Straight outta Compton Verney
Here Today, Scone Tomorrow!
We can’t wait to see the adventures you’ll have!
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Our Christmas Present to you... from Rose Red Rose White
Rose Red Rose White are offering free postage for our readers so why not pop over to Paula's shop and make some lovely purchases. This one is my absolute favourite. Just remember to use the code 'MYSHIP' until 31st January.
Our Christmas Present to you... from Woodstorming
Today Audrius and Virginija from Woodstorming have a special offer for you. We think their shop is amazing. The husband & wife team run their small family workshop from Lithuania. They focus on making original, elegant and unique ring boxes, as well as office and personal accessories.
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| Photography by Ilona & Martynas from InStudija |
Use the code 'MYPHOTOGRAPHY' until the end of January to get 5% off in their shop.
Our Christmas Present to you... from The Fox And Fig
As a little Christmas present for you guys we've got a few discounts to offer you from some of our favourite Etsy sellers.
First up we'd like to introduce The Fox and Fig: a sweet little shop stocked full of cufflinks and tie clips which would work great for groomsmen gifts or Christmas presents for the men in your family. For the ladies check out the earrings and necklaces in cute patterned fabrics.
Liz from The Fox and Fig is offering you 15% off orders over £20 with the coupon code 'MUSTARDYELLOW' (valid until 31st of Jan).
Sunny Sheffield
Our top tips for a sunny day in Sheffield:
*hang out with some of your favourite people
*eat tasty pancakes in the garden
*enjoy people's happy pancake faces
*chill out in a bucket swing until you feel a bit sick
*go for a lovely walk
*have a break for a hot chocolate the size of your face
*finish the day with some ice-cream
We love happy customers!
Engaged?
Featured Wedding
Pheonix
Coffee In Shrewsbury
A postcard from GB
To our dear friends from Perth (and other globetrotters),
Thank you for having us to stay! We had such fun exploring your streets, dipping in your pools, talking to your dogs and sizzling sausages.
Now isn't about time we returned your generosity?
In an effort to persuade you we've put together this little tour of the UK, a dream team itinerary, as a pledge of good hostmanship. We hope it'll wet your appetite.
(If you're here for a while check out the whole list, if you've only got a short stop check out the comments marked with an asterisk*.)
What to do in the UK...
Visit Scotland: In Edinburgh* theres the Jenners department store, the Castle (with the military tattoo), the Scottish National Galleries of Modern Art to fill your day. Of course you couldn't miss out Linlithgow*- home of your Scottish friends, which has its own beautiful Palace and Loch (see your first white swans!). If there at the right time don't miss the marches. Take a long drive and two ferries to isolation on Iona, theres a monastery surrounded by purple and turquoise sea (you can easily walk round the whole island in a few hours). See your first ever snow and ski on it in the Cairngorms. Kayak on a loch and spot some highland cows. Make sure you drink IRN BRU, eat tablet*, haggis, an Oliphant's pie and at least one insane thing deep-fried in Glasgow. Finish with a cultural turn up for the books in Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art.
Have a long weekend drifting around the countryside on a canal boat. And make sure you see at least one dramatic waterfall and one fast flowing river.
Go to London to see the Queen (and Corinne!*), go to the Tower of London to see the crown jewels (you can have a really quick visit for free if you go round as they lock up), see art in Trafalgar Square and the Serpentine gallery or swim in the Serpentine lake. Top up on art in the Saatchi Gallery, the V&A, the Tate galleries and eat lunch in the Turbine Hall*. Watch a show in the West End, Shakespeare at the Globe and sneak a peek at a celebrity on the red carpet at Leicester Square. Go to the Natural History Museum, the Imperial War Museum and see the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace. Glimpse grandeur in Westminster Cathedral and St Paul's, or watch MPs in The Houses of Parliament. You should probably check out the Liberty's building to compare it to Perth's imitation, London Court. While you're at Liberties you might as well go in for a spot of shopping, and while you're in the mood Oxford street* is a must see (Topshop for Bee and Moo). Get a Boris bike and crash London fashion week. But don't go in the Thames.
There are loads of special events to see too, depending on when you're in London, the Oxford/Cambridge boat race, The BBC Proms, Pride Marches, the State Opening of Parliament, Chinese New Year or the Trooping of the Colour to name but a few.... oh yeh, and there's the Olympics.
In London enjoy the Tube (its fun when you're not in a rush) then take the Megabus to another city for £1.
Stop a while in Birmingham: Go to the Bullring markets and a vintage fair at the Custard Factory. See a show at the REP or a film at the Electric Cinema (and text your waiter your order for olives from your sofa seating). Have a curry in the Balti Triangle* and experience a proper pub lunch. Meet the pre-raephelites in the BMAG, something more contemporary in the IKON or something less famous in one of the Digbeth galleries. Taste Cadbury's without the wax at its home in Bourneville and check out the canals. Meet our friends and picnic in Sutton Park.
In Wales you could stay in a bothy to experience the countryside up close and personal. Take a visit a Welsh revival chapel and some of our favourite beaches around Abersoch. Eat a Cadwaladers, do some wake boarding in the cold sea, warm up with a bonfire on the beach. Then see the heights of Snowdon on your way back to England.
The following deserve at least a mention: Brighton (ride a carousel at the end of the pier, its a family tradition of ours), Cornwall (the best clotted cream and amazing art in St Ives), the Lake District (has lots of lakes), the Cotswolds (have pretty cottages with yellow stone walls and thatched roofs), Bristol (is an environmentally aware city, with a hippy vibe and cool goings on) and Blackpool (for tacky souvenirs and the blackpool illuminations).
This completes our list of recommendations for a visit to the UK (this list is not conclusive).
Please come and see us soon,
With love
Coz, Nom & Malc
Perth
We had a relaxing time in Perth, which was great, but probably means we're not qualified to give a thorough list of "Things to do and see". Here are some of the things we enjoyed doing incase you might like them too. We've mingled in some tunes from our holiday experience as well.
In Perth
Kings Park is pretty cool- its full of native plants and when you get bored of looking at them it has great views across the centre of the city from its high vantage point. During the summer months it also is the host of Mooonlight Cinema: a temporary outdoor cinema showing a variety of movies (including exciting advanced releases). You can buy popcorn and rent a chaise lounge shaped bean bag to recline on.
For other greenish, outdoor activities you could take the free CAT hop off by Mt hospital and cross the road to John Oldham Park. Its a nice spot of shady green in an unexpected spot surrounded by major roads and there were plenty of birds to wonder at. Or you could go down to Point Walter and walk out along the sandbank into the middle of the river.
Perth is a city that feels small an manageable rather than huge and cosmopolitan, but it still has its hidden gems and its big city lights. The best place to see those lights is from the South Perth foreshore. And the best place to enjoy its small, friendliness... at someones house in their pool.
Around Perth
Hop on a ferry down the river to Fremantle. Consume so much chocolate you feel like you're about to go into a coma in Chocolateria San Churro at Hillary's boat harbour. Watch the sunset and eat fish and chips from the jetty at Cottesloe. Take a road trip to south for the beaches, beer sampling at Eagle's Bar Brewery and walk the jetty at Busselton (there's an underwater observatory at the far end and a little train to bring you back again). Its 3km long- take a look at it on google maps! (While you're there have a look at the swan river around the city of Perth to see some crazy boat trails).
In Perth
Kings Park is pretty cool- its full of native plants and when you get bored of looking at them it has great views across the centre of the city from its high vantage point. During the summer months it also is the host of Mooonlight Cinema: a temporary outdoor cinema showing a variety of movies (including exciting advanced releases). You can buy popcorn and rent a chaise lounge shaped bean bag to recline on.
For other greenish, outdoor activities you could take the free CAT hop off by Mt hospital and cross the road to John Oldham Park. Its a nice spot of shady green in an unexpected spot surrounded by major roads and there were plenty of birds to wonder at. Or you could go down to Point Walter and walk out along the sandbank into the middle of the river.
Perth is a city that feels small an manageable rather than huge and cosmopolitan, but it still has its hidden gems and its big city lights. The best place to see those lights is from the South Perth foreshore. And the best place to enjoy its small, friendliness... at someones house in their pool.
Around Perth
Hop on a ferry down the river to Fremantle. Consume so much chocolate you feel like you're about to go into a coma in Chocolateria San Churro at Hillary's boat harbour. Watch the sunset and eat fish and chips from the jetty at Cottesloe. Take a road trip to south for the beaches, beer sampling at Eagle's Bar Brewery and walk the jetty at Busselton (there's an underwater observatory at the far end and a little train to bring you back again). Its 3km long- take a look at it on google maps! (While you're there have a look at the swan river around the city of Perth to see some crazy boat trails).
Dolce Vita
Breakfast in Perth
(Nom and Malc would like to thank Breakfast in Perth for the inspiration behind this post and the recommendation of some of the great eateries we visited in Aus.)
Today we thought we'd share some of our favourite places we ate at while we were in Perth. You may have noticed we love our food, and whilst we are not fussy we are also not easily impressed. So the following are our recommendations should you ever find your self in WA with a rumbly tummy.
Breakfast
Toast in East Perth was our favourite place for a hot drink. The best chai latte I ever tasted by a mile, with an almost custardy texture and none of that grit you sometimes get with a ground cinnamon topping. The cafe is filled with an eclectic mix of nic nacs and tinkers and the outside tables are right by the river. The breakfasts we had were inspiring- we've tried (with partial success) to recreate their scrambled egg on polenta toast, which was delightful.
Cioccolato: Their menus are disguised in children's books, so once you've chosen you can had a little read. The food was yummy- we sampled quite a variety (breakfast muffin through to an exciting roast veg salad) and check out the chocolate sprinkles on my iced coffee. Fliori Coffee served us another great chai, but I was more taken by the coffee paraphernalia decorating the service counter.
Lunch
We wound up in Bivouac for Malc's birthday, and were not disappointed by some really tasty food. Blue cheese arancini with pesto were new to us and fantastic (the above picture is a chicken schnitzel with avocado mayo). Straight across the street is Jusbuger, which has an interesting aversion to freezers: they never use one, so everything they're selling is made fresh. The vegetarian options were refreshingly thought out- not just a generic veggie burger. Malc had a lamb burger and Nom had a pumpkin goats cheese with goat's cheese and pesto.
Drinks
The Old Swan Brewery is now mostly swanky riverside apartments and two nice restaurants, but does still have its own microbrewery. Malc had one of their Kangaroo Paw's.
For a small bar tucked away down an alley in in centre of the city Helvetica has a pleasantly surprising number of scottish whiskey's. Also pleasantly surprising was their free antipasti buffet table, which seemed to be provided just for the birthday boy.
Today we thought we'd share some of our favourite places we ate at while we were in Perth. You may have noticed we love our food, and whilst we are not fussy we are also not easily impressed. So the following are our recommendations should you ever find your self in WA with a rumbly tummy.
Breakfast
Toast in East Perth was our favourite place for a hot drink. The best chai latte I ever tasted by a mile, with an almost custardy texture and none of that grit you sometimes get with a ground cinnamon topping. The cafe is filled with an eclectic mix of nic nacs and tinkers and the outside tables are right by the river. The breakfasts we had were inspiring- we've tried (with partial success) to recreate their scrambled egg on polenta toast, which was delightful.
Lunch
We wound up in Bivouac for Malc's birthday, and were not disappointed by some really tasty food. Blue cheese arancini with pesto were new to us and fantastic (the above picture is a chicken schnitzel with avocado mayo). Straight across the street is Jusbuger, which has an interesting aversion to freezers: they never use one, so everything they're selling is made fresh. The vegetarian options were refreshingly thought out- not just a generic veggie burger. Malc had a lamb burger and Nom had a pumpkin goats cheese with goat's cheese and pesto.
Drinks
The Old Swan Brewery is now mostly swanky riverside apartments and two nice restaurants, but does still have its own microbrewery. Malc had one of their Kangaroo Paw's.
For a small bar tucked away down an alley in in centre of the city Helvetica has a pleasantly surprising number of scottish whiskey's. Also pleasantly surprising was their free antipasti buffet table, which seemed to be provided just for the birthday boy.
Dear Aussies, We miss you!
Its been 6 weeks since our 6 weeks in Aus: about time we wrapped some things up I think! So this week we've got a few posts planned about our time in Perth, Dubai and then something a little closer to home. Hope you enjoy them.
Toast
Helvetica
Pigeonhole, Perth
In Perth there is an imitation of the Liberty of London building, it's called London Court and it contains one of our favourite Perth Shops: Pigeonhole.
London Court contains a variety of shops selling things from Aboriginal artwork to English sweets.
We popped in and had a lovely chat with Sara, todays 365, and she told us about their other shops (they sell clothes and coffee! ). We'll be sure to check them out.
Planet Melbourne
Ten places or things worth a visit in Melbourne...
1 Fed Square
Federation Square (or simply 'Fed Square' as it's known locally) was designed as a cultural and social hub for Melbourne. It sits close to the National Gallery of Victoria, the fantastic south bank food court, the Arts Centre and the Melbourne Theatre Company. It also houses a performance venue, multiple fun-looking eateries and bars, and the NGV's national collection. Apparently it's a bit of a Marmite (or should that be Vegemite) in that people seem to love or hate it. We are lovers.
2 Trams
... are everywhere in Melbourne. An integral part of the transport system, you can pay for one ticket that takes you into the city on a train, then gets you on trams once you're there. Mostly people use them to hop from one end of the road to the other, which, as we discovered, is probably the most sensible thing to do. We took the 109 from Balwyn on our first trip into the city, but could've cycled it faster! On the upside, there's a free City Link tram that circles the city centre. It uses old-style trams that look as if they've seen a journey or two.
3 Royal Exhibition Hall
Probably more spectacular than the hall itself is the surrounding Carlton Gardens, one of the city's numerous large green areas, all of which are worth your time. The flower beds are special, littered with Bird of Paradise flowers, which we are struggling to grow in the UK.
4 Eureka Tower
The tallest tower in Melbourne allows you to go (nearly) all the way to the top, using probably the fastest lift in the city. The 88th floor Skydeck is pretty spectacular: there are windows all the way round the tower, allowing you a 360 view of Melbourne, and a small, caged, open air section where you can watch the intense wind blow your ticket into the distance and mothers hold tight to small children. I enjoyed the scrolling lcd screens that showed fun local facts like: 'EVERY DAY 90 TONS OF DOG POO IS LEFT ON THE STREETS OF MELBOURNE'.
5 Queen Victoria Market
Much like our own Bull Ring Markets, the QV has a handsome range of fresh meat, seafood, and fruit and veg stands, alongside lots of suspiciously cheap clothes and other goods. Malc was pleased to find a spice stall that sold tea by weight for less than T2 (a nice chain of high street tea shops). He bought some Turkish Apple instant tisane, which rubs its smell onto anything it touches.
6 Hoiser Lane
The back streets in Melbourne have a reputation for their graffiti. We checked out Hoiser Lane and were not disappointed.
7 Fitzroy Gardens
A walk through these gardens includes a variety of experiences. We spotted three wedding parties, Captain Cooke's Cottage, people meditating, an orchid-filled greenhouse, the old treasury building and plenty of greenery. We couldn't find the fairy tree, but then again we had no idea what we were looking for.8 The Art Centre
We didn't intend on spending much time in this landmark building. When we popped in to try and find a good cup of coffee it seemed mostly to be fully of theatre goers. We did stumble upon an impressive exhibition about a famous Aussie cross-dresser.
9 T2
It might not get a mention on the tourist guides but this is a tea shop worth a visit if you like tea even half as much as Malcolm does.
10 The Nicholas Building
We visited to see a temporary shop set up for Christmas by Melbournia, and we were glad we eventually found the whole place. Many of the building's original details have remained: stained glass, arched ceilings, an old style post box and two manned lifts. The lift operators tell us that they are soon be replaced by a less exciting standard lift. After the end of January those lifts will be a much lonelier experience.