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Fashion, Travel

Cinque Terre with Next

June 14, 2018

Hi guys,

I’m writing this in the airport after the most amazing trip to Cinque Terre with NEXT. Cinque Terre had been on my list forever, so you can imagine how excited I was when NEXT asked me to go along on a press trip with other Irish and UK bloggers. It was the nicest group, which made the experience just one of the best press trips I’ve ever been on.

One thing that I think is really important to know before you go is that Cinque Terre is the name of the region, not a particular place. There are 5 villages along the coast that are considered Cinque Terre.

The roads in this region aren’t the best so most people travel by train and by boat. We flew from London Heathrow into Pisa, from there we got a train to Pisa Central Station and then an intercity train up to Monterosso. The trains are very inexpensive I think they were about €15 per person. It took about 2 and a half/3 hours in total.

The 5 villages in the region are: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. We stayed in Monterosso in Hotel Margherita, it was modern, clean and central which was amazing. In terms of that famous Cinque Terre view, Riomaggiore and Manarola have the most famous viewing points. Vernazza Castle (Castello Doria) also had a good view of the colourful houses below – we visited here on our last night.

Where we ate?

First of all, prepare to eat a lot of seafood if you’re visiting, as it’s beside the sea everything is super fresh and tasty!

On our first night we ate dinner in Miky in Monterosso – a fine-dining seafood restaurant. We had a 7 course tasting menu – it was supposed to be 8 courses, but we literally couldn’t eat another course because we were so full haha… always a good sign.

On the second day we cooked our own lunch at the Cinque Terre Cooking school. It was my first ever cooking class and we learned to make sweet bread, stuffed veg, pesto, gnocchi and seabass. It was such a fun, cool experience! I would definitely recommend doing this if you plan on visiting.

That evening we got the train to Vernazza for a gorgeous meal over looking the sea at Ristorante Belforte Vernazza. The views are to die for.

On our last day we finished up by having lunch in Restaurant Hotel Porto Roca which has the most amazing view overlooking Monterosso. Continue Reading…

Travel

LA & Coachella Travel Diary

May 2, 2018

Hi guys,

Where do I even start with this trip? It honestly was the trip of a lifetime, with what felt like the longest build up to a holiday ever! 

I’m so sorry for the delay in getting this post up. There was just so much to it, I kept putting it on the long finger haha! I know lots of you had questions about Coachella and some had questions about LA so I’ll try and cover everything. But don’t be afraid to message me if I’ve missed something and I’ll do my best to help.

First up – Coachella:

Coachella had been in the planning since November last year when we booked our hotel – it was 6 months in the works. I’ve wanted to go for years and was determined this year it was going to happen. I couldn’t hack one more year of looking at the photos and not being there haha! Continue Reading…

Fashion, Travel

My Coachella Outfits

April 24, 2018

Hi guys,

Coachella is over almost a week and a half now (where has the time gone!) – I’m only back from LA a few days but I just realised I never did a post on my Coachella outfits.

I began brainstorming, researching and shopping for outfits in January. The fashion at Coachella is nearly just as important as the music. I wanted to be true to my own style while also having fun with what I wore and taking a few risks.

On the first day I wore all black with a vintage embellished Moschino waistcoat that I bought on ASOS Marketplace. I turned a kimono into a skirt with the help of the ZipYard and wore a high waisted Nastygal swimsuit underneath (which the desert heat allowed for).

On the second day I went for a more boho, colourful vibe wearing a cropped co-ord by the California brand Blue Life with a Versace headscarf. Continue Reading…

Travel

24 hours in Amsterdam

April 3, 2018

Hi guys,

Following on from my quick trip to Amsterdam last week with Heineken I thought I would share some of the things we got up to in our 24 hours there (we did a LOT!). I know Amsterdam is a very popular destination for Irish people, I’ve actually been there twice before – once on a day trip from Brussels, and once for the weekend with Gerard, so I thought it would be a good time to summarise some good things to do if you plan on visiting.

What we did

  • Heineken Experience Museum – this is definitely worth a visit. It’s really modern and interesting and the best part of all is you get tokens for 2 drinks at the end 🙂
  • Canal Boat Tour – we did the Heinken boat tour, which you add on to your ticket for the museum to get a good price (€29 for both). It’s such a nice, relaxing way to see the city.
  • A’DAM Lookout – this is where the famous swinging chairs are – it also doubled up as our hotel which was very handy. It’s really modern and has a fab bar overlooking the city as well.
  • Mike’s Bike Tours – we did a 30/40 min tour in the evening, just as the sun was setting and it was my favourite part of the day. Cycling is the best way to explore the city, and it was nice to have a guide show us different things around the city like famous bridges and the city’s only windmill. Cycling is also quite intense over there so it was good to have a local to help us navigate on the busy roads.

Continue Reading…

Travel

Weekend Getaway To Druid’s Glen

March 5, 2018

Hi there,

I hope you are all adjusting back to reality after the lovely, relaxing few snow days we had in Ireland. On Saturday, I had enough of the cabin fever and thankfully Gerard and I were able to hit the road for a little getaway to Druid’s Glen Hotel in Co. Wicklow. For years I’ve heard of Druid’s Glen from my friends, so I was very excited when they invited me to visit – and I really didn’t want the snow to stop us.

Luckily it’s only 45 mins from Dublin so it wasn’t too far to drive while the roads were still a little messy. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and the first thing we saw was the golf course, turned winter wonderland, which was snow white – literally.  Continue Reading…

Travel

Vegas Travel Guide

February 26, 2018

Hi guys,

As you may have seen on my social media – I spent 5 days last week in Las Vegas, Nevada with the best group of girls – Rosie, Niamh and Lauren. We were invited over by the Tourist Board to explore everything Vegas had to offer and we had an absolute ball. To see what we got up to, watch my video here, but to learn a little more keep reading 🙂

How we got there

We travelled to Las Vegas McCarren Airport with British Airways from Dublin via Heathrow. The flight to Heathrow was about 1 hour, we had a two hour layover and then a 10 hour flight to Vegas. The flight back was 2 hours shorter.

There are direct flights from Dublin too – and if you book in advance you can usually get a very reasonable rate for flights 🙂

The Vegas Airport is literally 10 mins from the main strip. You can see all the hotels when you land so it’s very handy.

Where we stayed

We stayed in the MGM Grand hotel. It’s one of the largest hotels in Vegas with over 5,000 rooms. It has lots of outdoor pools (Wet Republic is based here in the spring/summer months), a gym, a food court and lots more 🙂

What we got up to

We had a jam-packed itinerary for our 5 days in Vegas. Here’s what we got up to:

  • Seven Magic Mountains: About 30 mins from Vegas in the middle of the desert, visiting these colourful stacks of rocks was the perfect start to our trip. It was so unusual and cool to see.

Continue Reading…

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