Our big fat Greek adventure.

Jet setting again, this time we’re off to Athens. We spent 4 days here. These 4 days I spent mostly huffing and puffing. It was so much hotter than Rome.

We arrived in Syntagma square with two massive suitcases, in which several strops happened before actually arriving in the square because I couldn’t lift the bleeding things onto the escalators or up the stairs. Then we got lost trying to find our apartment. It ended up being down this really dark and scary corridor which had no lights and 100s of stairs, and the most scary elevator I have ever seen. But, once in the apartment it was fab. We had a cracking view and had a Greek bar below us which gave such an authentic atmosphere.

We visited everything we possibly could and the majority was in walking distance such as the Acropolis (which sold the best slush puppy I have ever tasted!), Parthenon, Ancient Agora, Benaki, Mount Lycabettus and the National Gardens. I’m guessing we visited more but literally everytime I saw a bench or somewhere to sit, you would find me straight there. The relief of getting away from the burning sun for 5 minutes was just heaven, so I excelled in trying to park my bottom wherever I could.

The food was amazing but I didn’t capture enough photo’s because I was too busy scoffing but everywhere I went I had to have a baklava. They.are.heaven. The best place we found to eat was a restaurant called Ergon. Everyone was super friendly, the food was to die for and best of all there was a restaurant cat called Salem (me being the crazy cat lady that I am).
You get such a city buzz in Athens but then in parts you get the overly touristy hot spots which we tried to stay away from, sometimes I felt like I was in Benidorm.
On one of the days we took an adventure on the tram to a beach. It was the longest tram journey of my life. I hated just sitting there for well over an hour feeling like a blatant tourist and making that awkward eye contact with the locals, makes me shiver thinking about it. To top it off once we got the beach it was overcrowded and we felt like we we’re in Weston Super Mare. So we headed back to catch the next tram back to stop off at a previous beach. The tram was desolate so we sat there for a while waiting for it to start back up, but in the meantime we got approached by a group of kids who tried to mug us. They were only about 10 years old all with tattoos. So we had to leg it back to the overcrowded beach. We sat there in misery for a good hour trying to comprehend what just happened and to recharge our confidence. We did make it home eventually and my gosh we we’re so happy to get back to the apartment, it was just one of those days but we didn’t let it ruin our holiday. It’s part of the adventure.. right?
Have you ever been to Athens? What was your favourite part?

For me my favourite part was the National Gardens, a tranquil hotspot which gave a hint of tropical-ness. That’s definitely a word now.
It was so beautiful, huge gigantic trees, ponds, wildlife and SHADE. What’s not to love. It was lush to have that balance of nature but to be in the middle of a bustling city. It was definitely the highlight for me.
It was great to visit Athens and I’m glad I can tick it off our places we’ve visited list, but would I go back? I’m not so sure. If I’m honest if it was just the two of us I wouldn’t but if you went with a group of friends I think it would be phenomenal.

Next stop Rhodes (commence aeroplane noises).

 

 

An Italian Adventure.

This is definitely the best time of year. I am currently sat on the sofa in a cosy red tartan blanket with the blinds closed and candles on. It’s ready to rock and roll these typing skills.
I can nearly hear the faint sound of those jingle bells. Yeah, I went there.

Earlier this year we took a 2 week adventure travelling to some hot spots in Europe. First on our hit list was Rome. What a place. It was incredible but I felt like I didn’t fully appreciate the magnificence of it until our trip came to an end. In unfamiliar territory my body goes into panic mode in which we rocked up at around 10.00pm while trying to navigate the airport and the connecting trains through very sleepy eyes. Oh and it was the Euro’s football final, talk about timing. By the time we arrived at Termini it was gone 11pm and all the trains and buses had stopped highly stressful when we had specific instructions to get the bus to get to our destination. So, Taxi it was. Then it was the realisation that we had to try and communicate, in ITALIAN. I was hopeless, in fact I didn’t even attempt because I was far too scared (such a brit), thank the lord for Ezra!

So we were in Rome for 4 days and most of those days it was 36-37 degree heat. Scorching. We did as best as we could to get around by foot, but my god the street sellers selling iced cold water were our saviours. Although it was an absolute rip off at 2 euros a bottle it didn’t half save us from heat exhaustion. The worst thing about the heat was the fact there wasn’t anywhere to cool off that we knew about, there were lots of water stations but in that heat you just want to strip off and sit in very very VERY cold water. However, the only water that could of been an option was holy water, we didn’t think that would bode well with the Italians! BUT my most handiest tip for travelling around Rome in the heat is to church dive every 5 minutes. There are so many hidden churches on every street and what a life saver they are. From the outside they don’t look that appealing but what hidden beauties they all are. Every one is completely different and incredibly beautiful, plus they are freezing. The perfect remedy for over heated tourists.

We walked over 20,000 steps a day and saw sights such as the Roman forum, the Colosseum, Vittoriano (which was by far my favourite), Trevi fountain, The Vatican (heads up the most torturous journey to reach the top) and 100’s of churches. We did visit a lot more but for the life of me I can’t remember the names of all the places. One thing I really noticed though was that all the paths and streets were super slippy, I was slip sliding my whole way. Highly hilarious but equally terrifying, especially when you’re walking up some mammoth marble steps to get somewhere.

The food was also another highlight, but the photo’s we have aren’t the best looking. Italians really do know how to cook and the ice cream is top notch. Ezra was in absolute heaven, 3 course meals pretty much everyday. Espresso and croissants from Necci every morning and a complimentary Tiramisu every evening (well it would be rude not to).
We stayed out of the city in a hipster area known as Pigneto, 10 minutes journey away from Termini. We were based on the main high street and could hear the buzz of local Italians fine dining below our windows with the smell of pizza, pasta and fine wines on our door step.
It is so nice looking back and seeing how much we did, and absorbing all the culture. My goodness is it cultural! But there are so many sites we probably missed with each road leading to something incredible, as the saying goes all roads lead to Rome. I would encourage everyone once in their lifetime to visit Rome, è bellissimo!

Next stop Athens….

 

Blog-aversary – A life update.

 

 

(Audience) – “Oh goodness here she is again, probably about to say the same start up line ‘It’s been a while’.

(Aimee) – “I’m back, AGAIN. It’s been a while!”

(Audience) – “I bet she apologies for it as well”

(Aimee) – “Once again I must apologise for being late to the party once again! February!! FEBRUARY, why have I left it so long?”

(Audience) – “I told you!”

*Commerce the waffling*

Hello you lovely lot, you’re probably wondering who the hell I am it’s been that long.
There have been dissertations, new careers, old careers, holidays, tears, laughter and a hell of a lot of procrastination since we last spoke. During that procrastination 6 months have upped and gone and I’m not sure where? But like I said in previous posts, it’s sort of how I work.
I feel like I have been running on empty so instead of squeezing out blog posts I’ve been doing everything other than that. However, I really want to turn things around and post more regularly – I’m sure you’ve heard all this before but I’m going to try, and there’s no harm in trying hey!

From the blog title, it’s my blog-aversary (hip hip hooray) and it’s not quite where I thought my little-rough-around-the-edges-blog would be but we’ve come a little way within 12months but we’re definitely moving.
I want to eventually re brand this blog to make it that little bit more glam and up to date for you all, who doesn’t love a refresh?!?
As for me, I am completely refreshing my life, well it certainly feels like it. I have finished my university degree and successfully passed with a 2:1. I really didn’t think it was do-able but I did it and I am so so thrilled about it, it’s motivated me to grab life by the balls and to give anything a go. So, I quit my job of nearly 5 years to pursue a new career. Pretty scary. So far it hasn’t turned out to plan and now I’m feeling slightly confused to where I’m heading in my life (any advice would be much appreciated), I feel like I have done all this hard work at uni to just land a job that I could of got without a degree. The thought of sitting in a office all day literally kills me as well, but I feel if I don’t try things then I won’t know if I like them or not, so that’s where I am at the minute. Feels like one of the weirdest times of my life to date, but it’s kind of exciting not knowing what’s round the corner.

Anyway, enough of the deep chat – I’ve done a lot of fun stuff since February and I will be sharing it with you all, so watch this space. I hope you’re prepared to be visiting Italy on your next dose of waffle! Grab that cup of tea and sneaky biscuit and I’ll give you a taste of my little Italian adventure.

I hope you have a great rest of the week/weekend and I’ll see you back on here before you know it – Ciao for now!

For the love of Lomography.

My blog posts seem to start off with the same sentence, ‘It’s been a while’.
But as usual, yes it has been a heck of a while. I mean we’ve had bonfire night, Christmas, New Year, Valentines and now Easter is fast approaching! Where has that time gone? 2016 is on to a flying start.

Currently I am in my final year at university, so tension is pretty high with a near degree under my belt and I feel like I have no time for anything, or it’s just poor time management (probably the latter). I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have said the word dissertation, assignments, deadlines, oh my god I can’t do this (then I can hear my nan saying ‘there’s no such word as can’t… and she’s right) but I feel the need to write something that doesn’t involve over analysing everything and being critical, I want to write freely.
So here I am. Youtube was to thank!
I ‘attempted’ to start writing a literature review for one of many assignments due in May and you know when it’s just not happening, I did start off with good intentions but well you know…
Recently I have been flicking through old photographs of holidays and happier times to once again ‘avoid’ assignments (but those pesky things always creep back) and pretty much all my adolescent life to date has been captured using film cameras. It is one of my few hobbies that I have and it has stuck with me for years despite how much it costs me to get them printed. Not too long ago I sifted out all the film I had taken and it’s something like 20 odd which I need to get developed, kinda pricey considering they keep hacking up the prices. Nevertheless I still have many beautiful photo’s that I have captured over the years which gives you an insight to what the hell lomography is!

Why do I use lomography?
Where do I start? In today’s society this idea of ‘perfect’ is everywhere, you can’t hide from it! Social media is FILLED with celebrities and how perfect they look and it’s only photo editing and filters that make them look that way, and probably a cake mix of make-up on their face. Although I appreciate that is how they want to look or how they want to be perceived but I find it rubs off on people, especially on todays youth. I found myself living in a world where every photograph has to look perfect whether that be a selfie or a landscape, thats not how I see the world. I love the fact that lomography is ‘imperfect’ or however you want to describe it and technology is constantly advancing, and you can’t help but get suckered into it! Don’t get me wrong I love DSLR cameras and am an avid Instagrammer but I find lomography so much more interesting and artistic. Rewinding back to old times where everything was analogue I felt the world was a much more happier place, where getting your photographs developed adds an element of surprise, you can’t just simply click delete. That’s what I love, unknowingly what amazing shots you have captured, even the rubbish ones are interesting!

I recently read that a quote ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ and I find myself constantly comparing myself to others in everything I do and thinking like that can make you feel pretty negative. Something about lomography doesn’t make me feel that way and I feel absorbed and find myself not comparing myself to anything because everything I capture in lomography to me looks pretty perfect even if it isn’t, maybe thats why I love it so much!??

I’d love to know your experiences of film photography or your thoughts!
Thanks for reading you lovely lot!

Aimée x

A week in Wales.

//Wales, where do I begin. I go to Pembrokeshire every year since around the age of 10, so 12 years strong so far! Really frustrates me when folk say Wales is constantly wet and miserable, it’s not, it’s all lies.

Every year my Grandparents rent out the same old fashioned (awfully decorated might I add) welsh cottage in a place called Marloes, it is my whole families favourite place. So rural and rustic and all you can hear is the sea, no traffic, no people…nothing. Pure bliss. All we do on holiday is beach hop and eat, a lot. Well who doesn’t hey? It’s just so nice to be away from work and rushing around all the time and the best part NO HOUSEWORK all week! I could actually read a book and not feel guilty for not doing something productive.

We literally spent all week lounging around, Ezra, my Dad and Granny would be trying to surf all week (I only went in the sea once, naughty and yes my Granny body boards!) and my Granddad would just be eating all week, that’s all he seems to do ha! Every evening we would get back from the beach and have dinner then just bake next to the fire with a glass of wine in hand, or in Ezra’s case..rum. You can imagine how merry he was every evening.

This place was a right old treat, all the years I have been to Pembroke we never knew about the blue lagoon and typically we forgot to take any of our swimming gear, the water looked incredible, I’ve never seen anything like it! We were so annoyed we couldn’t go in and it was scorching weather too!

We visited this cafe twice called Foam in Milford, which is a huge harbour basically flaunting rich people’s boats! We can dream.



I have so many more photo’s I wish to add but I’ve had a problem getting them developed, and typically the film which needs to be sent off is the film with all the decent snaps regrettably.
But I defintely needed that break and I am already craving being next to the sea and we all had an incredible time, especially this guy…N’aww look at that face.

Thanks for reading!

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