Wednesday 28 December 2016

What I've learnt about living in London

Hey blogging world, long time no speak! Due to personal circumstances (which I will discuss in later posts), I haven't really been posting on here but I'm back! I do miss blogging so I am going to try and get back on it as best I can.



I have been living and working in and around London since summertime now and I can finally say that the culture is rather different. For those of you that don't know, I grew up in Leeds and went to university in Sheffield so I never really left Yorkshire. I love living and working down there but there are some considerable differences between the north and south so I thought it would be fun to talk about them.

Here are some funny things I have realised whilst living down here:

The drinking water down south is gross - I have been spoilt growing up with Yorkshire water - we basically get Harrogate Spa water for free! For some reason southern water takes like chemicals and it comes out of the tap a bit cloudy to start with... worrying. I definitely need to get a water filter.

The weather IS actually a lot warmer and sunnier: Obviously this isn't concrete and isn't the case everyday but in general the south is much warmer. I always thought this was a myth but it isn't. Whilst I was getting texts saying Leeds had a layer of snow, it wasn't even close to freezing temperature down here. Don't get me wrong, it does get cold but most of the cold days recently have still been blue skies as opposed to Leeds which is often cloudy. Whenever I drive up to Leeds, it seems that when you get to Watford Gap, the clouds just thicken! This is an aspect I definitely love about been down here.

It IS expensive - I mean London is sort of ridiculous... You will pay £5+ for a beer and nobody will think anything of it. People slate the south for its prices but I still think it is worth it - you get used to the prices in the end and in general people do get paid much more.

House prices are on another level - Obviously the house prices are obscene in London but house prices are pretty high even on the outskirts. What would cost you £300,000 in a nice part of Leeds would cost about £800,000 in Hertfordshire.

Northern accents are a focal point of conversation - As I am from Leeds, my accent stands out like a sore thumb. Everyone guesses I am from Manchester and the usual 'I can't tell the difference between the two' comes afterwards... I can definitely tell the difference!

The nightlife is rather different - No disrespect to the north, but going out down south and in London is usually a lot classier. Of course there are some real grungy places in London but on average, the mainstream going out places are much nicer. You can go for drinks and have a dance without getting stood on and without a thousand drinks been spilt on you. The range of options in London are also great too, you can go to a proper club or for a casual drink and everything in between.

Don't get me started on public transport...

Morning commuting is much longer - Commuting 1 hour to work is a normal commute and is something I am very used to. When I mention that to people in the north, they think that is crazy. My mum drives 15 minutes to work!

All manners go out of the way on public transport - In general, people only think about themselves when on public transport; I'm talking elbowing out of the way to get on the tubes and trains, especially when it is busy.

There is SO many more people - The population density is so much larger in the south - there are so many more people! You can tell when on the roads and on the trains - the M1 is always a nightmare until you reach leicester and it clears up. Once you go north of Sheffield, you end up flying! Commuting home from work means that many people end up standing up face to face.

People are much less polite and don't really speak to strangers - Its funny because as soon as I get back on the train at Leeds, I get random people speaking to me. This would never happen on public transport.


Despite all this, I love living here and I wouldn't change my experience for the world! Seeing the gherkin from my office or walking over the Thames to college with the most spectacular views, makes me realise how luck I am to live in such a stunning city.

Do I have any northern readers living in London? Let me know!

Lots of love,

Alice xxx

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Thursday 27 October 2016

Finding beauty on your doorstep | Brighton

Every British person will admit that going to the beach in UK is nowhere near as good as going to the beach abroad. However, when the sun does decide to rear its head, some of the seaside resorts can be super nice. Cornwall is supposed to have the best beaches but there is something about Brighton that everyone seems to love. It was the last few days before the freedom of unemployment came to an end so me and my boyfriend took a trip down there for a day out. We were very lucky with warm weather, baking sunshine and blue skies.

First of all, we went for a wander down the Lanes, looking into the cute little shops and searching for some lunch.


We found a nice restaurant called the Olive Grove and we enjoyed some tapas. I love tapas; picking and choosing between dishes is sometimes what you need rather than a great pile of food in front of you.

I'm not a big fan of the pebbled beach in Brighton as it is quite hard to walk on and not exactly comfortable sunbathing, but the pier is a great landmark.







We finished the day off with some sorbet. I had raspberry and mango whereas James had Gin and Tonic sorbet. The place is called Boho Gelato - the amount of flavours of icecream they have are amazing!

As the sun was setting over the sea, we headed for our train home. It was such a lovely sunny day - now it is late October and cold outside; I am missing it!


Where is your favourite place to go in Brighton?

Lots of love

Alice xxxx
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Sunday 9 October 2016

Finding beauty on your doorstep | Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

Hiya!
Welcome back to the finding beauty on your doorstep series. I have been super busy with my new job in London and studying for my professional exams on top of working means I haven't been blogging. I haven't even had time to watch my TV programmes, it has been crazy! I am on a backlog with my blog posts so I thought I would try catch up and show you about some more trips I went on throughout Summer. Winter is creeping in now and I am actually quite excited about it for a change. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to next summer: it's my favourite time of year and I love going on fun trips, not just abroad but also in the UK. 

Anyway getting on with the post! When I was at my family home in Leeds with my boyfriend, we went on a day out to Knaresborough. If you are from the Yorkshire area, you have probably been here. Close to Harrogate, Knaresborough is a really beautiful underrated town. The history of the place is what makes it so interesting and Mother Shiptons cave is very intriguing attraction. Many of Mother Shiptons prophecies foretells many modern events and phenomena; a quick google search about her will tell you all about her.



Objects in the waterfall turn to stone due to the minerals in the water. Round the corner was a little well where it is said that you can make a wish whilst placing your hands in the pool of water, and your wish will come true. 

The cave itself

The walk through to Mother Shiptons Cave






I hope you enjoyed this post. Have you ever been to Knaresborough?

Lots of love

Alice xxxx

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Sunday 4 September 2016

Finding beauty on your doorstep | Ingleborough Caves

This is the third post about my day trips around the UK and my last one was at the gorgeous Lake Windermere of the Lake District. The day after this trip, we returned to Leeds via the Ingleborough Caves. I thought I would post about them just in case anyone wanted to visit. It would be a unique day out as opposed to your typical shopping or cinema day.



After parking in Clapham (note: not the one in London) and hiking about one and a half miles up a hill of woods followng a waterfall and river, we arrived at the Ingleborough caves: the biggest showcaves in Britain. As no one was there for the last tour, we got a private tour of the caves. I was a bit worried as I can get claustrophobic but there was only a few bits where you had to crouch. 

It was really surreal seeing the stalagmites that were created thousands of years ago. Seeing such history through rocks is a lot more fascinating than you think.

Have you ever visited any sort of caves? I really want to go swimming through caves abroad!

Lots Of Love

Alice xxx
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Sunday 28 August 2016

Finding beauty on your doorstep | The Lake District

So this is the second post in the series. My previous post was about vising Aysgarth Falls in the Yorkshire Dales and our stay in Cumbria. Today my post is about the beauty of the Lake District.

After a lovely pub lunch in Cumbria, we headed to Windermere. Windermere lake is a pretty famous in the Lakes and is about 10 miles long! The trees and hills surrounding the lake are truly STUNNING that even my camera couldn't catch it as we saw it. I couldn't believe this existed in England! We took a boat out which was £25 for 1 hour: pretty pricey but it was a motorboat and we were in the lakes after all.




We went back to the cottage for a lovely chilled night by the fire and a good game of balderdash (hilarious game!) I'd really like to return to the lakes in the future, perhaps a different part of the national park, for example Keswick.

Have you ever been to the Lake District? If so, which part and what did you do?

Lots of love, Alice xxx


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Saturday 20 August 2016

Finding beauty on your doorstep | Aysgarth Falls

This post is following on from my most recent post; finding my blog direction. I announced that I have a series of posts coming up about finding beauty on your doorstep. You do not always have to travel to the other side of the world to see new and beautiful things.

As I currently live in the north of England (pot by the time you are reading this). I do not live far from the beautiful national parks including the Yorkshire Dales, the North Yorkshire Moors, The Peak District nor the Lake District. They are all beautiful places! Recently, I took a weekend to the Yorkshire Dales and sandwiched in a trip to the Lake District too. It was such a nice weekend.

We stayed in Sedbergh, a place classed as Cumbria yet on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. On our drive there, we drove the whole width of the Yorkshire Dales so we got to see the bredth of beauty. We firstly stopped at Aysgarth Falls, which is in the area of Wensleydale (great for cheese lovers) and it was where the Robin Hood movie was filmed.







Once we arrived at the cottage, we went on a walk to explore the local area. In particular, we climbed a big hill and got some very scenic photos at the top!







The next day we went just out of the Dales to a place called Barbendale, yet it still looked like it was in the national park. Actually, the day we left on 'Yorkshire Day' it was announced that the Yorkshire Dales had been increased by 25% so perhaps this area was included in that region now.

  


I hope you enjoyed this post and I would love to know what places in your country that are beautiful and that you love to visit!

Lots of love, Alice xxx
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Thursday 18 August 2016

Finding my blog direction!

Hello, hope you're all well!

My blog has been pretty stagnant recently, particularly with regards to beauty posts. I started my blog years ago and have had a very on and off relationship with it. I have always been passionate about the online community, whether it be bloggers or youtubers. I started my blog with beauty on the brain as I had a real passion for it after spending hours browsing youtube for the latest make-up tutorial. As I have gone through my life and gotten through university, that passion has slowly disintegrated. No longer do I get excited about the newest launch of MAC lipsticks or the new skincare brand I have discovered. Not only do I not want to write about beauty anymore, I don't even read beauty blogs anymore. What I do love to read and watch are travel and lifestyle related content. Funforlouis is my favourite youtuber; he travels the world with a real optimistic outlook and I find it inspiring. I love blogs such as Emtalks and Niomi Smart as well as all the popular travel blogs.


That is why I am now classing my blog as lifestyle and travel related! I would love to become established in this category and even though I am not currently travelling the world, I will make posts about my trips, whether they be in the UK or abroad. I have been lucky to secure a graduate job in the City of London so I am sure plenty of London posts will be coming. I am looking forward to discovering new areas of London away from the tourist spots.

I have a series of blog posts coming up called Finding beauty on your doorstep. These days it is easy to become infactuated with the desire to travel. I get it. I do too. But sometimes, people are looking at places they cannot visit and ignoring the beauty and travel opportunities within their own country. I recently took a trip to the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District and realised how truly beautiful England is. That inspired me to make this post and change how my blog is perceived. I wholly enjoy writing posts about trips I have been on; recent posts were on Corfu in Greece, Berlin in Germany and Prague in the Czech Republic. (These posts are linked if you would like to check them out.)

That's my little ramble for this evening - I hope you visit my blog in the future with perhaps a little inspiration and some pretty decent photos to look at ;)

Love of love, Alice xxx
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Saturday 6 August 2016

Berlin.

I recently wrote about my wonderful trip to Prague (you can read it here) which was followed by a trainride to Berlin. Travelling by train instead of flying allowed me to see the countryside and the suburbs where people live, something different from the touristy cities. The journey followed a river lined by cute little Czech houses.

Views on the train from Prague to Berlin

Views from the train 




We went to a really nice vegan/vegetarian restaurant and I had an amazing dish which was spring rolls, rice noodles and some asian salad. The spring rolls were the most amazing spring rolls I have EVER tried.

Not very cultural, but for a bit of fun, we went to Madame Tussaud's. Here's a picture of me with my boyfriends. ;)



Me at the Holocaust Memorial: The Memorial to the Murdered Jews Of Europe

The Reichstag Building

The Topography Of Terror: Information about the rise of the nazi's infront of the remains of the Berlin wall

Berlin was pretty different to Prague. Many of the buildings are relatively new as it was bombed a lot in the war. I have never been too interested in history (I didn't even take it as a subject at GCSE!) but visiting Berlin made me become so interested in history, especially World War 2. We visited the Holocaust memorial and the museum underneath it which was truly eye opening; I definitely recommend that! We also went to the Topography of Terror which explained lots about the rise of the Nazis. In addition to the war history, Berlin holds history regarding the Berlin Wall and its division after the war. I definitely recommend going whether you are interested in History or not - it's an eye opener! There are lessons I wish people would learn in today's society - it is scary how the Nazis got in to power and it shows how it could so easily happen again!

Wow that got deep!

Anyway I hope you liked this post! Most of my posts appear to me travel based recently but I am kind of falling out of love with beauty a bit. A post on that to come.

Lots Of Love
xxxx
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