Hello everyone, and welcome to another blog post!

Today I wanted to do a quick holiday review, you may or may not know that back at the end of March me and the Mr had a short break away in the Lake District and then onto Gretna for a wedding after.

When we booked our holiday, around Christmas time, I remember saying to my boyfriend how being the end of March, you never know, we might get some nice weather. How wrong could I have been!

Although the picture above does show a beautiful sunny day, as you can see there was snow on the ground! 

The Lakes

We left home early on the Friday morning, I had travelled to my Boyfriends the night before (for those of you who don't know, my boyfriend lives in the Midlands) and started heading Northwards, the Mr laughing at me because I hadn't really travelled too far North before, I am quite the Southern Belle!

After what seemed like hours on the road...well, it was hours on the road and more snow than you could shake your fist at (Thats a weird saying, isn't it?) we decided to stop for coffee and too warm up. However the service station was freezing and the snow was really coming down, so we bid a hasty retreat back to the car.

Arriving in the Lakes we headed straight for our B&B in Bowness-on-Windermere, which overlooked Lake Windermere, and much to my Boyfriends anguish was up a hugely steep hill (which he had to conquer in the snow & ice). We checked in and got ourselves settled in. Our room had a wonderful view of Lake Windermere, but there was such bad snow outside we couldn't even see where the lake was supposed to be (as you can see from the picture below).

The rest of the first day mainly consisted of exploring Bowness, and then taking ourselves off to dinner at the most wonderful Tapas Restaurant Bodega which can be located on Ash Street. If you are in the area you must give it a try, we were thoroughly impressed and it had a great range of vegetarian options for my boyfriend.

The next morning, we got up and headed off for our walk, we had decided to do at least one walk, weather permitting, and to be honest, it wasn't prime walking weather, being snowy, but we did a walk which had been suggested to me by a colleague, called 'Brants Fell'. It was a pretty tough uphill walk, which was exacerbated by the immense snow (as you can see above). The 360 degree views from the top were well worth the walk.

For more information on Brants Fell: Walking Brants Fell

After a strenuous morning, in the afternoon we headed into Bowness and visited the Beatrix Potter Museum. If you aren't aware, the Lake District is strong Beatrix Potter country, with a number of places relating to the author. The Museum looked tiny from the outside, and I guess it wasn't massive inside but it does give you a great insight into the life and works of Beatrix Potter, and it was great to see so many of my childhood characters come to life. 

In the evening we went to a gorgeous little Italian place, called Rumours, our bottle of red wine wasn't up to much, but we both really enjoyed the food.

On our third day in the Lakes we decided to head out by car, and check out the stone circle at Castlerigg. I love things like that, history, heritage etc. So we made our way to Keswick, and on seeing the road up to the stone circle, we decided to park up and walk, and good job we did, on the way up we saw an ice cream van stuck on ice (No we never worked out why the ice cream van was out in the snow either) and on the way down helped a couple who got their car stuck and then themselves slipped on the ice. 

After that we headed for a nice warm drink in a local pub, and then headed off through Ambleside and visited Kendal. We stopped for the most amazing lunch in a really great little bistro, but I can't for the life of me remember its name (and I have searched high and low online too) but I do know I had the most wonderful Eggs Benedict.

Our B&B

Our B&B, Blenheim Lodge, was set in a beautiful location, just off the main road in Bowness, meaning we were just a short walk away from a wide range of bars and restaurants. We had a beautiful room, The Langdale, with a beautiful bay window which gave beautiful view of the lake, as you can see from the above picture.

The room was a great size, comfortable and had beautiful views, and it was a wonderful picturesque scene to wake up to every morning. 

Breakfast was wonderful, I can particularly recommend the poached eggs which were lovely.

The owners were wonderful, helping us out with potential walks, things to do and see in the local area, and looked after us wonderfully.

If you're looking for a wonderful B&B, in a great location then look no further, I thoroughly recommend it.

Gretna Green & The Wedding

After a wonderful break in the lakes it was onto Gretna for the wedding. It was freezing in Scotland when we arrived, we went to the wedding before going off for some lunch in Costa (and a nice Hot Chocolate to warm ourselves up).

Our original plan was to use the time between the wedding and the evening reception exploring Gretna, but it was very cold and instead we headed to our hotel, checked in and warmed up and relaxed.

It was a very short visit, the next morning, we quickly explored the grounds of our hotel, took a few photos before heading back to the Midlands.

We had a wonderful trip, it was busy but relaxing at the same time. 

If you're in the Lakes or Gretna, I thoroughly recommend the places I have mentioned. 

Have you been to the Lakes or Gretna? Do you have any great recommendations? Please leave your comments below.

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If any of you have travelled by plane then you’ll know how dehydrating it can be travelling for so long, combined with the dry air onboard produced by the air conditioning, as well as travelling at altitude and the air being somewhat different. 

As an air hostess this was something I had to deal with on a daily basis and thought I would put together a little guide on how to keep yourself hydrated while flying.

Water:

One of the best things you can do to hydrate yourself is to drink enough water. That’s before your flight, during the flight and after the flight. Its important on the day of travel to make time to drink water, as its not always easy enough when you’re running about getting yourself ready for travel, but its really important for your body and your skin to make sure you are well hydrated before flying.

Its difficult these days with not being able to take drinks through security and rising prices airside, but if there is one thing you buy before getting on the plane, make it a bottle of water. Most airlines will either sell or provide water onboard too. 

And once you’ve landed, make sure you continue to hydrate yourself, to ward off any of the effects flying has had on your body.

Moisturising Cream:

To keep your skin hydrated when flying pack yourself a moisturiser. Nowdays you can only take on board liquids and creams if they are 100ml or less, but you can get plenty of travel sized products these days. A moisturiser will enable you to keep your skin hydrated on the plane.

Lip Balm: 

To keep your lips hydrated and to stop them cracking and splitting on the plane, choose a nice, hydrating lip balm, in particular one that is good for dry lips.

Eyes:

If you suffer from dry eyes, or you wear contact lenses then you might want to invest in some eye drops. These will moisten your eyes and if you are a contact lens wearer they will really help. Lenses dry out really quickly on planes and it makes them harder and scratchy, and can really irritate your eyes. You might also want to take a spare pair on lenses just in case they become too unbearable.

I hope that helps! Happy Travel!

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Last winter I was lucky enough to be able to take part in what was the holiday off a lifetime, A 2 week holiday to Florida and the Caribbean!

Florida:
London - Fort Lauderdale:

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale after a 2 leg flight from London.

London - Toronto - Fort Lauderdale

Our first day in Fort Lauderdale was spent exploring the area, which involved a massive long walk to the beach front, where we ate lunch in this wonderful cafe, where the chairs and tables swung back and forth (not advisable for while you are actually trying to eat however).

After lunch we continued walking along the sea front and then did a little shopping and browsing in the Galleria shopping Mall.

Exploring Fort Lauderdale:

On our second day in Fort Lauderdale we decided to explore the Intra-costal waterways. Fort Lauderdale in made up of several large waterways, on which is built an amazing array of beautiful houses. You can also get to different parts of the city on the water taxi, as it has a hop-on-hop-off service.

Here is a photo of me and mum on the water taxi.

In the evening we did a night time boat tour called the Jungle Queen, this involved a night time trip along the waterways to a small island, where you got dinner and watched a show.

The Cruise:

Boarding the Ship:

Next on our trip was the cruise. We boarded the boat and were shown to our cabin. It was all very surreal.

While waiting for the ship to leave we started exploring and here is a photo of me at the back of the ship.

As the ship left the dock we waved goodbye to the people on the shore and to Fort Lauderdale.

New Years Eve:

Our first night on the boat just happened to be New Years Eve 2011. This was a pudding we had at dinner.

This is me before seeing in the New Year. And this is the outfit I wore.

A Day at Sea:

The next day was a day at sea. 

We explored the ship, did some swimming and sunbathing and ate...a lot.

Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands:

Our first stop was Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos and it looked like a paradise.

We opted to do a tour of the island, to take in the history and see everything this little island had to offer.

After the tour we headed to the beach and enjoyed the white sand and clear waters, as you can from the photo above. You also get a glimpse of some of our beautiful ship.

San Juan, Puerto Rico:

Our second stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico, and for our excursion on this day we had planned something completely different. To the rainforest.

When choosing our excursions before we left the UK we decided to do things that would show us the most or would be something unique that we might not get the opportunity to do often, if ever.

So we chose the rainforest.

The rainforest was hot and sticky but the views were amazing, and its something I will always remember.

After our trip to the rainforest we had the chance to explore San Juan by night. We ate, shopped and soaked up the atmosphere before heading back to the ship.

St Thomas, USVI:

Next stop was St Thomas on the US Virgin Islands.

We opted to do a mini tour of the island, first took us high up in the mountains and up to Drakes Seat, where Sir Francis Drake used to sit to spy on enemy ships.

Next it was on to Magens Bay, one of the top 10 beaches in the world. It was beautiful and so relaxing and peaceful. We stayed here a while, soaking up the sunshine.

Next it was onto a rum distillery, and amber waterfall before a coffee and back to the ship.

Day at Sea:

Next was another day at sea, where we relaxed, read, took classes, did some sunbathing and enjoyed the views.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas:

Our last stop on the trip was Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, a private island.

I found this fab little sign which shows just how far away I was from home.

The first thing we did was a nature walk, which took us around the island, we saw historical ruins, beautiful wildlife and I even dipped my toe in shark infested waters!

Next it was on to the beach, for hours in the beautiful sunshine paradise.

How beautiful is this picture?

Disembarking:

Leaving the ship was sad, but it was onto our next adventure. This is the sunrise in Fort Lauderdale as the ship docked.

This was our room on the MS Eurodam.

Back in Florida:

The Everglades:

As soon as we disembarked the ship, it was off on our next adventure, a tour of the Everglades.

I was even brave enough to hold a baby alligator.

More Fort Lauderdale:

For our second stay in Fort Lauderdale our hotel was right on the beach front (our previous one had been close to the port so it was easy for us to get to the ship for the cruise).

We went back to our favourite cafe with the swinging chairs for lunch.

And in the evening we watched our ship leave from the beach.

For the next few days we enjoyed the sunshine, spent the rest of our holiday money in the mall and enjoyed wandering Las Olas Boulevard. Not to mention the food!

I hope you enjoyed this quick blow by blow account of my trip, I was so lucky to be able to go on this holiday and I am so grateful for all the wonderful places I saw. I am now saving hard so that one day soon I can do another amazing holiday just like this!

Have you been on an amazing trip? I would love to hear about it, let me know in the comments below :)

If you enjoyed this post, then please check out the video below :)

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