French Travels, Marseille #2

Hey Bloggers, 

We're halfway through the week and I thought I'd share with you what I have been up to in France. On our few days in Marseille, I took a boat trip to Les Calanques, a place that is coated with beauty and mystery as the boat takes you through the caves and to the mini rivers, leading from the sea. However, on this day we went, it was not to be the case as the sea was rough, and by the end of the trip I felt extremely sea sick! :(

The Les Calanques on a bad day, the water should have been crystal blue!

On our way back we passed Castle D'If, it is most famous in the novel, The Count of Monte Cristo.

However, after this, we managed to see a lot in Marseille, the photos I took below summed up my time here!

The view of Marseille from the Cathedral de la Gare.

The doors to the main Cathedral, down here where this photo was taken was the Crypt.

The beautiful embellishment inside the Cathedral.

This was the fort of St John.                  

The view from the fort, before heading into the adjoined Mucem.

Mecum garden, where you could stop for lunch!

Backstreets of Marseille.

Marseille has been lovely and it has been interesting comparing the cities between each other when we have moved on to other destinations. 

Is there a city you've enjoyed spending time in?

Kirsty 

xx

Marvellous Marseille

On Monday, my boyfriend and I jetted off to the South of France for a small adventure. We're currently at our first stop, but will be continuing our journey further along to the sunny city of Cannes in the next few days. However, Marseille has brought beauty and bliss as we're exploring the city's touristic sites and exhausted its many coffee shops! 

Upon leaving our bags at the hotel room on the first day, we hopped on the Metro from our stop, La Timone to Vieux Port, the escalator climbed to the city floor and we sprung upon this beautiful view!

We walked around the port and landed ourselves in Le Panier district. I would recommend anyone to go here as it is bustling full of unique shops and squares of independent restaurants.

                     

At the end of the port we found ourselves at Cathedral de la Major. The architecture in this cathedral was so beautiful, and a definite place to go to when exploring Marseille. 

                     

                   

                    

                    

After walking around this beautiful and historical cathedral, we then left to walk back around the port and book a boat trip to Les Calanques, something I will talk about on my next blog post! 

However, this insight to Marseille on the first day excited me of what was to come in the following couple of days we were here. 

I will write to keep you updated on our adventure in the south of France!

Kirsty 

xx

S Club 7!

Never had a dream come true...

Until yesterday, when the day finally arrived for me to see my favourite childhood band. Brandon had bought me tickets for Christmas and I was so excited to see them, ever since the last show I saw at Docklands! But before I tell you all about the gig, I'll let you know what I did before the performance in London.

Brandon and I travelled into Liverpool Street earlier in the day to have a walk around as the weather was so lovely. From the station we walked to my ever favourite cake shop: Hummingbird Bakery to pick up two cupcakes, one for me and one for my mother. I got a #RHSChelsea themed cupcake as I am taking her to the Chelsea Flower show on Wednesday, which I bought for her as a Christmas present! 

We then walked towards Spitalfields Market and, once inside, we were asked whether we wanted to make a Mojito. Of course we said yes and got in line to make our mouth-watering Mojito. We had to do everything ourselves and even got to keep the cup!

Brandon's tasted better than mine... unfortunately :(

We then walked further towards Brick Lane. I found some AMAZING bargains in a pop up shop with the brand called Oh My Love London. The prices were slashed and I purchased some beautiful clothes for summer. On the way back to the station, Brandon wanted to try coffee from this place called Department of Coffee and Social Affairs. I had a Latte and it was truly amazing. Brandon ordered a Flat White and we sipped these on the overground as we made our way to the O2.

The two cute cups of coffee!

Once arriving at the O2, we had a bite to eat and then went to Sky Backstage to get a drink before heading into the arena!

We felt as though we were on the red carpet.

The performance was phenomenal, S Club performed all the songs I expected them too and each of the artists in the band were given 5-10 minutes to show the audience their worth within the band. I found that Jo O'Meara was the lead singer and held the band together throughout the show. I was disappointed at first to hear that Paul Cattermole would be singing the acoustic version of 'Reach', until rest assured, the gang sang the 'true' song at the end of their gig, along with 'Never Had a Dream Come True' and 'Don't Stop Movin'. The seats were brilliant and I was able to take some brilliant photos and videos!

The band popping up at the start of the gig.

Rachel Stevens even performed her solo songs which was very exciting and brought back lots of memories! Unfortunately, Tina Barrett didn't do it for me, and I believe that she performed very poorly. Despite this, it did not drag down the quality of the show, as they quickly pushed back into the hits they shared in the 2000's!

Dance, Dance, Dance.

Here's a video I took of one of my most favourite songs:

Overall, I had a lovely day and an even better evening. I'm so sorry to Brandon who was sitting next to me to hear the ordeal of me singing along to every song. 

However, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who was and is a fan to go and see them, they sing so well and entertained me the whole hour and forty five they were on stage! As ever with all trips to the O2, it was a very easy train ride home, which makes the gig a lot more accessible to get to!

Kirsty

xxx

Santorini

Following my last blog post, the ship sailed from Turkey and headed to the picturesque island of Santorini. We arrived at 7AM, and unfortunately, we awoke to cloud. Once on the boat to take us to the island (as this island has no port and so the ship is tendered), it started to rain.

Our ship from the boat, so majestic.

Brandon and I had decided to take a tour on this day with Thomson. So we were the first off the ship. Despite the overcast weather, we were determined not to let it ruin our day. Firstly, we visited the tranquil Oia village, where celebrities tend to hideaway in the summer months to catch the glorious sun rays and wandered around for two hours.

Oia is a village, built upon the cliff and, leading down to the sea, villa's are cut into the rock to make the beautiful getaway spots that most of us dream we were on the days we're stuck in lectures or in the office!

Oia Village.

After wandering around and seeing some lovely shops, I found a book shop, which to much disappointment was closed. 

Such a unique shop, surrounded by souvenir shops.

We then stopped in a coffee shop overlooking all the beautiful sun houses I dream of owning! Here, I wrote my postcard to my nan.

The swimming pools are to DIE for! I am so jealous of anyone who spends the night here.

We had to meet the tour guide back at the church in the middle of the square. It is chalk white and looks stunning when standing against the blue sky.

Wouldn't it be a dream to get married here?

We then made our way to Santos Winery. They gave the group a tour of the winery. Although, it was obvious that most of us had come for the wine and olives they provided us with. We were here for around an hour. I had glass after glass, tasting a white, red, and a dessert wine. I enjoyed the white the most! The sun came out for this part of the tour and it was lovely to sit on the verandah and watch the world go by and watch the boats come into the Cyclades.

Santos Winery.

A picture before leaving.

After this, we returned to Thira, and we were given a coupon to get the cable car back down to the port. Once we spent some time in Thira, the capital of Santorini, Brandon and I made our way back down back to the ship. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon on the ship, tanning and listening to Top Men on deck. 

Truly, a marvellous and memorable day.

Have you ever been to Santorini?

Kirsty 

xxx