LIFE | End of #Summer2014 :(

 

 

So my lazy summer has officially ended!  It's Monday evening after my first day back at work and I'm sat here trying to keep my eyes open.   I've enjoyed a wonderful summer with 7 weeks off work, with 3 of those being in Spain at our family villa.  I visited Barcelona with a friend which you can read about HERE and HERE.

 

 

 

 

I had a slight break from blogging whilst I was away, only doing WIAW posts, which wasn't by choice, it was due to the complete none internet at the villa.  I could only post when I was at a restaurant.  Which to be honest, was quite a lot, but there was food to be eaten and vino to be drank!

 

#WIAW Holiday Eats

#WIAW A Healthy Holiday?

#WIAW A Day In Barcelona

 

When my alarm clock (iPhone) went off this morning at 6:30am I felt like dying! (Is that a tad dramatic? Probably, but that's how I felt) I'd already decided the night before I was going to go for a run so I jumped out of bed, yeah that's right jumped, as soon as the alarm went off, slipped on my trainers and off I went for a 30 minute run.  

 

The rest of the morning was spent dragging Mini Greenoid out of bed for his first day back at school, making packed lunches, breakfasts, taking Mini Greenoid to school (I soooo haven't missed the school run), taking 2 kids to their first day of nursery and what seems like a million other chores. 

 

The day was hard!  Looking after kids for a living means you just have to be on your game every day.  I had such a fun day though and quite looking forward to getting back into work, blogging regularly and YouTubing regularly for my gaming channel.

 

I'm sad to be saying goodbye to summer though as I really enjoy the hot weather and the chance to get outside more.  But Autumn is here and soon the leaves will be falling off the trees and the cold, dark nights will be drawing in.  Noooooo

 

What's your favourite season?

 

I'm gonna go and take myself off to bed in a bit.  Is 9:00pm too early?  Probably but I don't care.  I'm goosed! 

 

Returning to work after holidays is HARD WORK! 

 

 

 

 

LIFE | Barcelona (Part 2)

 

I'm back with more Barcelona pictures!  I've already done a Barcelona | Part 1 which included my beachy time in Barcelona.  This post is about when we went inland slightly and up on the hills.

 

Having a 9 year old boy I tend to have to go to a lot of castles. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy castles myself, but I am kinda getting the feeling that once you've seen one castle they're all pretty much the same. 

 

We decided to head up to Castell Montjuic partly because 'there are huge canons there mum' and partly because I'd heard the views of the city were spectacular from there.  Mini Greenoids happy.  I'm happy.  Perfect.

 

One problem.  Getting there.  There were 2 options - walk through the gardens (not Mini Greenoids first choice) or the Teleferic de Montjuic.  The Teleferic de Montjuic is a short(ish) cable car ride up to the top of the hill.  Now, cable cars scare me.  I'm not the best with heights at the best of times and dangling from a cable kinda fills me with dread.  Saying all that, I did want to do it.  I think it's good to be a little bit scared of something but do it anyway.

I have to say it was enjoyable.  The views going up and down were amazing.  The whole city was laid out before us. 

When we got to the top we had a look around the castle and sat for a while looking at the city and talking about which parts we knew.  I have to say, it's definitely a trip I'd recommend if you're ever in Barcelona. 

The gardens leading up to the castle are, apparently, beautiful too.  So if you can't pluck up the courage to use the Teleferic de Montjuic there's always that option.

 

 

 

After the castle we headed over to the Olympic Stadium which is only a short walk away.  I knew it was free to get in and that's always a winner in my book for a tourist attraction!  There isn't much to do there.  There is, of course, a little shop and café there.  But it was just a nice thing to go and see.  When the Olympics were in London in 2012 myself , Mini Greenoid and my sister when to watch a few various events so it was interesting to go to Barcelona's Olympic stadium and talk about the Olympics.  

 

 

Do you enjoy city breaks?

Where's the best city you've visited?

Do you prefer relaxing on a beach or sightseeing?

LIFE | Barcelona (Part 1)





Each time I go back to Barcelona I fall in love with it just a little bit more. It is a wonderful, vibrant city that offers so much from the mass of cultural buildings and the fine work of Antoni Gaudi to the glorious long, sandy beaches and vast array of bars and restaurants.

 

 

 

 

 

My friend lives in the Barceloneta area which is right by the beach.  I visited for a few days last week.  It's the first time I've taken Mini Greenoid and he absolutely loved it.

I think I'm a city girl at heart.  I adore London and, as I've said before, Barcelona it fast catching up and becoming my favourite city I've visited.

We wandered down the beach front to let the children have a play on the climbing frame rope thing, which is right by the W Hotel.

Along the stretch of beaches is the Playa de Mar Bella nudist beach.  I've 'oops!ed' over the poor man I managed to photograph with everything on show! Apparently, there are no laws in Catalonia that states whether nudism is allowed or not.  In Barcelona you can, as I understand, be naked anywhere in the city as long as you're not causing a 'public nuisance.'

There aren't actually many nudist on this beach and it is mainly filled with men and women in the normal beach attire of swimming shorts or bikinis.

 

I have to say I would not like to be on the beach and all of a sudden be desperate for the loo...

After a relax by the beach we wandered around a bit.  We walked to the Christopher Columbus statue which is at the bottom of La Rambla. 

 

The monument is 40m tall with a 7.2m statue of Columbus on top.  It's said to depict Columbus holding a scroll in one hand and pointing out to America.  This, however, is not true as he's pointing southeast and if you know you're geography you'll know that America is not in a south-easterly direction from Spain  

 

I love this funky little lobster statue that's situated at Passeig Colom near the Port Vell.  It was designed by the same artist who designed the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games mascot, Coby.  It was originally part of the décor at the Gambrinus seafood restaurant but when that closed it was restored and moved to it's current location. 

 

They'll be more Barcelona photos soon.  I hope you enjoyed these ones.

Have you been to Barcelona?

 

What's your favourite part of the city?

 

Where is your favourite city?

LIFE | End Of The Holidays

I'm back! Did you miss me? (Don't answer that one!)

 

I've been pretty much AWOL from blogging life for the last 3 weeks and I have to say I've missed it.  I've been on holiday in Spain and have had pretty much no internet connection for all that time.  Can you imagine? 3 weeks with no internet!  Actually, I tell a lie. I did have internet connection but only if I went down to the local bar and access their WIFI, as I certainly wasn't going to use 3G and get charged the extortionate amounts they charge you for using it abroad.

 

 

 

I've digressed slightly into a moan. I'm sorry.

 

I did plan to sit lazily by the pool or on the beach writing ideas for blog posts but I just didn't.  I did keep up with my #What I Ate Wednesday posts though.  All I can say is the last 3 weeks have been very pizza heavy!

Post holiday diet and exercise plan may need to be enforced. Bleurgh!

I started off so well posting a Day 1 post but every day after that just got lazier and lazier I'm not sorry to say.

 

I've been home approx. 8 hours - I've had a few hours sleep (I arrived home middle of the night) and I'm up checking up on my YouTube and my Blog. Oh how I've missed them so and can't wait to get back into it.

 

What do you look forward to after a holiday?

 

After being on holiday in a lovely hot country, sleeping under thin sheets with a fan whirling above my head, walking on solid tiled floors I just love the odd sensation of carpets under my feet and curling up under my snuggly, cosy duvet. Ahh bliss.

 

I had an amazing holiday with lots and wonderful friends.  I loved my new big girls camera and I enjoyed experimenting with that - trying to learn the dreaded manual mode.

 

 

 

And on that note I'm off to upload all my pics and get creative with them.  I'll be back soon with some of my creations.

 

Enjoy your day.

 

Hasta Luego

Gemzicle Sprinkles

xoxo

 

 

4th July Berry Smoothies

Hola Sparkly1s

Happy 4th of July to all my USA friends. I'm not American but any excuse for some themed stuff I'm all in.  So, I made some delicious Forth of July Berry Smoothies today.

Ingredients

Blueberries - frozen or fresh

Morello Cherries - frozen or fresh

Strawberries - frozen or fresh

Cranberry juice

Yoghurt (I used Greek style)

Honey

Ice

 

Blue layer

Blueberries

Cranberry juice

Yoghurt

Honey

Ice cubes

White layer 

Yoghurt

Honey

Ice cubes

Red layer

Cranberry juice

Strawberries

Cherries

Honey

Yoghurt

Ice cubes

All you need to do is simply whiz up the ingredients for each layer, pour it in the glass and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to allow each layer to set slightly so the layers don't mix.

Take them out of the freezer 10 minutes or so before you want to drink them to allow them to thaw slightly, top them with a bit of the fruit and ENJOY!

Do you make any special 4th July themed food? 

 

Throwback Thursday | Benidorm

Hola Sparkly1s

 

Hope your having a good day so far.  It's Thursday which can only mean one thing #TBT. I'm loving these Throwback Thursday as it makes me sit down, look through old photo albums and reminisce.  Too often we take lots of photos but never really look back and appreciate them.

This weeks #TBT are some embarrassing lovely photos of my teenage years.  These were taken in first year of college, so I would have been 16.

I took Spanish A Level and as part of our course we went to Benidorm, Spain for a week. We had a blast.

 

I'm off to sit in the sun as we're finally getting some nice weather here in the UK.

 

What's the weather like where you are?

Hasta Luego Sparkly1s

Gemzicle Sprinkles

xoxo