The Greyhound Inn, Letcombe Regis

As you know I travel with work so I stay in many hotels, and hotels can be memorable for many reasons. I've stayed in some pretty ugly ones but I try to forget those...when you stay somewhere good it makes it all the more memorable.

Cue my recent stay in The Greyhound Inn, in Letcombe Regis. I don't think I have ever written a hotel review so be nice! I just couldn't resist but share some pictures from my stay, so grab a cuppa and see why I decided to share them this time.

Whirlwind Trip: Barcelona!

Hey there!

I recently wrote a post about a general life update with lots of pictures (you can find it by clicking here) and I mentioned I went to Barcelona for a work trip. I give training as part of my job and the latest trip was to a place just outside of Barcelona.

Whirlwind Trip: Italy - Reggio Emilia

Good morning!

It's been a little while since I've posted last - things are always busy but they have been particularly crazy recently. I've been thrown back into the deep end at work after the Christmas holidays and I've been trying to exercise, eat well and keep up with a social life as well as travelling as part of my job. It's been mental!

My latest trip was a pretty last minute one to Italy - it was a whole new experience where I had to give a training course to people who didn't speak much English and I had to drive a left hand drive car on Italian roads, I was terrified!

The work part was pretty boring so I'll leave that out - but as ever with trips abroad my first stop off was breakfast and duty free at the airport!

I stopped off for some poached eggs and a pot of tea - knowing I was likely to be eating some pretty unhealthy dishes over the next few days I tried to keep away from the pancakes....

I had a very short browse around duty free and picked up my favourite Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer and a new lipstick from Urban Decay - post coming very soon!

Then it was time to get on board, the weather was absolutely beautiful and I had clear skies all the way from Heathrow to Bologna. This has never happened before and as I haven't been on many flights I still absolutely love planes - my face is practically glued to the window the entire times and being able to see the coast on the South of England followed by the Alps in the image below was something I won't forget for a while.

This picture doesn't do them justice at all - the amount of snow was stunning and I wish I'd taken more photos as this was just at the beginning!

I was quite proud of my plane snaps until I saw that Tim Peake had taken a photo on the exact same day of the exact same place, his is without question so much more amazing than mine! I would 100% recommend following him on Facebook even if you're not bothered about space, his photos are beautiful and awe inspiring. Just look at his image below!

But let's get back to my trip - I'm in Italy, what's the first thing I want to eat?

OF COURSE IT'S PIZZA!!!

Pizza is my favourite food, but as I'm intolerant to bread and dairy it's one of those things that I have to limit and save for a treat. However in Italy the base is so thin and the cheese is proper mozzarella and it doesn't affect me at all - HOORAY!!!!!

In celebration I ate the entire 12 inch pizza for lunch and then ordered the same again the next day. The work was a challenge but this pizza single handedly sent me to my happy place and I didn't leave that cloud nine for at least 12 hours.

Another evening I had a beautiful hazelnut dessert, I couldn't tell you what it was to be honest (my Italian is limited to hello, goodbye and thank you) so I saw the 'cioccolato' and knew it would be good. I wasn't disappointed and the warm melted centre was amazing.

I also wanted to eat pasta whilst I was in Italy. I mean let's be honest my priorities were pizza, pasta and gelato. I went with my aim and I ticked them off one by one!

The pasta below doesn't look like much. It arrived and I wondered what on earth I'd ordered, it looked boring, bland and dry.I could not have been more wrong and the parcels were stuffed with pumpkin and so absolutely wonderful I find them hard to describe.



I didn't talk for the full 20 minutes that I was eating them and I was torn between stuffing my face and savouring every mouthful - I need to find somewhere in the UK that makes this and I will spend allllllllllllllllllllllll of the money to eat this again.....and again....

The pasta was followed up with a dish that is particular to the region that I was visiting; Beef in Balsamic Vinegar. Balsamic vinegar is from the region that I was visiting, there are two different styles; one from Modena and the second from Reggio Emilia where I was staying.



It doesn't look anything special but the beef was perfectly cooked and on the rare side, and marinated in the balsamic sauce. I'm not sure I would have chosen it but it was advised to me by my Italian colleague and it was very good.

One evening after the pizza I was so full I couldn't have dealt with eating a meal - instead I went for a walk at a shopping centre and conveniently found a gelato store...

It would have been rude not to have a bowl with three scoops right? So I chose chocolate (obviously!), pistachio and the stracciatella which is a milk based ice cream sometimes flavoured with vanilla that contains shavings of chocolate. It didn't disappoint and I was super happy I'd managed to eat everything from my list.

With all of the food I needed to sample, I thought it was about time I went for a walk! So I drove into the centre of Reggio Nell Emilia and had a wander around, not really knowing where I was going.

A favourite thing of mine about Italy is that there are so many beautiful buildings everywhere, the images above and below show a random church that I walked past and it was beautiful. So good to see parts of it being restored too.

I finally made my way over to the main star of the show, the Reggio Emilia Cathedral. This was also beautiful and had all the details lit up, the Piazza itself was busy with so many people wandering through - and of course a few statues to balance it out!

Considering the work part was pretty busy, the food and the sight seeing was really good. And I picked up a few bottles of genuine balsamic vinegar straight from the region itself! With the red label it means it has been matured for a minimum of 12 years before selling - at 8 euros per bottle my family had better be grateful too!

Where have you been lately? Have you been to Italy, or anywhere near Reggio Emilia recently?

I have never been to Italy and not enjoyed myself, the food alone would put it top of my list!


L xxx

Whirlwind Trip: Helsinki, Finland

Hi all!

Hope you're all getting into the Christmas spirit - I'm super excited to have my Christmas in my own house for the first time so I've been busy buying and making as much as I can!

Work seems to be slowing down ready for Christmas but November was crazy busy and I was out of the office every week for various reasons. One of the trips I went on was to Helsinki in Finland for three days. It was a very quick trip, involving some very early mornings and late nights but I dragged myself out to do some sightseeing during the 1 free hour in day light that I had!

My hotel was right next to a beautiful lake - it was in fact still part of the sea because Helsinki itself is surrounded by it and alsmot looks like it's made up of little islands on the map, like Venice is. The lake was surrounded by paths and trees, and I am honestly impressed at how many people were meeting to walk dogs, power walk, jog and cycle around it. It was really inspiring and they were all so fit, it kind of puts the general British public to shame with the level of exercise they were doing.

That said I continued around the lake and got very very lost - my planned 30 minute walk ended up taking me at least 1.5 hours as I found myself on the other side of a completely different lake!

I had to re-navigate myself back to the centre of the city to find my way back to my hotel without walking the same route all the way back - it was an experience!

I did see some beautifully lit buildings though. It was surprising to see a European city without an abundance of old brick building which is what I am used to from travelling around France and Italy for example. All of the buildings are fairly new and minimalist in their appearance, so the odd building still made of old-style brick stood out to me, like the one below.

After my super long walk I went back to the hotel ready for my first day of work there, I was only there for 2 nights so I was hoping I would have more time to wander around the next evening.

Luck was on my side though as I was back at my hotel by 4 the next day and it was still daylight at this time so I was really pleased. I walked as fast as I possibly could to one of the main attractions in Helsinki, the Helsinki Cathedral.

This suddenly appears from the middle of nowhere and opens out into a sizeable square, there is a monument in the centre (shown above) but the main attraction definitely takes the most of your attention.



It is so beautiful and pristinely white that you wonder how on earth they have managed to keep it clean for so long!

Unfortunately I was too late to get inside the cathedral but the outside was good enough for me. There were a load of steps to climb so I just started running up them before I changed my mind...

One of my favourite things to look at is all of the detail up close, the tops of pillars are always interesting and often overlooked.

I also really loved the colour of the domes - there is one large dome and then four smaller ones all in the same beautiful green colour. Also,the gold accents can't be ignored and if I'm honest the reason I love these so much is because these are the colours in my bedroom at home! I'm a sucker for greens and golds!

It was a shame that the other half was having maintenance performed as this photo would have been so much better - maybe this is how they manage to get it so white though!

After this I moved on to see Market Square, it's right on the water front and I managed to time it perfectly with the sunset. I spent a good half an hour here talking pictures of the amazing ship - I've been watching Once Upon a Time recently and in my opinion this was Hook's!

I also loved that a few people had decided to put some 'love locks' on the bridge - I understand why the one in Paris was removed as there were so many on there it was starting to become a health and safety problem but it's still a lovely idea and maybe even more special that it isn't somewhere as obvious as Paris.

The scenery here was amazing, I loved watching the boats moving back and forth, there were cruise ships and all sorts passing through and I couldn't help but take many panoramic shots as the sky was changing colour - it was so so pretty.

Have you been to Helsinki? What did you think of it?

I really appreciated my 2 hours of sightseeing and tried to do as much as I could before it got dark! I would have liked to have explored more and also taken a boat trip to the nearby islands but sadly this was a work trip so time was very limited. In fact the last day I was up at 6.30 to pack up and check out of the hotel before working for the day and travelling back to the UK - I got home the equivalent of 2.30am so I was a zombie at work the next day!

Now I'm looking forward to my next trip - there aren't any planned for next year yet so who knows where I'll be ending up next!

L xxx

Paris - A Whirlwind Trip!

Goooooooood morning!

It's been another crazy few weeks, things just down seem to be slowing down. I've not long got back from a trip to Paris for work - it was the perfect time for me to add on some of my annual leave from work and take advantage of the free flights.

After giving the training course I moved to a different hotel closer to the centre of Paris and made the most of my evening!

I caught the metro to the Louvre and it was a lovely sunny evening so I just decided to wander - I walked all the way from the Louvre through the park and along the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe which if you have been you will know is a good couple of miles!

It was so nice to not have a schedule to work to and have the time to wander around. I've been to Paris a few times before so didn't actually need to visit any of the obvious tourist attractions. But I had the evening to do what I liked and a walk around one of the most romantic capitals in the world.

The Arc de Triomphe is a great sight in itself, but one of the things I really like about it is the crazy roundabout that surrounds it. 8 lanes or pure chaos and mayhem - no actual road markings for the lanes means that the traffic is pretty hilarious to watch. I have been on a tour bus myself that decided to take a different direct and cut across all 8 lanes of the traffic at once, and it was definitely an experience!

Along the Champs Elysee i did visit a few shops and the obvious choice was the massive Sephora - I accidentally found this of course!

I was really excited to get there and have a good rummage and spend - however I was really disappointed with what they had on offer.

I've always thought that Sephora contained a whole load of magic products that we couldn't get our hands on in the UK, but actually everything was seemingly the same as everything I can purchase in Debenhams etc back in the UK. I did buy a few things but it came to a total of 12 euros so I really didn't spend much!

I was interested in the Make Up Forever range but at 40 euros for the foundation I wasn't convinced.

Needless to say I was disappointed but it's probably for the best as I shouldn't be spending anyway!

I then found my way from the Arc de Triomphe to the Eiffel Tower and it was the perfect end to my evening. It was just getting to sunset so i took some photos and then the whole thing began to light up!

It was beautiful so I sat across the road at the Trocadero and people watched, there were many brides and grooms there having photos taken as newlyweds. It's such a lovely thing to have a memento of!





This was pretty much the end of my evening in Paris itself. I had a whole day to spend there without any agenda so I'd planned to go to the Palace of Versailles on the full day I had there. It was absolutely beautiful so I will be writing a separate post on that - far too many beautiful photos for one post!

I did of course manage to eat a macaroon when I was there, the shop windows of L'Aduree are just so beautiful and the colours are so sweet!

The macaroon I tried was a giant chocolate one - and it was a good thing i was at the airport when I tried it so I couldn't go back and eat anymore!
I'd never tried them before as I absolutely hate meringue and thought they were similar, but actually to my surprise they aren't and now I'm in love. I'd love to try the pistachio and raspberry ones, though I'll wait until my next trip abroad as they can be stupidly expensive!

Have you been to Paris? What are your favourite sights?

The only thing I feel I missed was the Pont des Arts bridge, which used to have the locks attached to it. They were removed in June due to the sheer weight of the locks and have now been replaced by clear panels, so I wanted to see the difference.

I love visiting cities like this just to soak up the atmosphere of being somewhere different!

L xxx

Things I've Learnt This Week

Hi all!

It's been a crazy busy few weeks and I haven't done a life update or anything recently so here it is; everything I've learnt in the last few weeks all rolled into one.

1) Staying in a windmill for a work course has been interesting! It's a Premier Inn but randomly has this on the top. It also means that I've been eating tonnes and tonnes of food that I wouldn't normally eat and consequently feel like a whale. I'm not used to not eating clean any more and that combined with no exercise has been disastrous!

2) Science is so cool SO FREAKING COOL. Sometimes I find it hard to get my head around it all, and other times I find it hard to get my head around writing a blog about make up but I like the split personality side of things.
This week my course has been taking place in the same lab that the equipment analysing samples from the Comet landing was created. You heard about Rosetta and Philae landing on the comet a few weeks ago? Here's a model in the building of the work they did that's about a third the size of the real thing:



HOW COOL IS THAT!!
I was like a fan girl walking around the labs with the scientists working around me; they're like the new kind of celebrity for me.

3) Street Food Cardiff is the best thing I've ever come across; not only is it held in a disused warehouse which is cool and creepy all over it's full of the most amazing food that I just couldn't get enough of!

You're met with a smoky smell and hazy view as you walk in and the most interesting looking tree made of pieces of wood stapled together forming the centre of the seating area. It's surrounded by massive tyres filled with wooden bobbins to act as tables and chairs and you just go to any food counter you like and chomp away!

What I like best is there's a huge variety of food there anyway but it changes weekly. We went to the thanksgiving weekend which had a lot of different types of American food. I ate a peanut butter bacon burger and it sounds weird but it was amazing!

4) I've been loving using some of my new products recently, the Black Magic eye pencil set from UD has the most wearable shades of black teamed up with a grey, brown, sparkly turquoise and purple. It's great for when you need to go from work to play and so easy to carry in your handbag.

I had a free sachet of this with a Space NK order and wasn't sure if another oil would be any good. But I really liked this and after using the products I have I would consider buying this in future.

Another kit I got my hands on had the beloved Grindhouse sharpener that everyone raves about; it's great and means I can finally use the 24/7 concealer pencil I purchased so many months ago that I haven't been able to use. Drawing on my face in the mornings is fun and very easy!

5) After my week of a work course with other outings with friends I've been feeling pretty damn huge after all the food that has been provided. As soon as I got back I was straight on the chia seeds, peppermint teas, chicken salads and as much veg as I can. It's hard to keep on track sometimes but with just over 2 weeks to the festivities begin I need to reel it in and get back to the gym!

(Still can't resist a dollop of peanut butter though!)

Eating at Wagamamas was fun and I tried to stick to my chicken/veg options but not knowing many of the meals on the menu I still ended up choosing a dish worth 930 calories! Oops.

What have you all been up to recently? Are you trying to eat healthy before the Christmas food begins or are you just embracing December for what it is??

L xxx