after their springer spaniel called Twizel, who was such a big sweetheart. The houses in Ireland all seem so lovely, they are all spaced out and have huge gardens. We also caught the bus into the city centre and walked around the bars and shops. Galway is fairly surprising really, as you expect it to be a small town with barely anything there but the city centre was heaving with people. There was the Galway International Arts Festival on so the streets were lined with people watching all the arts and acts. What is also fairly surprising about Galway is that there are not too many shops, and the shops which they do have are fairly small in size and with limited stock. However Galway is packed with bars, pubs and places for food. We walked round the town and the docks and through the Galway Museum, which again was fairly small in size. 

Twizel

On Friday we went to Salthill beach for the day, and shockingly I actually got really sunburnt in Ireland; all my legs ended up sunburnt! The beach was really lovely, and was again packed with people and families. The views from the beach were amazing too, looking out from the beach you could see other parts of Ireland, such as County Clare (where Quin is). 

Salthill Beach

Also on Friday night my boyfriend and I went into town again and managed to see the comedian Milton Jones. Milton Jones has done shows at Live at the Apollo and is regularly featured on Mock of the Week. We didn't have tickets but thought we would try our luck and try get tickets on the night and luckily we did! We watched him in a small personal pub called Roisin Dubh in Galway City centre, and tickets cost €23. We were stood to the side of the thick black curtain (instead of a door), and whilst the host comedian was on introducing the night a man came and stood by the side of me, and i realised it was in fact Milton Jones himself, which was pretty impressive to be stood next to a huge comedian watching other comedians before his own show. The host and support comedian were also great. 

Milton Jones at Roisin Dubh

On Saturday we again went into the city centre and went to a great little restaurant on the main stretch in town and had really yummy food. On Sunday we watched another comedian called Patrick McDonnell at a place called the Laughter Loft, which was also part of the Arts Festival. We also went to watch a play at the theatre called Ballyturk, which was starring the actors Cillian Murphy, Mikel Murfi and Stephen Rea. Cillian Murphy is such a huuuuuge actor and has been in so many of my favourite films, so it was so amazing to be in the same room as such an exceptional actor. Stephen Rea has also been in one of my favourite films; Interview with the Vampire, so it was really fantastic to watch a play with them both in. 

On Monday we dropped by Ennis, which is a small beautiful town near Quin. We only had a short amount of time before we needed to be at the airport so my boyfriend and I just went to a little cafe, where we had a delicious pizza topped with goats cheese, olives, pine nuts and spinach. 

It was a really lovely week spent with family and friends, and I definitely would like to return and the trip has also made me want to visit Dublin again some time in the near future. If anyone is contemplating visiting Ireland I highly recommend it. The city was packed full of people from various countries and cultures, ranging from the US to Spain to Australia, so is definitely a popular city and area to visit. I really do hope to visit the West of Ireland soon!