Travel diaries: Causeway coast and Glens

I don’t think this post will accurately express my love for Northern Ireland. But let me first begin by saying I did not know very much about Northern Ireland previous to coming here. I have some wonderful friends that live in Ballymoney that told me a little bit about it, but that was all. 

Our trip to the North coast first started with a bus ride from Dublin to Belfast. Our faces were glued to the window admiring the wonderful view for two and a half hours. Once we got there we were greeted with two lovely faces, let’s call them M&M. M&M are fantastic friends of my parents, who are from Northern Ireland but lived in British Columbia for thirteen years back in the 80’s and 90’s. It was truly a blessing staying with them. They took us around their amazing coastline. Day one started with a walk through the famous dark hedges, then onto the Giant’s Causeway. We hopped on a mini tour bus and it took us to a place where both of our Canadian jaws dropped and said “OHHH MYYYY GOSSSSSHH, I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING SO BEAUTIFUL”. What, how and amazing were the only words we could come up with. The Giant’s Causeway is all produced from a volcano 60 million years ago. I still cannot believe something like that exists. It felt peaceful, but almost childlike at the same time. As I hopped the columns, I felt like I was truly in God’s happy place for me. It was as if I was walking in the middle of the ocean. The waves crashed against the rock formation loudly, but everything else inside of me felt still, and quiet. I never wanted to leave but eventually everyone else started to get hungry. We stopped at this little tiny restaurant on our way to the carrick-a-rede rope bridge, which is another picturesque location. . The water was crystal clear, with such beautiful aqua, and royal blue colours. We constantly had to keep pinching each other. The bridge was a lot of fun, and this is coming from me! A height striking fear lady! I’m so glad I did it to; I have a certificate to prove it!

The day ended with pizza and ice cream at Morelli's at Portstewart, a cute little beach town. The next two days were spent surfing and swimming at Port Rush. Sandwiches and sand in my toes, while tanning on the beach, that’s the sound of a good holiday. M&M also drove us all around their little town, pointing at familiar places and faces. Everybody knows EVERYBODY in the North.

I will always remember the wonderful generosity of M&M, and hope I can do the same thing for somebody one day. So a big thank you to M&M, you are truly amazing people. Of course thank you to Northern Ireland, for making me fall head over heels in love with you. I hope to visit soon!

#TravelTuesday Vancouver Edition

 Happy #TravelTuesday everyone! I am so excited to share today’s post with you because we are visiting Vancouver, my city! I live about an hour and a half outside of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley, so going into the city is a treat. I went to school right downtown, and lived somewhat close by. So sit back grab your coffee, and lets go to Vancouver! We were originally there for a spa conference, but had lots of free time to explore and shop. One thing I highly recommend when visiting Vancouver is going to Canada place and watching “Fly over Canada”. It’s a stunning 25 minute ride that takes you all through Canada. The experience is like no other, you feel like your in a helicopter gliding over the Niagara falls, ridding horses through the badlands of Alberta, smelling the fresh cut trees of BC, and watching the Saskatchewan combines cutting hay. You experience wind, scent, and mist which makes you feel like your truly flying! The Canada trail is also fun, you can walk along the side of Canada place and see all the cities from the west coast of Canada to the East. You can stand on them, and they make cool pictures. 

 Myself and my mom are both fashionista’s so we checked out Granville and Robson street. Which has all the major stores from H&M to Nordstrom (which is new by the way!) 

 Another cool attraction you must check out if your visiting is the Vancouver Art Gallery. It is such a beautiful building and they are always showcasing something different, so even if you live there you could see different exhibits all the time. 

 We ate at a few different restaurants but Joe Fortes had to be our top favourite. Great service, and amazing food! Mostly known for seafood, but you can get other food to!

 Marble wall!

 Thank you for coming along with me, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! I hope this inspired you to visit this great city! 

A weekend in Wales

Hello friends!! Happy #traveltuesday ! I’m so excited to be bringing this page back to the blog. Today we will be exploring Cardiff, Wales. We took a bus from London to Cardiff, and the first thing we saw driving was the beautiful landscape. Green fields for miles, and a different language? Yes we actually did not know that in Wales they speak Welsh, we thought it would be English. 

Day one: We started out the day with a visit to Cardiff Castle; you really cannot miss it when you go there. The castle is huge, and you can pretty much go through it all. The tour started in the wartime shelters, and the main watch tower which has a stunning view over Cardiff. Inside the castle apartments there are beautiful murals, elaborate wood carvings, and stained glass. The castle is Victorian Gothic and created by art-architect William Burges for the 3^rd Marquess of Bute. Finishing day one we went for a cup of coffee from Gregg’s and did a little shopping in River Island. 

Day two we went to Barry Island! We were desperate to get to a beach, because we had been told so many great things about Welsh beaches. Barry Island definitely did not disappoint! Absolute picturesque views and exactly what you see in photos of Wales. I love the extraordinary large hills that frame the ocean. A bucket of chicken and two ice cream cones at sunset ended a perfect day at the beach. And that concludes our weekend in Wales! A must see for anyone traveling the UK! Have you been to Wales, or maybe you’re from there? Let me know what your favourite highlights are, or suggest another city in Wales I should go to. Comment below!

 

 

Picture credit: My travel companion and best friend Emily xx

Dear Paris,

Dear Paris:

I’ve dreamed of visiting you my whole life. It’s an overwhelming passion that’s been in my heart for years. When we first arrived in Paris it was a beautiful feeling, driving up to that sign that said “Paris” felt surreal. I’ll never forget that feeling of pure excitement and bliss all at the same time. Stepping out of the bus onto your French streets, looking up at the Eiffel tower “I’m here” was all the words I could say. I couldn’t help but shed a tear of joy. All those times I was unhappy, the thought of Paris made me smile through those rough times. It all lead up to this moment, I am here. Body, mind and spirit. No time felt shorter than those four hours we spend on top of the Eiffel tower. No emotion other than happiness was felt. A dream became reality when we walked along the Seine and shopped on Champs Elysees. Needless to say I enjoyed every moment of you Paris, I feel as though you are a part of me, it’s something we all have. What’s your Paris?

 

Rome, the eternal city. Did no one read the info packets?

It’s #TravelTuesday! I could not be more thrilled to share this post with you; we are going to ROME today! Let me first start off by saying, its beauty and history are very overwhelming. I am a history fanatic, and I couldn’t contain myself. We fully enjoyed everything we could out of Rome. We started out in Rome in mid-afternoon and went on a walking tour around the city. Of course we had to get Gelato, we went to Della Palma Gelato di Roma. They have over 150 flavors, and they have a serious line up. One of the cool things there is that if your female you will automatically get served first, plus for us girls right?! We had a few men in our group and our tour guide had to get each of them ice cream because they would’ve been waiting forever! We walked our way to the Trevi fountain, which actually sneaks up on you. We were walking down this little street and then BOOM there’s a huge fountain, its surreal. The next day we started bright and early to take a guided tour around the Vatican, an absolutely amazing experience to walk through. It’s the headquarters of the Roman Catholic church and also St. Peter’s Basilic, and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes. The architecture had me speechless. Some good home décor inspiration! After this tour we walked around for a bit, and took the subway over to the Roman Colosseum. My personal tour recommendations are that you don’t do both tours in one day, both were three hours long. Either split them up, do don’t take the guided tour. I would recommend the guided tour of the Vatican, but maybe not the Colosseum as the headsets are good, plus the tour takes you to other places as well, which did not really interest us. To finish our day in this cultural city we shared a pizza and spaghetti. It was the absolute best food I ate in Italy and probably one of my tops meals I’ve ever eaten. Make sure you splurge on a good Italian meal; you don’t get the real taste if you go cheap. But then again I’m a HUGE Italian fan so; of course I’m going to tell you something like that! Another tip is that the underground is very confusing if you don’t read Italian, I would recommend a tour guide to get you through most of the city. The streets are also quite complicated. What are your thoughts on Rome? Have you been there, or traveled to it? Let me know below, I love hearing from everyone!