Just gone for a cruise!

So recently I haven't been too punctual in keeping my aim of posting at least every two weeks. Excuse my lack of posting but I actually managed to get an AMAZING deal with Thomson to go on a cruise last minute. It was the 'Ancient Affair' itinerary. It departed Cyprus and then made its way to Marmaris and Alanya in Turkey, then onto Santorini in Greece and then to Ashdod in Israel. The cruise was exceptional and I chose it because it stopped off at Santorini and more importantly, Ashdod. This was the gateway to Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and Bethlehem. All of which I visited. 

I'm going to break my blogging posts up as the post will be too long but I shall start with the first leg, consisting with the ports of Turkey.

After boarding the Thomson Spirit, Brandon and I made our way to our room and unpacked.

Brandon standing by our enormous ship.

The first port of call was Alanya and we didn't plan anything with the ship to do anything so we got off and had a walk around. 

It was really a picturesque place and a lovely day.

Once walking round the town, we made our way through the bazaars full of clothing, bags and shoes! It was really very very tempting. Brandon and I then walked towards the castle. We realised there were two ways of getting up to it, and naturally, Brandon chose the complex way up!

The stairs up to the castle.

The view from the top!

I would definitely recommend doing this in Alanya and to not do the tour with the ship. We had a great day, and the weather was perfect so it wasn't too hot to climb!

The viewing point at the top.

That evening we joined in with the ship's entertainment and played bingo. Despite not winning we still had a laugh. We set sail for the next port which was to be Marmaris.

We got to Marmaris around 8am, and we chose to get off the ship at around 11am as we weren't leaving until 7pm that evening. 

The ship stops on the opposite side to where the Old Town is. There is a lovely walk round from the terminal through the Marmaris Marina. I loved this as the walk was interesting looking at all the yachts that were tied up there! The walk was around 15-20 minutes.

Lots of yachts all from the USA to New Zealand! 

It was a beautiful day, but we decided that we would try to go to a Turkish Bath. We managed to find a ticket booth, and there we got an amazing bargain for £10, which included the transfer from the ticket booth to the hotel and back. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, it was a relaxing place, which included the sauna, hamman, and then an oil massage. 

With lots of time to spare after the Turkish Bath, we continued to walk along the promenade and again went through the parade of shops, there we both picked up a bargain or two. Haggling and paying in sterling, which the shopkeepers seemed to prefer!

A photo to finish the end of the day in Marmaris.

We decided not to go to Marmaris Castle because we had visited Alanya fort the day before, but I would recommend stopping by the Castle as at dinner, a few people mentioned the lovely views from the top.

I would definitely return to Turkey. In some ways, I preferred Alanya to Marmaris because I felt the latter had a more rivera and european style to it. Whereas, Alanya still felt very Turkish. However, I would also go back to Marmaris!

Have you visited either places? What did you do there?

Kirsty 

xxx

Day in London with Lucy

On Saturday my sister and I headed into the city for the day. With our parents currently away and the freedom to make our own plans, we decided to go into town early before seeing McBusted later that evening.

We got the C2C into West Ham and headed towards EC1 (Brick Lane, Hoxton, Spitalfields) and arrived within good time to look around. The first place we went to was the Beigel Bar on Brick Lane. This brings back so many fond memories as a child. Our parents always used to take us here to get a smoked salmon bagel or hot salt beef. We also got two doughnuts, filled always with lots of jam!

The Bagel bar

Once stopping by here to buy a dozen bagels to take home, we carried along the high street. We found alcoves of thrift shops and cubby holes of warehouses FULL of unique clothing lines and international foods. We then went to look for the Hummingbird Bakery to get cupcakes for our dessert later that evening!

The entrance in Shoreditch

One of the lovely cakes inside.

Before entering the arena, Lucy and I went to Pizza Express, where we devoured a pizza!

How beautiful does it look!

We had a cocktail at All Bar One, then made our way to our seats in the arena. We did not have to wait too long for the band to come on as we did not see the supports. They played some of their new songs but their old songs were best!

This was their set:

And this was at the end of the night:

It was a great day and I will definitely be going back to Brick Lane when I have money to spend!

Have you had a day out recently?

Kirsty

xxx

An Evening with Hobbie Stuart

The long awaited day came on Sunday, Hobbie Stuart had finally decided to take a break from YouTube and go on his first tour. He has visited places like Leeds and Manchester already and is yet to visit London and Bristol. He headed north, past Hadrian's Wall to visit Glasgow, and I could not wait for the show!

Despite his popularity on YouTube, I was surprised to see that the gig was not full, in fact, at a push only half full. It took place at the Garage, in a room round the corner. It was small and intimate and it felt cosy to be there.

Due to other commitments, I did not see the support act, although, I don't feel as though I missed much, as I had paid £8 to see Hobbie really and it was only really a bonus that someone else would be performing. I met my friend Laura at the venue and we went inside and got ourselves a drink, before heading the floor where Hobbie would be taking the stage.

How close to the front we were.

When he arrived, the audience were awkward, and as my friend and I clapped, many others did not and so we stopped rather abruptly, without too many people noticing we were excited to see him there! He played a few songs, some I knew and some I did not. He introduced a few of his new songs.

Hobbie with his beloved guitar!

 In between each song, Hobbie spoke to audience, but something about him made me feel that he wasn't really connecting with the Glaswegian's and in his last efforts, he even told the story of how he once visit Scotland and saw a football match there, when he was four or five years old to soothe the somewhat tension in the room only half full.

I was somewhat disappointed, he did not play any of the songs I love, and he did not sing the songs that made him famous on YouTube, such as Diamonds and Payphone. Furthermore, he sang some of his original songs, but not the first song he wrote; When you Wake. This song, especially, I felt had a good sense of rhythm and the lyrics were good. Another song he chose to sing in the Garage titled Put a Movie On, to be frank did not really appeal to me. It was funny but this was a gig to showcase his talent.

For the new fans who have just subscribed to him on YouTube, I believe they were impressed, as they sang along to the covers he sang by Drake and Ed Sheeran, but for me, I always knew him for his unique song choice and originality. Thus, it was somewhat convoluted by the current pop songs of the day. One of the only songs he chose to sing that I enjoyed was a cover of Fast Car.

For this show, I believe he chose to sing songs that the audience would want to hear, and while it's good he is thinking of them, I would like to hear the songs he loves the most, rather than hearing he chose them because they were popular with the stars he covered.

After the show Hobbie announced he would be doing a Meet and Greet. This was a nice idea, but Laura and I chose to go to Nandos instead. I think we were somewhat disappointed, but still glad we went as we got to see him off the screen on our laptops. It was also an evening out!

Waiting for our food to arrive!

Have you ever been somewhere that did not live up to your expectations?


Kirsty
xxx

My round up this week

So this week has seemed to have flown by, and I cannot believe that my weekend is here already as I have no lectures on Friday. With that, I with give you an update on what I have been up to this week.

Sunday was a surprisingly bright day in Glasgow. Instead of spending it inside my room at Murano, I asked my flat mate if she would like to go for a walk down to Byres Road for afternoon tea. We slowly made our way down and went into a cafe called Cup. I ordered an Earl Grey tea and a cupcake, which was amazing. Although, I still prefer the Hummingbird Bakery cupcakes! Laura ordered a Scone and a Cappuccino.

We then walked back through the Botanical Gardens around dusk and the scenery was lovely.

The beautiful botanical gardens.

On Monday, I awoke to the doorbell ringing. Addressed to myself, a big package was brought into my flat and I looked at it in disbelief!

The box I had to bring in!

My boyfriend had sent me the most beautiful Roses, a dozen to be exact and at present they are still blooming!

I put them by the window so they caught the sun!

Later in the day, after my Theatre Studies lecture (which was very boring), I went for dinner with my friend Heather. We went to Bar Soba on Byres Road. For someone who hasn't been before, I would compare it to Wagamamas, as it had the same sort of menu. The only difference is that their bar menu looked amazing and I would definitely go back for a drink one time!

We both ordered the Singapore street noodles.

Tuesday I had a busy day at uni which was rounded up by going to see the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with my friends at the Cineworld in town. Honestly, if you get the chance, do go and see it. It is such a feel good film! 

And on Wednesday I went for dinner with my friend Jess to Gourmet Burger Kitchen and got their classic strawberry milkshake, it was beautiful! Oh, and I got a burger, also.

Yesterday I did not do a lot and spent most of the day in bed watching Gossip Girl but had to attend a radio meeting for Subcity. 

Today I hope to get some notes done for my History course, that's if I don't sleep in!

How has your week been so far and what have you been up to?

Love

Kirsty

xxx

Valentines Weekend

My workload has been so busy recently with essays to be completed and a busy seminar season, there has been a lack of sharing on my blog. I will try to update you with what I have been up to over the last few weeks!

On 12th February, Brandon and I flew to Amsterdam for a weekend away exploring in another city. We departed from London Southend which was so much quicker travel wise, as I usually go to Stansted to get my flight back to Glasgow.

Taxiing to the runway.

Above the clouds!

We arrived early Thursday evening and checked in to our hotel, ready to explore the next day.

On the Friday we wandered around all that felt like the whole of Amsterdam the amount of walking we did! We stayed just off Dam Square and so we walked through here everyday to get to the different places. 

Dam Square with the Royal Palace in the background.

We visited numerous shops, many where I longed to buy all the clothes in the shop. The only thing stopping me was the number on the price tag! We also found a lovely teashop that sold the most amazing cakes and had a view where we could just watch the world go by.

The cupcakes were so lovely!

On Saturday evening, we went into Dam Square and got the tram to this restaurant Brandon had booked. It was lovely and we were spoilt by a four course meal and entertainment, consisting of poetry and acoustic music.

The starter was my favourite, usually I don't do salads!

The singer entertaining us for the evening.

On Saturday before dinner, we also went for a canal ride. It was so pretty, and lovely to see the city in the dark. 

The canals were so lovely with the lights around the bridge!

On Sunday afternoon we found a gap and we had been told that if we get a chance we should go to the Sex Museum, soooo... we found it on google maps and made our way to the tiny museum!

yeah.. me, a penis and bran

It really was one of the most obscure things I think I have ever been to! As hilarious as it was, I can't believe how popular this place was!

However, in the evening, we made our way to the Ice Bar! It was so fun, but very, very cold and I didn't manage to make it the full 20 minutes inside! We first had cocktails though as we arrived early. I had a Sex on the Beach and Brandon had a Mojito!

Our cocktails before heading inside the Ice Bar!

It was a lovely weekend and it ended really nicely by going to the Zoo on Monday, something which I love! We managed to see the elephants, giraffes and lions, amongst other mammals and sea creatures. We also went to a planetarium.. although this was in Dutch, it didn't stop us seeing some of the most amazing views by staring above!

I did not want to leave, but unfortunately we had to go back to reality.

Until next time!

Did you get up to anything nice over the Valentines weekend?

Kirsty

xxx

An evening with the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon

On Monday evening I was just going through my twitter and saw a tweet from the university's page announcing that tickets had been released for Nicola Sturgeon.

As bad as this sounds, I only knew her name and nothing more about her. I knew that she had stepped up when Alex Salmond resigned after the Scottish independence election and so I decided to get two tickets for my friend and I. I didn't realise how popular it was and that we were lucky to get tickets.

We made our way to Bute Hall on the Tuesday evening. We arrived early to ensure we had one of the best seats in the house and waited for her arrival.

The ticket that I had to show when I got to the door.

She arrived late due to traffic, but this did not stop her fans and myself, as I eagerly await to hear what she was going to say. When she did arrive, we all clapped, and she had photos taken for the press and for the university, before starting her speech.

Nicola introduced herself and as an alma mater of the university, she felt very comfortable here. She spoke of Bute Hall and felt many emotions when she stepped inside this room. Like many of us will eventually do, she took her final exams here and graduated in this room, and now, presented to us with the prestigious role of First Lady and Minister of Scotland. 

The morals she spoke of she held close to her heart. I found inspiring to listen to her as she pressed that everyone should "be yourself". As a politician, she said she was easily judged on the way she behaved as she was always in the news. If she did not smile then the newspapers would have something to say about it. Equally, if she was being too friendly, then she was seen as weak. Nicola made it clear, that no matter what path you wish to follow you can achieve your dreams. 

She made everyone feel that the impossible was possible. Nicola opened up to us all and explained inequality in gender in today's society still exists. She told us about how she would be judged on what she wore but ensured us she ignored these remarks and told us to do the same. It rang through to us to be ourselves and "follow your heart". 

Nicola said: "Whatever you want to do in life, follow your heart". As a teenager, she was told that to have a chance for getting into parliament she should join Labour. Nicola explained to us, she didn't want to do this because her beliefs were different. If she did not choose to join the Scottish National Party then she would not be following her heart. 

The talk was interesting and was started by a new lecture series of Successful Women at Glasgow (SW@G). 

Nicola was smartly dressed and I loved her shoes!

She finished the talk with questions, all based on women's inequality of some sort which was interesting to hear as she could speak of her own views and opinions on these subjects. She was a pleasure to watch and I felt so inspired at the end that I feel anyone could achieve anything if they put their mind to it. 

I even managed to get a photo with Nicola at the end of the talk.

Have you ever met anyone that has inspired you, or read something that has motivated you to work for something you saw before as impossible?

Kirsty

xxx

My weekend in Loch Lomond

It was such a surprise when my parents said they wanted to come and visit me in Glasgow. They would be staying at Cameron House in Loch Lomond and they planned to pick me up so we could go out somewhere for the day.

I've been waiting all month, but finally, Saturday evening came and mum and dad picked me up at Glasgow airport and took me out to what looked like the wilderness, when coming from such a busy city like London and the south east!

My dad excitedly getting into the car!

We arrived at the hotel and I was shocked to see such a lovely swimming pool with a flume. I wish my parents had told me and I would have brought my swimming gear! I left my things in the room and we went to Duck Bay for dinner where I had the most amazing steak accompanied by my favourite - BBQ sauce and chips! My Mum knew that I love a good Strawberry Daiquiri and so one was ordered to the table for me - And it was perfect! The evening was lovely and we came back to the hotel after and both had a hot chocolate, whilst my Dad enjoyed a Scottish beverage - Irn Bru in the bar at the hotel overlooking the Loch and watching the snow fall. It felt ever so christmassy!

The next morning I awoke and opened the curtains to see the utmost amazing view!

The view of Loch Lomond from my window.

We all knew that today was going to be a fab day just from the weather. The breakfast was unbelievable! I had Kippers while my Mum had Eggs Benedict and Dad had a Full English. After this, our adventure began as we decided to get in the car and go off on our travels further into the highlands! 

The first place we visited was Luss, a small village with cute gardens, exceptionally well kept. A church was also in this town to highlight the religious element upheld in this village. After a quick stop here to see the view of the Loch we made our way further up to the next village on our journey.

Loch Fyne

We stopped in a little town called Inveraray, where we were allowed to park free as it was out of the summer months. The town was deserted but had the potential to be buzzing full of tourists in the summer! 

Inveraray Castle.

Coming into Inveraray, over the bridge we saw this majestic castle, where my dad slowed down so I could take a photo.

We got out of the car and had a wander around the village to take photos of the views. There was also a memorial of the men who fought in the World War, which I thought was a lovely gesture.

We then stopped in a small teashop to have a drink and I ordered Chowder, it was beautiful! 

It was such a lovely afternoon I didn't want it to end. On the way back, it was like driving another way because you had such a different view of what you saw on the way there.

We then went into Balloch, the town right by Loch Lomond to the farmers market. As it was closing at four, we got there right before the end. I managed to get an onion, which was needed for my Spaghetti Bolognese I'll be making later in the week! I also got an Apple Crumble, which was homemade by one of the ladies at the stall. It was such a lovely view, with the wonderful colours in the sky.

The day came to a close as I was then dropped back to my halls, as my parents made they're way to the airport back home to Essex.

Do you ever have any spontaneous weekends where you just get in the car and go off to somewhere you've never been before?

Kirsty 

xxx