Category: UK

Paddington Bear Trail London

On the Search for Bears on the Paddington Trail

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With my overly excitable and big kiddish personality, I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone that I love a fun children’s film, so when I saw the trailer for the new Paddington movie, of course I was massively thrilled. Alex usually gets dragged along to the cinema, packed full of screaming and giggling children, to watch these sorts of movies with me, but even this was one he actually wanted to see.

So when I came across the Paddington Trail, a fun adventure in London by the NSPCC and Studiocanal to celebrate the release of the film, my excitement tripled!  Paddington Bear statues popped up all over the city waiting to be found by curious children and eager adults.

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Ice skating at Somerset House London

Getting Festive in London

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I will admit that up until now I have been a bit of a Scrooge.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Christmas, and not having a proper Christmas last year as we were travelling around India, means I’m looking forward to it a whole lot more than usual this year.  But seeing Christmas gifts starting to be sold in shops, hearing Christmas songs on the radio, walking past houses twinkling with lights, and being asked about my plans for Christmas in October and November, well that is just way too far in advance for my liking.

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Go Ape tree top adventure

Monkeying around at Go Ape!

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As the name of this blog suggests, I love a fun adventure, so when we were invited to try out the Tree Top Adventure at Go Ape I jumped at the chance – quite literally when it came to the activity!

Our location was Wendover Woods, a lush green forest not far from Oxford where we were heading for a weekend getaway outside London.

We were hoping for one of those unexpectedly warm and sunny days we’re occasionally treated to in autumn but unfortunately for us we woke up to a foggy drizzly morning, the ground already wet from the rain that had clearly poured down through the night.

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The Cotswolds: A Photo Essay

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After a lovely couple of days in Bath and Cheddar Gorge, the last stop on our mini road trip was the Cotswolds where we planned on seeing some of England’s greenest countryside and stopping off at several of its small villages before heading back home.  As is typical in England, it rained pretty much the whole time, but this didn’t make the area any less beautiful.  In fact, I took so many photos that I just had to share all the prettiness of the Cotswolds with you.

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Cheddar Gorge

Adventures (and Cheese) in Cheddar

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In my quest to see more of my own country and to prove that there are all sorts of adventures to be had right on your own doorstep, our recent visit to Bath gave me a valid excuse to convince Mr Ayla into visiting somewhere else close by, and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at that.

Not far from Bath, the small town of Cheddar is home to one of the greatest natural wonders in Britain; the 450ft Cheddar Gorge towered over us as we drove our way through its winding roads.  Around every bend there was another stunning view with plenty of opportunities for me to shout at Alex to pull the car over for photos and to explore.

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Afternoon tea at Hush

Afternoon Tea and Cocktail Making at Hush, London

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I’m ashamed to say that, despite living in London for the whole 26 years of my life, I had never been to afternoon tea before.  I find this hard to even believe myself as I have so much love for tea, cake, chocolate, scones, pretty much all food really, that this sort of thing should have been high on my to-do list.  When I finally had my first afternoon tea experience earlier this year, I’m pretty happy to say that it exceeded all expectations and I now seem to have become quite addicted.  A pretty good addiction to have though wouldn’t you agree?

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48 hours in Bath

48 Hours in Bath

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Bath was the first stop on our little road trip; somewhere we had heard so many good things about but had never had the chance to visit despite only living a couple of hours away.

From the moment we arrived both of us loved the city, its streets lined with Georgian buildings, with pretty courtyards and squares where people sat outside pavement cafes listening to buskers playing music and watching the sun set over the city. Bath is only small so walking around was easy and gave us a chance to stumble across little side streets full of cute tea houses (which there are lots of) and quirky independent shops.

We arrived in the evening and, after checking into our gorgeous hotel, headed straight out to explore the city.

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Sotto Sotto Bath review

Sotto Sotto, Bath: Restaurant Review

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I don’t often write reviews on restaurants but, when I do, it’s because I’ve found somewhere too fabulous not to tell you about!

As we were celebrating our anniversary during our weekend trip to Bath, we decided to book a table at the Italian restaurant Sotto Sotto, as it seemed to be highly recommended as one of the best places to eat. While I may not have been to every restaurant in the city, I truly believe that it is THE best place to eat in Bath, as every single moment of our evening and every single mouthful of food was simply wonderful.

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Adventure is on your doorstep

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I’ve never really been one to explore much of my own country; I tend to prefer jetting off to exotic locations with different cultures and cuisines, with people to meet who live completely different lives to us, and far away from all the responsibilities at home. But after big trips to India and South America over the last year, we decided to spend the bank holiday weekend exploring some of England for a change.

We made a little road trip of it, the beautiful city of Bath being our first stop, where we splashed out on a fancy meal and hotel to celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary (yes, that makes me feel old!).

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Cats and Cake at Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium

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I know I talk about animals a lot but there is a reason for that…animals are simply great.  There is no doubt about it that every single animal is fascinating in its own way and even though I spend a lot of my spare time with them when I volunteer at London Zoo and with my own pets at home, there is still some sort of magnetic pull wherever I am in the world that has me heading straight for the nearest fluffy nosed creature around.

So when I heard that Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium, the UK’s first cat cafe, opened up in London earlier this year there was no doubt that I had to go.

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