2022 ROUND UP

Friday

Every year, I finish the year with a roundup blog post of the whole year and I think it is one of my favourite blog posts to write. It's great to be able to look back on the year, and especially remember positives, achievements and good memories before the new year. So welcome to my roundup post for 2022 and I hope you enjoy seeing what I've been up to.

January

January is always my least favourite month as I just find it so depressing even though I make every effort for it to seem less so by making fun plans.

I did manage to make some good memories in January with my friends and I visited Ballie Ballerson in London for the first time. If you don't know, it's essentially an adult ball pit/night club which for me was kind of an assault on the senses but it was fun to try once.

Other highlights included going on a winter beach walk down in Mudeford and trying a roast dinner at the local pub for my Dad's birthday which was a success!

February

Once January was out of the way, February came in to step the year up a notch. One of my favourite activities from February was seeing the Rupaul's Drag Race UK Season 2 live tour in Bournemouth with my friend Kitty which was AMAZING! I love Drag Race so much, especially that season.

For Valentine's Day, Joe and I had a date day extravaganza which consisted of brunch, mini golf, Gordon Ramsay's bottomless street pizza for dinner and drinks in Battersea afterwards. We ended up so tired afterwards but it was such a good day!

My gorgeous baby nephew Leo was born mid-February and it's so bizarre looking back at the pictures now as he's gotten so big and will be 1 soon.

With work, I got to watch BBC South Today while they recorded and get some footage for socials. It was really cool being there while they recorded and getting to watch the news later that day after having been there.

March

The beginning of March included a mega night out to Bath with my friends - there were injuries, and lots of sick (not from me luckily) but we still had a great time even if it wasn't all of our finest of moments.

Joe and I tried an amazing Japanese restaurant in London called Flesh and Buns (weird name great food). It was my first time trying Japanese food too and I loved everything I had. It was quite expensive though so defo a special occasion venue.

More foodie fun consisted of a Bottomless Brunch at Tinga in Salisbury (*PR Invite) with my bestie Poppy which was fab.

At the end of March, another one of my besties, Maddie and I had a joint birthday in London between both of our birthdays which was so much fun. We had a pizza bottomless brunch at Pizza Pilgrims, tried out Vagabond wine bar which is basically wine vending machines and you can help yourself! This was followed by a night out in Shoreditch.

April

To start April off, Joe and I went on a trip to Cardiff for my 23rd birthday. I had 2 lockdown birthdays in a row before this so it was great to get away and explore a new city.

The weekend after that, Mum and I walked alpacas. This was a present I'd got her for her birthday so luckily she chose to take me with her because I really wanted to walk alpacas too. It was so much fun I want to do it again! Warning: you WILL want to take the alpaca home with you at the end.

Later on in April was the meeting of the parents - AKA the day mine and Joe's family met. Joe and I have been together for 4 and a half years and we always said our parents should meet so we ended up arranging it and meeting Joe's family down in Hastings where they live. It honestly couldn't have gone better!

May

In May I went on the first holiday I'd been on since 2019 before covid to Corfu with the girls and I can't even tell you how good it was. I actually cried a few days before going because I was so happy I could leave the country again. Who remembers lockdown?

Everything about the holiday was 10/10 I just wish we had more time and went for longer.

Mine and Joe's anniversary is 1st June so we celebrated a few days early at the end of May by going to Cholderton Rare Breeds Farm and going on a date night in Salisbury to Tinga for food and drinks.

June

June was good vibes all around. More boozy bottomless brunches and trips to London and I just had a great time all month with friends.

I also bought my new car at the end of June which I felt was such a win for me. It just felt like a moment in my life where my hard work had paid off because I saved up so much and was finally able to get the car I'd wanted for years.

I went to see Six the musical in Southampton which was great - I am obsessed with the soundtrack now.

July

In July, I went to a festival in Poole with my work colleagues and it was so much fun. Ladies' night was a huge success!

I also went to my first-ever gender reveal party. Joe's sister hosted a gender reveal party, where you bite into the cupcakes and the icing, is either blue or pink. It was pink!!

July seemed to have a baby theme because I went to a baby shower too for my cousin's baby girl. AND I met my friend Siobhan's little boy Tommy for the first time.

Some not-so-good news from July, I had a really painful infected wisdom tooth. Luckily it went away with anti-biotics and it didn't have to be taken out. I wasn't really in the mood for minor surgery it would have killed my best summer since before covid vibe.

August

Speaking of killing the good vibes, I also killed a deer at the beginning of August so we didn't get off to a good start.

After having my new car for only a month, I hit a deer with my car while driving to work one day and sadly the deer died :( and my car was in the garage for about 2 months being fixed as there was so much damage.

There was nothing I could do to stop in time - it just ran straight in front of me and it was pretty traumatic. There were police and RSPCA surrounding me - not to mention it was in the heatwave.

As bad days go, that was a very bad day!

August did get better though, I went to my cousin's wedding which was lovely - I love weddings so much. We also celebrated Joe's birthday and went out for a lovely meal with his family.

I also had 2 great PR meals at Cosmo in Bournemouth and The Giggling Squid (*PR Invites). These meals were both fantastic and I'll be honest - they couldn't have come at a better time. They really cheered me up after the deer incident and it cost me a lot of money so review visits really did come in handy.

September

My main highlight from September was of course visiting Barcelona with Joe - it was one of the best weeks of my life - if not THE best. Barcelona is my new fav city now so it is going to be difficult to top it but I will keep trying the more I travel.

Another highlight was going to my friend Maddie's new flat in London and having a dinner party. She is an amazing cook and we felt like such adults. That was of course until we went clubbing afterwards. Some things just never change.

Also in September, Mum and I went on a cocktail-making experience at Revs which she bought me for my birthday and it was great!

I also got my car back from the garage after hitting the deer - it's as good as new.

October

In October I was invited along to an awards ceremony with work and it was one of the most fun nights I've had. The CEO of my organisation won the award which was fantastic and we were all so proud. It was also great to dress up and have fun with colleagues outside of work.

The National Trust was giving out free tickets over autumn so Joe and I utilised that by going for a long walk around Stourhead. It was the first time I'd been but we really enjoyed it.

I did some more travelling in October and went to Milan, which included a trip to Lake Como. I really loved my time in Milan - I just feel like anywhere in Italy is fab. The food was 10/10 and I felt like I was made up of 70% Aperol Spritz when we got back.

At the end of October, I met my new baby niece on Joe's side, Mahli-Blu. The gender reveal party I mentioned earlier - was for her!

November

November started with a pub quiz that I went to for the first time and I have ended the year as a regular. The best thing about it is that you get a great prize for coming second to last, which we have now won multiple times. I would say work smarter not harder but I'm not sure that works for this. Work dumber not smarter?

Joe and I also went on a relaxing trip to the Cotswolds in November. We stayed in a barn conversion that had a hot tub! I truly was living my best life.

I also had a great time meeting up with lots of friends which left me feeling very grateful.

December

Towards the end of the year, I celebrated the festivities with lots of my friends and family. I went to the Christmas markets in Dortmund after two years of missing out due to covid. Ironically, I caught the worst flu I've had and still have it at the time of writing - I am on day nine of it now so I am hoping it bogs off.

Looking forward to next year

Here are some of the things I already have planned for 2023 that I'm looking forward to:

Seeing Harry Styles
Watching Pangina Heals live
Circa Waves gig
More travelling!
5 years with Joe
Visiting Harry Potter Studios

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4 NIGHTS IN MILAN

Sunday

I feel like I am now living my travel blogger fantasy with all these trips I've been going on lately. I remember in lockdown scraping the barrel for random subjects to blog about when I mainly love to write about travel and trips out I have been on.

I have recently just got back from Milan and I am so happy to share another fantastic experience with you. I love Italy and have been to Sorrento in the south with my family, but had never been to the north so we decided to give Milan a go. Another reason for going is that it is a short train ride from Lake Como which is so beautiful so we were able to visit these two places in one trip.

Travelling to Milan

This time we travelled from London Heathrow to Milan Linate airport. There are a few airports in Milan, I think Malpensa is the main one but we discovered Linate was closer to the centre of Milan.

Of course, we started the trip with an airport breakfast and an Aperol spritz (the drink of choice for the whole trip).

The flight was set to be 2 hours but the total air time was around 1 hour and a half there and back which was great for me because I am not a big fan of flying.

We then travelled by bus to our Air BnB in the Navigli area near the canals which was pretty easy.

Day 1

We arrived at our Air BnB around 3pm so after unpacking and getting changed, we headed out to the Navigli canals and had some pre-dinner Aperols. I really loved the area of Navigli, the nightlife was great and they had a happy hour where Aperol spritz was 5 euros. Did you know the happy hour was invented in Milan?

There were also some amazing restaurants with al fresco dining on the canal too. We ended up eating at one of these restaurants and I tried the Ossobucco which is a traditional Milanese dish that consisted of slow-cooked beef on a bed of saffron risotto. The meal was fab and it was great to be able to try one of their traditional dishes.

Day 2

The first full day was dedicated to sightseeing around Milan and we ended up walking around 7 and a half miles. There was public transport from our Air BnB in Navigli into the centre of Milan, or it was about half an hour's walk so we ended up walking instead.

First of all, we headed to the Duomo di Milano which is the cathedral in the centre of Milan. It was as stunning and picturesque as expected. I felt like I was walking through an Instagram picture.

Right next to the cathedral is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping centre, the iconic designer shopping centre in Milan. We did have a look in a few shops like Prada and Armani but just looked, nothing designer was bought, unfortunately.

After that, we started walking and found the Sforzesco Castle, which we walked through into Sempione Park. One thing I will say about Milan is that there are loads of cute small dogs and we found a lot of these walking through the park.

This took us to lunchtime and we found a cafe that had huge focaccia sandwiches and I'm telling you, it was one of the best sandwiches of my entire life. I wish I could remember what the cafe was called but there are a lot of places like this in Milan and most of them seem to be top quality.

Related: 3 nights in Barcelona

We then took a walk back up to our Air BnB, had a nap and then went back out to the Navigli canals for dinner and drinks. Round the corner from our Air BnB was a gelato place that smelled amazing every time we walked past so we had to try! I had 3 scoops and these were LOADED scoops so I ended up feeling a bit sick after but it was 10/10.

As we were in Italy, I needed to eat a pizza so I was desperately looking for pizza restaurants and we found one alongside the canal! Although Milan is not typically famous for its pizza, it is still in Italy so the pizza was 10/10.

Day 3 - Travelling to Lake Como

On day 3 we went on a trip to Lake Como. We got the train from Milan Cadorna Station to Como Lago and it took about an hour. I think the train tickets were about 5 euros for a single ticket too which was pretty good. This was actually the worst day for weather which was a shame but the lake was still stunning.

Once we got to Como, we got the ferry to Bellagio which was such a stunning place. We walked round Bellagio and there were so many stunning views of the lake. I had heard that Bellagio was quite expensive as it's quite a touristy holiday destination and a lot of the restaurants there were.

While walking up the stairs to get a better view of the lake, we stumbled across a wine bar called Cava Turacciolo which served food so, of course, we had to go in. It was quite hidden away but one of the best places I have been. We had a cheese and cold cuts sharing platter which was all from local produce, and we sampled the local sparkling wine which was more like champagne than prosecco. My dad had a glass of local red wine which he loved too.

Although we were in quite an expensive area and the wine bar was outstanding, the price was actually quite reasonable. You could get a glass of prosecco for as little as 4 euros which I thought was fab.

After more walking, we got the ferry back to Como. You should definitely check the ferry timings before travelling to Como because there is a slow boat and a fast boat and they didn't seem to run that often. Also, there can be big queues for the ferries too.

We walked around Como a little before getting the train back to Milan and I didn't realise how close to the border of Switzerland we were. Como town reminded me more of a town in Austria or somewhere close rather than Italy. It was giving me Christmas vibes, could have been the grey weather as well.

I just wish I could have gotten better photos with blue skies but we were still blown away by Como.

We got the train back to Milan at around 4 and went back to the Air BnB to get changed, before heading back out to Navigli for dinner and drinks.

We did make a slight mistake with dinner and ended up going to a tourist trap restaurant that had 1,000 things on the menu and had pictures on the menu - big no no! I had the carbonara there because I hadn't had pasta yet and it was alright, but my mum hated her meal. Note to self - Google restaurants before you go to them and DO judge a menu by its cover.

Day 4

As we had seen most of the sights of Milan on day 2, we had a lie-in and dedicated day 4 as our shopping day. We attempted shopping in the centre of Milan but it was a Saturday and it was just a bit too busy to be able to look at anything properly.

Mum was on the hunt for panettone which, since trying last year, we are obsessed with. There was a place near where we were staying that we walked past each day and saw they had panettone so we got some on the last day. I have since tried the panettone from that shop and can confirm it is the best ever. Panettone is for all year round in my mind - not just Christmas!

Again, we got our steps up with lots of walking and I had another focaccia sandwich for lunch because I loved the first one so much.

And again, more Aperol Spritz and prosecco was drunk next to the Navigli canals and we ended up going to the best restaurant we had been to on the last evening.

We were all torn between the pumpkin ravioli that was on the menu and a Milanese meat dish so we ordered the ravioli as a first course to share as it was quite small and it was insane, way better than the carbonara I had the day before.

Then for a main, I had veal in red wine with potatoes and I can't explain to you how nice it was. Simple flavours but so tasty. I can't stop thinking about the potatoes in the gravy.

It was great to be able to eat pizza and pasta, but also to try Milanese dishes like the Ossobucco and the veal that they don't have in the other regions of Italy.

Travelling home

For our flight home, we travelled by tram and bus to the airport which again, was really simple and took about 40 minutes altogether.

After having my flight cancelled on the way back from Barcelona and waiting 9 hours for a new one, I was delighted that travelling home was smooth and easy and we got home at around 3:30pm - enough time to unpack, chill and watch the Strictly results.

If you are planning on going to Milan then you should definitely visit Lake Como on one of your days there! I'd also recommend going to the Navigli area for dinner and drinks as I enjoyed it there so much.

Related: 3 nights in Corfu, Greece

Have you been to Milan?

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3 NIGHTS IN BARCELONA

Saturday

Can I just start by saying Barcelona is one of my favourite cities now if not my number one favourite? It really has it all!

I'd wanted to visit Barcelona for a long time so since this year I am making up for lost travelling time during Covid, it was the perfect time to book. I loved the trip so much that I am over-excited writing this and don't know what to tell you first but I will try to organise my thoughts clearly.

We went in September which is supposed to be their rainy season but luckily we had no rain, and it was a great temperature for walking around and sightseeing.

Travelling to Barcelona

We had an early start on the first day as our flight was at 9am from Gatwick and I like to be there super early (you never know how long the queues will be these days and I wanted breakfast and a glass of fizz).

The flight was only about 1 hour and 40 minutes on the way there and we had a pretty easy time going through both airports (we did NOT on the way back - more to come on this later).

Once we'd landed at terminal 1 in Barcelona, we got the airport bus which was the A1 (it's A1 for terminal 1 and A2 if you're at terminal 2) and it was only 4 stops into the centre of Barcelona. I think the bus took just over half an hour. They run every 5 minutes and are only 5.90 euros for a single journey so definitely worth doing if you are staying in the centre like we did.

Our hotel was then a 10-minute walk from that bus stop which we found using Citymapper. We stayed at the Ilunion Almirante which was a reasonable price and great location. Perfect for what we needed it for although we barely spent any time there.

Related: 3 nights in Corfu, Greece