Copenhagen

Sorry for the lack of posts recently! Since I got back from Copenhagen I have had so much paperwork to deal with from work, and this has been the first weekend where I've cut off the umbilical cord between my laptop and myself (well until now to do this post aha)! 

Copenhagen was such a captivating city; it is definitely up there with one of my favourite European capitals and I hope to visit again one day. It is often said that the Danish fairy-tale author, Hans Christian Andersen was inspired by Copenhagen as the setting for many of his stories. Whilst walking through the quaint cobbled streets, it is not hard to understand why.  

Flights to Copenhagen are RIDICOUSLY cheap! I cannot say how cheap as this was the Christmas present for my boyfriend, but put it this way: you can pay more on a round trip to London than I had to for Copenhagen! We stayed at Hotel Danmark, a 10 minute walk from the central station. This was very handy as the airport has a direct link to Copenhagen via train, so we did not have to lug our suitcases much further. The hotel itself was average; the rooms were rather small (the bed was literally touching the wall) but it catered for our needs seeing as we spent very little time there. An amazing perk of staying with Hotel Danmark was that they had 'Wine Hour' from 5.00pm - 6.00pm daily, in which you received one FREE glass of wine. What's better than free wine?! We stayed in a good location as the main buzz of restaurants and bars was only a five minute walk from the hotel.

On the first morning in the Danish capital we climbed up the city's main tower, the Rundetaarn. If you recently watched Richard Ayoade's Travel Man, you would have witnessed him and Noel Fielding clambering up the Round Tower too. Most unusually, the round tower possesses very few stairways, and most of the interior is made up of spiraling ramps. The never-ending walls made the building somehow seem to be a fortress of purity. The view at the top was very spectacular (but also very windy) and encapsulated the moorish architecture of the Danish buildings.

Later that day, we visited Rosenborg Slot, an enchanting palace that was orginally built as a summer house in 1606. The brick work of the castle almost makes it seems like a delicious ginger-bread house. Though a small building, the level of wealth is evident inside the castle. The decadence the Danish royalty indulged in is unreal; one room which was explained to be their entertaining hall was probably equivalent in size to my house! Rosenborg Slot is also surrounded by gorgeous gardens that looked magical with the touch of frost we experienced on the first day.

After that we did the cliched photos by Nyhavn, a popular entertainment district along the harbour. We did indeed eat at Nyhavn on one of the evenings, in a quirky restaurant that I no longer remember the name of, so I am unable to review it. If you are planning on eating at Nyhavn, I did note that the prices for food and drink along the popular waterfront were considerably more expensive. 

The remainder of the day was spent mooching around on our way to Kastellet. Walking around Kastellet was one of my favourite points of the mini-break. It is a really interesting structure, as it is a star shaped fortress. The area still houses some military activity, but it is most popular as The Little Mermaid resides within it. Of course I has to get into the queue (yes there was a queue) to get my photo taken with the iconic statue! There was also a really cute windmill in one of the corners of the fortress that I got a few snaps with.

The following morning we woke up and it had snowed! Although there was very little within the city, we had decided to venture to the outskirts on this day where it was much more wintry. We had a bit of confusion with the public transport (it is not very clear in Denmark so be warned) as I desperately wanted to visit a palace called Frederiksborg Slot. I had done my research on google prior to our trip and discovered we needed to take a train out of Copenhagen for fourty minutes. At the station a local tried to help us, so I explained to him we were trying to get to Frederiksborg. He told us to take a ten minute tube, which didn't seem right considering what good old google had told me, but we went with it. We ended up at another place called Frederiksberg (see that little 'e' makes all the difference) which although had some beautiful, snow-covered gardens (above), it was not where we were trying to get to. 

Thankfully, when we went back to the station, the tourist information desk was able to tell us which train we needed to catch to get to Frederiksborg Slot (although still nearly going to the wrong platform; fail!). Finally, we got to the magnificent palace, surrounded by vast frozen lake. We took a leisurely walk around the lake, viewing the beautiful building from every angle. After nearly missing out on seeing Frederiksborg Slot, this was a lovely way to end the trip.

I would definitely recommend visiting Copenhagen, as it is an awesome city with lots to see and do. However, it is not so big that you would need to take a week to get around all of it! Should you decide to go, try and find The Downtown Hostel, who happily put extra smiles in your drinks ;)

New Soul

It's been a few weeks since I last posted. January was a bit of a blur. I always find that month a bit of a struggle as it is such a come-down after the adrenaline of  the Christmas festivities. The weather is dreary, the summer holiday you booked to Portugal seems light-years away, and everyone feels obliged to scrutinize themselves so they can come up with a way to 'resolve' themselves! I find New Year's resolutions such an unhealthy way of assessing one's personal growth. Resolution means to resolve something; surely we should be aiming to accept ourselves for who we are rather than criticising ourselves to the point that we sign up for a £250 a year gym membership, that we will only utilize in January? 

Instead of setting myself a resolution I am going to continually try to do things to improve my self-confidence, like keeping up with this blog. In fact I may be starting another blog to fuel my passion for cinema, so watch this space! I am also going to keep on travelling, hitting the Danish capital Copenhagen tomorrow, so I will have reviews ready for you when I come home.

These photos were taken midway through January, on a rare sunny day. I am so glad that it is beginning to get lighter in the mornings and evenings. A child of the summer I am, and I think it shows in my appreciation of the warmer seasons. So at the sudden sight of the sun I pulled on my new spring jumper dress. This pale pink number is from Missguided of course! I had been looking for a pink toned jumper dress for ages, scouring sites such as Pink Boutique, Miss Foxy and Pretty Little Thing. Although these fashion outlets have got jumpers of a similar description, none of them were  exactly what I had envisaged. Luckily, my go-to fashion website Missguided won again and I found this gorgeous knit! I am a massive fan of jumper dresses at the moment as I find them so easy; throw it over yourself, pair with some awesome accessories, slip on some chic ankle boots and voila! Your outfit is sorted!

Jumper Dress & Boots: Missguided

Handbag: New Look

I hope you enjoyed my post, please leave any comments below :)

English Mustard

It has been a busy of couple of weeks for me since coming back from Budapest. I have had the challenge of setting up my classroom at school for a second time, as we have moved into a brand new building. Following that, I have had my graduation celebrations this week! So as you can imagine I have been slacking a bit with the blog. I actually took these photos last weekend but have only just gotten round to posting them.

Graduation was a bit surreal in all honesty. At my uni, unlike most others who host graduation a month or two after the students completing their studies, graduation is not until the following January. It was lovely to see all of my course-mates, that I had spent four years with, desperately trying not to fall asleep in Reflective Teaching. Over the last few months, I have missed uni a lot and wished more than anything I could go back. However, I think I am starting to embrace the many changes in my life. There are some things about uni that I do not miss, and much of the lifestyle and drama I do not want any part in. It is fair to say I may be adulting at last haha!

I don't know if anyone has guessed, from viewing my previous posts, but I am a little bit, no A LOT, in love with mustard this winter. I usually avoid bright colours such as yellow; I am a huge fan of neutrals and monochrome. Yet, the mustard shade offers yellow in a much more muted vibe. I find that as a blonde some yellow shades can wash me out and also put me a risk of looking like a canary. Mustard is much warmer, which compliments my blonde hair and tanned skin tone. I now own a mustard scarf, bag, skirt, hat and now this awesome suede jacket from Missguided. I like to style my mustard items with monochromes, baby pinks and mauves (other popular colours this winter). I thought my jacket looked chic when paired with this on-trend striped turtle-neck from Forever 21. 

Suede Jacket: Missguided

Stiped Turtle-neck Top: Forever 21

Boots & Skirt: Boohoo

Handbag: River Island

Budapest, my hidden treasure chest

Happy New Year! I have just got back from my little break in beautiful Budapest. It was a lovely escape from reality and that odd limbo-like phase that occurs between Christmas Day and New Years. 

The Hungarian capital is much larger than I had anticipated; separated by the Danube River, it is technically made up by two cities, Buda and Pest, which became one city in 1873. We were staying in a gorgeous apartment on the Pest side of the city, within the Jewish Quarter. On our first day we wandered past the stalls of the Christmas market outside St. Stephen's Basilica, sipping hot apple cider. We then took some photos outside the Parliament building, which is third largest in the world! 

Clearly a city separated by a huge river deserves some impressive bridges, and Budapest has plenty of them. It's most famous is the Szechenyi Chain Bridge (which you can see beyond me in the picture below) but the Freedom Bridge and the Margret Bridge are also interesting pieces of architecture. Outside the Parliament Building, a memorial made from iron shoes can be found at the edge of the river. This is to honour the Jews who were murdered by fascist military men during the Second World War. 

Later on we crossed over the Margret Bridge to see the Fisherman's Bastion on the Buda bank, which is a terrace styled in neo-Gothic architecture. This was one of my favourite parts of the city as the building looked like moorish gingerbread houses. The area gets its name from the fishermen who defended the walls of the city during the middle ages, using this terrace as a viewpoint.

My favourite day of the trip involved a trip to the Gellert Spas. Budapest is famous for its natural thermal springs, which has led to the construction of many relaxing baths such as the Szechenyi, Rudas and Kiraly Baths. The Gellert Baths is one of the most recently build spas, as it was built over what had once been Turkish baths. The coolest experience of the spa was soaking in the outdoor thermal bath and being able to see some of the city sights, whilst enjoying the hot water. 

Budapest is definitely a fascinating city to visit and it is ranked the 25th most popular city in the world, so it can be said it is a hot destination right now. The price of food and drink is extremely reasonable too, so if you are looking for a break on a budget, the Hungarian capital could be perfect for you!

Comment for any questions and outfit details.

xx