A Day Trip To The Birmingham Christmas Market.

We tried to visit last year but ran out of available December weekends and the Birmingham Christmas markets eluded our grasp. This year was a different story. Rounding us up like Rudolph gathering his sleigh of reindeer, but with Whatsapp rather than elf-dust, our esteemed organiser not only managed to secure a whole day that we all could do but book train tickets in as well. She cracked that tinsel covered whip...

So, bright and early on a Saturday morning we gathered, scrubbing the sleep from the corners of our eyes and brightly hugging - glad that instead of cracking our usual escape rooms, we were just shuffling onto the train - we boarded our sleigh (also known as a Class 165/0 Network Turbo train) nice and early.

A (Too) Quick City Break in York.

Much like the Grand Old Duke of York, who had ten thousand men and marched them up to the top of the hill, and then marched them down again, I can't get enough of York... (because he visited repeatedly, that was obvious, right?)

Having visited nearly half a dozen times over the years, and somehow not managing to share it on my blog over the years, I would say that although you could visit from London for the day, I wouldn't. Go for a minimum of an overnight stay, or a few days if you can. Witness a misty morning, and a candy coloured sunset, wander out into the Dales or slip in a seaside visit somewhere like Scarborough, and really get to know the ancient city.

Spying Seal Pups at Donna Nook, Lincolnshire

It's a direct result of not being from this country, but I really love it with all of my wanderlusting heart. Sometimes I also hate it - which is part and parcel of a long-term relationship - sometimes misunderstanding of the culture and other times frustrations that you would get living absolutely any where rear their head. That's the joy and challenge of expat life in a nutshell - even for a long-termer like myself.



It's funny though, it means that I view the country with travel spectacles. A case in point? I was watching a documentary a couple of months ago that highlighted a seal colony that migrates to a certain cove once a year to have their babies in safety, away from predators of the ocean. To my husband, Donna Nook is a RAF base. To me, it's a seal slumber party spot.

Gambolling Through Ghent; A Wanderers Guide.

As a day trip from Brussels (only a half hour train),  I've found that either many people haven't heard of Ghent, preferring to explore the chocolate box streets of Bruges, or they adore Ghent so much that when a blogger (me) visits, they spam them via instastories with recollections of days spent there and memories made. True story.

Disclaimer: I was a press guest of VisitFlanders in Ghent, 

but all planning, mischief and thoughts are all mine.

We fell into the former camp on our trip to Brussels and explored Bruges, but genuinely regretted only being able to fit one city in, vowing to return one day.

Magical Train Journeys Around the World - A Few Of My Favourites.

It may be a cliche, but sometimes the journey can be just as astonishing as the destination.

I love catching trains. The ease, the ability to wander around whilst speeding through the countryside, the sweeping corners, the friendly people dispensing hot tea, staring out the windows for hours as the world chugs past, generous luggage allowances and the whistling engineers with grease smudges in their eye and rosy cheeks.

9 Confessions of a Terrible Travel Blogger

We all present these glossy lives to the world; coffee cups presented to dewy sunrises, champagne in airport lounges, luxurious restaurants that cost more than they should and share the blue skies days of exploration. I'm as guilty as anyone.

But, what about behind those scenes? Those days where the wind is so strong you can't instastory for talking (I'm looking at you Cornwall), when travel mistakes happen (like in Vienna where I accidentally booked our trip a day short) or when everyone asks you what your next trip will be and you sheepishly have to answer 'er, not sure'.

Getting Lost in Ghent, Belgium

From my hotel window, I can hear the sliding scales of a bluesy jazz saxophonist, children softly singing a nursery rhyme and the occasional tinkle of coffee cups from a nearby cafe.

I should be parading around the town, hunting out all of the medieval gems with the keenness of a panther, but instead, as it's a Saturday morning, I've simply snuggled in further into the covers (more like a house cat in truth). There is a soft breeze floating through the ajar windows, I have a hot cup of tea cradled in my hand and no concrete plans for the morning.

Disclaimer: I was a press guest of VisitFlanders in Ghent, 

but all planning, mischief and thoughts are entirely mine.

This is what I call a blissful city break.

How To Move To The Other Side Of The World: A Retrospective

I honestly can't pinpoint exactly when I actually decided to move 18,764 km away from the only home I'd ever known, all on my own.

I was the ripe old age of 19, and not really enjoying my architecture degree. My grades were pretty good, but I remember being frustrated at only learning from books and idealistically thinking 'how on earth am I supposed to create these amazing spaces if I've never actually experienced them?' 

72 hours in Chester

Chester is the first holiday I've ever booked through the power of Instagram alone. We had been looking for somewhere as a long weekend break (well, I say we, but I had actually been put on a travel ban which Mr Kiwi now mostly denies, his baby blues all innocent) when I spotted that a friend of mine had day tripped up to Chester. It was beautiful.

So firing up the laptop, I booked us a cheeky little Cheshire staycation.

An announcement: Taking a leap of faith and going freelance

As a very small Emma, I wanted to become a vet. I wanted to work with animals, curing their ills and judiciously handing out comfort. As a slightly older Emma (but not necessarily wiser) architectural design interested me (one might wistfully connect sheltering human beans) before the conservation of ancient buildings was calling my name and I put my architecture degree “temporarily” on hold to travel and actually experience a few of these wonders.

In the decade I have lived in England, I fell into jobs that kept a (London-priced) roof over my head – among which number managing a pub (where I met my husband) and acting as an office manager & PA for a Bishop – but never quite fulfilled a creative need that never quite receded.

Enter stage left ‘Adventures of a London Kiwi’.

I’ve always maintained that blogging was only ever going to be a hobby, but 5 years on I’ve been presented with the opportunity to make my passion for writing a career. I’ve agonized for six months about leaving behind a creatively unfulfilling but steady role to embrace the life of a freelancer. I’ve read as many self-help books as I can, consulted the cat on how she’d feel to have a colleague all week long making noise plus brewing coffee in her warm haven and spoken at length to my amazingly encouraging friends and family.

Relaxing on the doorstep of Richmond Park: A staycation hotel review

To say this was the laziest most relaxed adventure yet would be an understatement. 

At the beginning of this year, my one and only Mr Kiwi put me on a travel ban. After a 6 week period that included a surprise birthday trip to Gothenburg, a myriad of business travel, a weekend staycation and two awesome weeks roadtripping around Texas and Louisiana at the end of last year, he felt like he had had enough.

So in order to assuage the flame of wanderlust that has my soul (one day it may waver so I'm making the most of it whilst I can) I had to get crafty. I mean, compromise. Yes, compromise. *shifty eyes*

Afternoon Tea at the Baglioni Hotel, a chic corner of Kensington

There is no delicate pinky waving of gossamer pastries or wafer-thin slivers of sandwiches that leave your appetite wanting at the Italian style Baglioni Hotel afternoon tea, but a delectable selection of molto bene classics that sets this apart as the Maserati of Kensington teas.

 

Disclaimer: We were invited guests of the Baglioni Hotel but I would definitely take this Afternoon Tea out for another spin on my own dime.

The hotel is a quiet oasis of luxury (well, on the mid-week afternoon that we visited) just across the road from Kensington Palace and Hyde Park, all marble floors and glamorous setting - the perfect place to spend a few hours with good people.

My perfect day in Paris: slipping solo across the Channel for lunch

There are many bloggers who are getting flack about sharing their love of travelling solo. It isn't for everyone - but then neither are berets. It shouldn't be a rite of passage shoved down the throats of unwilling accessories (see what I did there?), but simply another tool in the wanderlust arsenal.

I have to say that as much as I adore my cheeky husband, I also love the chance to revel in sheer unadulterated 'me' time. Wandering through art galleries for hours, indulging in freshly baked patisserie and taking. as. many. photos. as. I. want. (For the record, in a 10 hour window I took about 800, ridiculous I know.)

Aqua Shard: Brunching in London clouds

The Shard and I have a tempestuous on again, off again relationship. On our first rendezvous this bastion of the London skyline was moody and somewhat icy, our second dalliance was a touch more blue sky and secretive (an unbloggable lunch at the Shangri-La), and the third a cheeky twilight drink - but on this particular date, we managed to enjoy an early brunch cementing our liaison as an everlasting London romance.

 Disclaimer: We were invited guests of Aqua Shard but my (very many) thoughts are only ever mine and more repeat visits on lovely days are going into my diary. Ps. Sister restaurant Aqua Kyoto has a bottomless brunch reader special until 28th May if you click this sushi treatise about our visit... (#notspon, just delectable)

After a flurry of activity organising a secret trip in honour of Aftab's birthday, 3 of the self-named Angles (sorry, random insider joke) gathered around a table with one of our American favourites (she is definitely not square, I promise) to breakfast and gaze over the London skyline full of anticipation for our incipient journey. Laden with weekend bags full of mischief and a train booked for 11am, early on the Sunday morning we checked in with the restaurant front staff (who didn't even blink an eye at how much clothing we had packed) and took our seats over the London city skyline.

Legging it to Land's End, Cornwall

According to ancient Maori mythology at the northernmost tip of New Zealand - Cape Reinga - the spirits of the dead travel on their journey to the afterlife to leap off the headland, and climb the roots of the 800-year-old pohutukawa tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland of Hawaiki, using the Te Ara Wairua, the 'Spirits' pathway'.

In true British style, Land's End (or in Cornish: Penn an Wlas or Pedn an Wlas) is a headland and holiday complex near Penzance where tourists flock to witness the Western most point of the UK and enjoy a cream tea.

11 Cadogan Gardens Restaurant - an elegant St Patrick's Day celebration

Leprechauns, or so the Irish faerie stories go, are solitary creatures who spend their time making and mending shoes and have a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If captured by a human, they often grant three wishes in exchange for their freedom.

Taking a meander through the vibrant (some might stretch the metaphor to say, a rainbow) mews of Chelsea, I definitely know what I would spend my wishes on should I ever find the end of the rainbow, especially this week in the lead up to St Patrick's Day.

 

 Disclaimer: We were invited but my (very many) opines are only ever my own.

One would be another evening spent in the company of Madam Kings Road Rocks. One would be for World Peace. And one would be a repeat of the iontach (Irish for wonderful) meal that we enjoyed recently as dining guests of the stunning 11 Cadogan Hotel.

Roux at the Landau, Langham Hotel - a luxury brunch.

Recently I've been dreaming of our honeymoon in the South of France. I think I can firmly blame my friends who have been planning their post-wedding dream holidays, jetting off on their own honeymoons and starting their families (join the thought dots for that one.)

We spent 10 days sampling the markets that French gourmets take for granted and inside the 150+ year old Victorian bastion of British luxury that is the Langham hotel, the opulent flavours of the Farmhouse Brunch served in the Roux at the Landau evoked our honeymoon all over again.

Disclaimer: We were invited guests of Roux at the Landau, Langham Hotel but my (very many) opines on eggs benedict and champagne are only ever my own.

Instead, a hashtag of bloggers settled in for a balmy Sunday in the shadow of the iconic BBC building, to enjoy an elegant weekend meal in the magnificent Langham Hotel. (Well, I actually spent 24 blissful hours there, but more on that another day.)

A Birthday Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park REVIEW

Food history and the inherent psychology has always intrigued me. Why do we reach for certain flavours when we're happy, and avoid foods that have bad memories attached, thereby creating our own personal history maps? As a child I can clearly remember the alluring smell of my Dad bringing home fish and chips on dull afternoons (don't judge me ok?) and the taste of my Aunt's Jaffa Slice always conjures Summertime Christmases - to the extent that I had the recipe sent over to the UK as soon as I had a big enough kitchen to cook in (and obviously put in a request every time I go home for Christmas).

Take this to another level, and the recipes of yesteryear can't help but evoke the society that it comes from. (Let's take a moment here to consider the current crisp sandwich pop-up and freakshake generation. What will our descendants think?) Heston Blumenthal has taken this level of thought up into the gastronomic stratosphere and donning his trademark specs, he and his team have developed a decidedly unique approach to developing dishes both at the eponymous Fat Duck in Bray, and the glamorous Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park.

It's probably no surprise that dining at the two Michelin-starred Dinner by Heston Blumenthal was on my birthday shortlist (it almost was the venue for the #KiwiSpoon birthday extravaganza but sadly had to be delayed with restaurant refurbishment works and our trip to the States) but 6 or so weeks later a leisurely lunch with one of my favourite Kiwis was set in stone and all I had to do was patiently (well, mostly) wait for the day to roll around. Who says that birthdays have to be only 24hours? Beginning with cocktails as the best dinners do, we settled in for an afternoon of indulgence.

Travel memory wishlists and plans for 2017 - January #Travellinkup

Really, the only difference between the 31st of December and the 1st of January is only a ticking movement of a clock's second hand and the boom of explosives lighting up the air but it feels so poignant, so heavy with expectation that we all feel the need to mark it some way, as if we will be new people as soon as that hand judders to a stop.

Happy New Year! It's the next year of our lives. Let's make it memorable!

The boy and I have never really all out celebrated New Years - we don't fancy shelling out extra for overhyped, packed bars heaving with merrymakers, we don't really set resolutions and we have occasionally just gone to bed early or lost ourselves in a movie overlapping the years.

My top 10 travel moments of 2016

Wrapped up in blanket and suffering with a dose of the Christmas flu seems like a good moment to look back on the year that was. It wasn't a pretty year from a global standard so ruminating on a few of our travel highlights of 2016 seems appropriate in an effort to dispell some of the bad.

We began the year by wrapping up a family Christmas and wedding in New Zealand, seeing the New Year in on Auckland's harbour front, before making our way to the UAE on a whistlestop tour to see friends. This kicked off a fantastic year of adventuring and traveling both in the UK and around the world which meant that picking only 10 of my favourite moments was decidedly difficult.