Menorca

View from the balcony

Had an amazing week abroad with the family staying that the Hi! Marina Apartments in Cala N' Bosch, Menorca. The place was stunning! We looked out from our balcony right onto the pool and just beyond out to the sea! The beach was a mere 5 minute walk away as was the peaceful marina full of boats of all shapes and sizes. My mum and dad kept saying it was like something from Monte Carlo.


We spent the week soaking up the sun by the pool but also did a great deal of exploring. We took a bus into Ciutadella a couple of times including the Saturday to have a look around the market which pops up there twice a week. Another day was spent on a bus tour of the island where we got to see many of the places you normally wouldn't whilst on the island including, Son Bou the longest beach on the island; Cala Galdana an amazing place where we stopped at the view point to see the most exquisite blue sea in the bay below; and the famous Menorcan Black Stallions! It really was a great day out. We took two trips to the water park which was only a 15 minute walk away and even won a quiz night entitling my mum, brother and myself to a free session of suba diving in a pool at a nearby hotel.

Our final night was spent in Alior at a local FIESTA! It is a tradition during the summer for every town and village on the island to have a fiesta. It was FANTASTIC! There was a titanic theme and there were hundreds if not thousands of people involved and spectating and you could tell everyone was enjoying themselves and the atmosphere. There was also a fair were I bought some earings and also a litre bucket of POMADA (a menorcan drink - Menorcan rum [menorca produces their own] and fanta lemon! AMAZING)! We then all sat around on a roundabout while all the street lights were put off during the fire work display. In all...A PERFECT end to the holiday!

Every night we ate out at one of the many restaurants found surrounding the Marina next to our apartment. And every nights meals was delicious. Top two would have to be the steaks from the steak house and also the chicken kebab I had from a place called Tropicana.

The whole week was brilliant and thoroughly enjoyed by the whole family.

June and July - Work Work Work & a little bit of fun

My summer consisted of WORK! 6 day weeks to be precise :( Man was is tiring. By the end of my 8 weeks I was ready for leaving. Customers were driving me mad. Work in general was driving me mad. My last couple of weeks were a relief, getting to go to Buckie on relief and getting to serve business customers trapped away in my little box :)

In between all the stress and long long days I did get to socialise though and enjoyed many a meal out with my dear friend Tanya to our favourite place...SCRIBBLES. We always order the same thing every time we go apart from on one occasion where Tanya thought she would be brave and try something different. We spent hours and hours sitting talking every time we were there and were generally the last people to leave, we then ended up talking for hours in the car when I was dropping her home. Time just flew! Also got to spend time with my other dear friend Louise and her fiance Mark. Again meals out and also a trip to the circus made my long weeks at work that bit more bearable! I also spent many a weekend enjoying the company of my family. Friday nights became mother daughter nights with my mum when on a few occasions we treated each other to dinner and a movie.

Over the course of the 8 weeks I had a couple of nights out in Elgin but quickly realised they weren't actually as great as I remember. They were still extremely enjoyable nights but Elgin just isn't exactly full of fun being a much much smaller city than what I had become used to living in Glasgow. The nightlife differs accordingly haha

My summer also brought the JOY and EXCITEMENT of getting my flat confirmed along with a move in date :D NOT LONG!!

Flat hunting...what a challenge

Well... when I accepted my placement offer from M&S to work in their Belfast store I didn't quite envisage that finding somewhere to live would be as difficult as it turned out to be.

As we were flying over I had a list of flats that I managed to book viewings for a few weeks in advance but this then meant many of them were cancelled before we arrived due to a let already being agreed.

The other issue was that we were over in May and I wasn't looking to move in until August at the earliest. When a flat becomes available for a new tennant it is customary for there only to be a few weeks between a viewing and moving in. This obviouosly did not suit our timing :S

By the end of day one I felt extremely disheartened by the whole thing and really believed I wouln't ever find anywhere to live :( It was a huge worry! I mean I needed somewhere to live considering I was moving to NORTHERN IRELAND for a year!

During my search I was only booking viewings for flat which had photographs of the inside on the estate agent websites. As we didn't have a great deal of time to find somewhere I didn't want to waste time going to ones which could end up being really horrible, at least photographs give you a rough idea.

In the end we were viewing two flats in the same building and whilst we waiting for the viewing time I contacted an agent about a flat that looked amazing but did not have any inside photos...

The two flats were lovely and jumped straight to the top of the list of possibilities. However, by the end of day one I still felt extremely disheartened by the whole thing and really believed I wouln't ever find anywhere to live :( It was a huge worry as none of the dates for moving in were fitting in with what I needed!

We began day two with a visit to the titanic exhibition. It was great. An amazing attraction perfect for all the family with interactive areas for younger children and a lot of interesting history for adults going from the beginnings of Belfasts industry all the way through the building and eventual sinking of the titanic. It was extremely interesting and a great morning out.

After having a cup of tea/coffee/hot chocolate and massive slices of cake in the cafe we proceeded to the flat for our viewing I had booked the previous day. It was surprisingly close to the two already on the possiblities list but closer to the train station to get into town for work.

Once inside I loved it! It had a bit of work needing done due to careless tenants but looking past all that it was perfect! I could see myself living there. We went away for lunch and within a few hours we were back at the estate agents office handing in an application form and then there was the wait!...

Sunshine! Pancakes! Bikes! Boats! AMSTERDAM!

What a FANTASTIC weekend with the uni girlies! We spent the weekend soaking up the sunshine whilst hiring bikes, eating pancakes and even driving around the canals on pedal boats :D

Everyday was a delight and we had so many laughs during the weekend. We stayed in a hostel like proper little travellers and ate picnics in the park for lunch most days in the delightful Vondel Park. It was BLISSful!

Day one saw us venture into the sex museum which was quite an eye opener at parts. Sex is not as much of a taboo as it is in many other countries and the red light district is a major part of Amsterdam, so of course it waranted a visit. Again another eye opening experience. As was wandering around and catching a wiff of weed off of most every group of people you walked past whether it day or night! Wouldn't get that at home in the UK!

Vikki and myself even ventured into the Amsterdam Dungeons which was quite a thrill. We were in a group with two couples (one couple had already fled before even entering the actual dungeons themselves!!) The other girls decided not to come along but once we had experienced some of the SCREAMS we realised this was possibly a good decision on their part.


I would DEFINITELY recommend anyone to go for a weekend break in Amsterdam. It has made me want to explore more of the world on "weekend city breaks" ;) Better get saving!

Derren Brown

OMG!!

This was such an amazing night spent with my flatmate Stuart. Being wowed and quite frankly slightly creeped out but the master himself, Derren Brown!

Whilst the show began with a bit of humour it quickly descended into a night of confusion and wonder followed by a step into the unknown with quite amazing results.

We were asked not to give too much away on social networking sights or on blogs to ensure that every future spectator of the show would not be disappointed by spoilers.. SPOILER ALERTS! I was amazed by the journalists who actually took note of this and could not find one article that let slip any of the wonders to be seen during the show.

Even the programme did not show anything from the show as you would expect a programme to do. Instead it was full of insight into Derren Brown and the making of the show along with history of magicians and illusionists. Well worth the purchase both Stuart and myself made.

We sat in our seats, which actually had a brilliant view and watched the wonders of the intricate set. It almost resembled a boiler room of a crazy scientist or even a killer from a horror film.

The main show began with his usual trickery which you can witness in any one of his celebrated TV series. The whole time you were kept guessing, even more so when he had you second guessing your own decisions. As these sorts of "tricks" continued we even had a moment where firearms became a part of the show... Yes!

It was quite a show!

His mind controlling trickery which has never worked on me when it's been on TV, i.e. the show where you were supposed to get "stuck to your chair", actually did have an affect on me in the theatre as I stood up with the other handful of people in the auditorium who could not lower their arms. Stuart was left sitting in his seat as I began to worry that I may be taken up on stage, luckily I was not and someone else was the centre of Derren Browns next trick. Phew!!

It really was an amazing night and I highly recommend that anyone who gets the chance to get tickets goes to see one of his shows live. You will NOT be disappointed.

Walk at Lossie Woods

Went for a really nice walk with my mum and dad today and of course my crazy pooch Molly! I'd never been to the Lossie Woods before and until rather recently my mum and dad didn't even know it existed..which is funny when you think we've lived in the area for like 15 or so years! Was such a lovely walk though and was thoroughly enjoyed by all :) definitely gonna start going along on the doggie walks more often :D

STEPS at the AECC

Had such an awesome time last night going to see Steps at the AECC (or the SECC as I kept calling it.. Oops). Was such a brilliant night with my mum Lorna, my sister Katie and my good friend Louise! Louises first proper concert :) Stopped off in Inverurie for an Ashvale chippy and arrived at the AECC eager for the concert to start.

Shockalady and Mr Smith were the support acts to start off (yup I've never heard of them either) ... Won't be listening to them again!

Steps on the other hand really know how to put on a show and it was amazing! So many good photos taken and some of Louise's brilliant ones can be seen below.