bondi to coogee

You may have noticed from the slight change of theme of my instagrams - soooo much turquoise! - that I've been living on the other side of the world for the last few months! And as I predicted, living in Sydney is pretty lush. I miss London and having Europe on my doorstep but I'm lapping up all this Southern Hemisphere gorgeousness whilst I'm here. I am way waaayy behind on travel blog posts, so for the time being I'm just going to share some snaps of the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk taken after work recently at the end of a very hot day. It still kinda blows my mind that these crazy gorgeous beaches are just a short bus ride away from the city centre. This walk is one of my favourite ever things, and a must-do for anyone visiting Sydney! 

Photos - iPhone 6 + vsco cam.

Lisbon

I spent a few days at the beginning of June in lovely Lisbon. Woah. This city is ridiculously cool. I completely loved the place. Unlike a lot of European capital cities there isn't a huge lists of sites to tick off, and so it's a fantastic place to just explore, take in the beautiful architecture, get lost in tiny side streets, look out across all the amazing views and eat all the pastel de nata as is humanly possible! It's also ridiculously cheap, and so a lot of incredible seafood and delicious wine was consumed. If you get the chance, go! 

I feel like Lisbon is a city I could happily live in! I loved the vibe of the whole place and everyone was super friendly, can't wait to go back already! Some highlights were - 

+ Drinks at sunset at Park -  a bar on the roof of a multi-storey car park! It took a while to find the right door in the car park, but the views and the wine were sooo worth it! 
+ Seafood supper at Mercado da Ribeira, a super cool food market down by the docks. This had been recommended to me by a few people, it has such a buzzing atmosphere and sooooo much incredible good food. It's the kind of place you could go to over and over again. 
+ Seeing some live music in Barrio Alto - we stayed in this area, and it's has a bit of a hot summer party night feel the whole time. It's also crazy crazy pretty and covered in all those incredible patterned tiles. 
+ Popping into Manteigaria - Fábrica de Pastéis de Nata - for the tastiest pastel de nata, and to see them being made in all their gorgeousness. 
+ Taking the train out of Lisbon to Cascais, to swim in the sea and sunbathe on the sand! It's a really pretty seaside town too.
+ A trip to the LX Factory - now I really could have spent days here! Sitting under the Pont 25 de Abril, this transformed warehouse contains bars, design stores, artists, a flea market, the most incredible book shop I've ever seen and loads more. 
+ Taking the number 28 tram, just for the experience, it's kinda hilarious and a little like a tiny roller coaster. 
+ Getting lost in the tiny little streets in the Alfama district of the city, it's crazy beautiful, super colourful and really olden times. 

Photos - iPhone 5 + vsco cam. 

brooklyn

I was lucky enough to visit New York for a week in March, and it was sooo fabulous. We had the most brilliant, fantastic and hilarious holiday! I hadn't been for a decade, and loved it so much more this time around, partly I think because we were staying in Brooklyn, which is definitely much more my vibe than hectic Manhattan! We stayed in Greenpoint which was completely perfect for us. The photo above was taken the night we arrived - we fell for the area pretty quickly! I loved how laid back, arty and cool Brooklyn is; we often felt like locals there rather than like tourists which I think is definitely the best way to see a place. For some reason it's taken me an age to share my photos, but better late than never hey? It's nice to look back on them...

I really recommend staying in Brooklyn. I really think the craziness of Manhattan would have gotten to be a bit too much 24/7, and also, there are just some reeeeally cool places over on the Brooklyn side! Some of my favourite things in Brooklyn were...

+ That swoony view across to Manhattan. 
+ Shopping in Williamsburg. I loved the area around Bedford Avenue and Franklin Street running back up to Greenpoint. I could have shopped here for days! 
+ Coffee and design at Budin NYC. 
+ The Box House Hotel. We booked this place after a recommendation and some brilliant reviews which it really lived up to. This hotel is awesome!
+ Drinks and brunch at Coco. We loved this place so much we went back! 
+ All that lovely street art. 

I'll be back soon with some photos of Manhattan! 

Photos - mixture of lumix DLSR and iPhone 5 + vsco cam.  

copenhagen

I saw March 2014 in in a very cold but beautiful Copenhagen, and it was sooo lovely! I already told you how great the bikes and beards were, but did I tell you that Denmark was the thirtieth country I've visited?! Yep, yeaahhh! I have love loved travelling for a really long time, and when one of my good friends started a 30 before 30 challenge I decided to join her and give it a go too! And I actually flippin' did it, yeeeee! I'm so super impressed by how many of us have managed it! It has been a really fun and motivational way of seeing and exploring so many different and interesting parts of the world, and has definitely made me finally make the most of all the lovely European destinations on my doorstep! Copenhagen was definitely one of my faves, and here are some of my favourite snaps...

The freezing cold and foggy weather meant we spent lots of out time hanging out in cafes drinking hot drinks, (which was ok by us, because maaaan there were some amazing places to eat!) it also made for some pretty Turner-esque sunsets which I thought were pretty great! I'd love to go back to Copenhagen, but maybe in the Summer next time, ha, and explore some more, but some of my favourite bits from this trip were... 

+ Those gorgeous colourful buildings in Nyhavn.
+ Our big Saturday night out in the Meatpacking District - such a cool area! 
+ Frederik's Church in the sunlight. 
+ Those street lamps!
+ The street art in Nørrebro.
+ The best pastry of my young life in Lyst Cafe. Ohmigosh. 

Photos - all taken on my lumix DSLR. 

life & co | around the world

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the super lovely Nia, of Life & Co who asked me if I'd like to put together a blog post about London for her new Around the World series. I was so honoured, and it sounded right up my alley, so I've pulled together some photos of my favourite parts of London. It's been good to get out and about with my camera when the weather has allowed it, although some of the snaps are from last Summer because let's face it, blue skies are significantly prettier than grey torrential rain!

If you've not come across Nia's blog before you must check it out, it's full of completely beautiful wonderfulness, and she organises amazing and really fun around the world parcel swaps (which I joined in with at Christmas.) Thanks for having me Nia, can't wait to follow the rest of the series! You can check out my post on Life & Co here. 

+ photo of Shrimpy's at The Filling Station, Regent's Canal, King's Cross last Summer. Photo - iPhone 5 + vsco cam.