The Non-Gambler’s Guide to Las Vegas

March 2, 2017March 3, 201718 Comments

If you read my previous post on 5 reasons to love fabulous Las Vegas you can probably tell just how much I loved the city. There is so much to keep anyone entertained and I don’t just mean whiling away the hours gambling. We did spend a bit of time in the casinos where I will admit that I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. Playing a game of Snap is about as far as my card skills go! After a while of watching others in a state of utter confusion, Mr Ayla eventually taught me how to play Blackjack and I actually found myself having some fun! I was very happy with my $5 winnings thank you very much.

But I was surprised at how much there is to do in Las Vegas for the non-gamblers who, like me, want to spend more time seeing the city rather than being stuck inside a bright, smoky casino with no idea what time of day or night it is, and these were the things that made me and the city such fabulous but unexpected friends.

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A Big Sur Escape at The Blue Dolphin Inn, Cambria

February 19, 2017February 20, 201711 Comments

Although our American trip was almost a year ago now, we had such a brilliant time that I still have so much to write about even so long after. I still haven’t written about all the amazing sights on our road trip through the Big Sur, I’ve not told you about everything there is to see in Vegas even if you don’t like gambling, and I’ve still not shared the details of our funky campervan adventures, so I thought it was about time the blog got back onto the USA.

One of my favourite parts of the adventure was our road trip along the stunning Big Sur coastline so I thought I’d start off by sharing one of the best places to stay along this part of the Pacific Coast Highway.

We had spent the previous night in Carmel-by-the-Sea, one of the prettiest little towns in California. There is so much to see and do through the Big Sur, from national parks and magical waterfalls to famous bridges and sandy beaches, plus more viewpoints along the coastline than I can mention in one blog post, each with a more gorgeous view than the last. We knew it was going to be a long day and wanted to take it slow so we would have time to fit everything in, so we decided to spend the next night in Cambria, a little beachfront town at the southern end of the Big Sur. The Blue Dolphin Inn was right on the seafront broadwalk, just steps away from the sand of Moonstone Beach, and I loved the idea of going to sleep and waking up to the sound of the waves.

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A Camping Weekend in Yosemite National Park

October 28, 2016October 28, 201619 Comments

One of the stops both Mr Ayla and I were looking forward to most on our American adventure was camping in one of the United States’ most incredible national parks. Yosemite is a four hour drive from San Francisco so, once Mr Ayla had got the hang of a slightly bigger drive than he was used to, we headed out of the city in our absolutely awesome campervan courtesy of Escape Campervans.

After driving along the windy tree filled roads, we arrived late at night and made our way to the Upper Pines Campground, right in the heart of Yosemite Valley, where we would be setting up our camper for the next couple of nights. It was pretty difficult but equally fun to set up the bed in the dark, find the bear locker to store our food in (no bears would be getting to my leftover cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory!), and find the toilets, all the while trying to be quiet so as not to wake the other campers nearby.

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Biking the Bridge with Blazing Saddles San Francisco

July 14, 201611 Comments

Let me start off by saying that I may consider myself a feminist but, when it comes to all things sporty, I shamefully fit right into the typical girl stereotype. Sports and me just do not go. Give me a Zumba class or a nightclub dance floor and I can dance away for hours but anything else and I am a complete lost cause. I duck in horror when a football comes my way; I embarrassingly swing a golf club several times before actually managing to hit the ball; and I haven’t been on a bike in so long that I would need stabilisers.

So when we arrived at Blazing Saddles’ offices in San Francisco all ready for a bike ride around the city, I was fully prepared to be a little rusty. I didn’t think I’d be quite so bad that I would cycle just a few feet before crashing into a whole row of stationary bikes and almost toppling off into an embarrassing heap on the floor. But yes, this really happened, and this was just on the practice run before we’d even left the warehouse! Two minutes in and I was already wondering (as I’m sure Mr Ayla was too) what on earth I had gotten myself into. They say you never forget how to ride a bike…not true. I totally forgot.

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Exploring San Francisco with CityPASS

June 30, 2016July 8, 201614 Comments

A great day in San Francisco always begins with brunch because, well, who needs an excuse for brunch, especially when you’re in a city that does it so incredibly well. If you don’t believe me read my post on Brunching in San Francisco – I guarantee you’ll be drooling in 2 minutes!

After the much important business of filling our bellies was out of the way, we got down to the next thing on the agenda…exploring San Francisco. We only had three days in the city and while this leaves enough time to soak up San Fran’s relaxed hip vibe and see most of the main sights, we still wanted to fit in as much as we could. So a San Francisco CityPASS was the perfect way to make the most of our time here and ours were waiting for us at our hotel as soon as we arrived. The CityPASS booklet provides access to some of the best museums and tourist attractions in the city as well as public transport options to get you there, saving you a whole load of money if you want to see as much as possible like we did.

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25 of the Best Songs for an American Road Trip

June 3, 201614 Comments

With sunglasses on and the wind in our hair, a fold out map covering the dashboard, a giant pack of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and a huge $1.99 cup of Dr Pepper filling the car for snacks , and the wide open road ahead of us. Our great American road trip was everything I had imagined it to be and more.

I love the freedom of a road trip – being able to go wherever we want, whenever we want (as long as it fits in with my planned out itinerary of course!). We hopped out of the car to see the stunning blue coastal views along the Big Sur; grabbed lunch at quirky Route 66 roadside diners; came across the most random attractions like Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo and added our own bubblegum to the wall (a gross kind of abstract art). We stumbled upon the coolest places to eat and drink; posed in front of wacky street art; hiked mountains and dipped our toes in the ocean. But most of all we did lots and lots (and lots) of singing.

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A Chic Beachfront Stay at the Shore Hotel, Santa Monica

May 27, 2016May 27, 201616 Comments

Los Angeles was the last stop on our American adventure and I couldn’t think of a better way to finish our trip in style than with a stay at the luxuriously glamorous Shore Hotel in Santa Monica. Although this part of town is a fair bit pricier than central LA and Hollywood, Santa Monica is a whole lot classier and prettier, with a chilled out beach vibe, miles of sandy beaches, the bright blue sea, and a host of sophisticated restaurants and bars.

We had driven from the sunny blue skies of the Big Sur coast but almost as soon as we made it to Los Angeles, in typical fashion, it started to rain. Isn’t LA supposed to have year round sunshine?! Apparently not for us. It seemed that we weren’t going to get our chance to frolic on the miles of gorgeous sandy beaches. No watching surfers catching some waves or seeing the pumped up bodies working out at Muscle Beach. But it was still a beautiful part of California and a little bit of rain has never stopped us from doing anything!

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Brunching in San Francisco

May 18, 2016May 19, 201625 Comments

If there’s one thing I absolutely love about San Francisco it has to be the scrumptious brunches. We tucked into a whole lot of brunches during our American adventure, from picnic brunches by the sea in the Big Sur to giant red velvet pancakes in Las Vegas (which are just as good as they sound by the way), but the City by the Bay served up some of the best.

San Francisco just knows how to do brunch right and so we spent all of our mornings there hunting down the best spots before we went off exploring the rest of the city.

As Mr Ayla correctly posted on his Facebook wall:

“You know you’re married to a travel blogging extraordinaire when it takes you two hours to get the best brunch. And apparently we’re doing it again tomorrow!”

Yes Alex, because brunch is totally worth it. I even had my fabulous brunch tee all ready for the occasion so we simply had to go in search of the best brunch spots in San Francisco because my outfit said so.

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Dinner, Dancing and Dazzling Vistas with Hornblower Cruises San Francisco

May 12, 201612 Comments

I always think that one of the best ways to see a city is from a different perspective – from up high at the top of the Shard in London; from a gondola exploring Venice’s canals; or from across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

In San Francisco, where the water surrounds the city and so many of the main sights and attractions are around the Bay, hopping on a boat and taking in the views from the water seemed like the thing to do. So that’s exactly what we did when Hornblower Cruises invited us on board for an evening of champagne, dinner and dancing.

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A Quirky Road Trip from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon

May 5, 2016May 5, 201626 Comments

As much as I hated leaving the fabulous city of Las Vegas behind, it was onto our next adventure. The 4 and a half hour drive to the Grand Canyon was pretty smooth sailing – aside from Mr Ayla having a slight panic at having to drive out of the busy city, in an automatic, on the other side of the road, amidst 4 lanes of crazy Vegas traffic. After Googling which pedal was which (don’t judge – we drive manuals at home and neither of us know much about cars!) we were on our way with our ultimate road trip album blaring out of the CD player.

Despite being quite a long drive there were plenty of places to stop off along the way and the Hoover Dam was the first place on our itinerary. We’d left Vegas a little later than we’d intended (possibly due to too many cocktails the night before) so by the time we made the short 45 minute drive there, it was already packed full of tourists. We decided not to do a tour but instead just drove across the dam itself and ogled at the size of it before taking a few snaps and carrying on with the journey.

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