Hope you all started the New Year well? We sure did.
As we said good-bye to 2018, it was time to start thinking about our upcoming travel plans for 2019.
Thanks to different annual leave schedules (one by tax year, one by calendar year), every year Mr T and I end up with a week’s worth of annual leave that needs to be taken in the first three months of the year. So what to do and where to go? Last year we went to New York end of January, the year before it was a week in Normandy in February.
New York City is great and I absolutely love it (but you knew that already). And as we are preparing for another trip to New York next week, I decided this was the perfect time to share with you my favourite food destinations in New York City. So, if you are wondering what to eat in New York City, this is for you.
Obviously New York has an array of delicious, cool, unusual and sometimes rather pricy restaurants. And if you are a regular on Instagram and Pinterest, I am sure you’ve seen all the pretty foods showing up in your feed. From crazy unicorn shakes to flower shaped ice-cream, pink lattes and weird burgers.
But whilst these for sure are all great and the perfect addition to your Instagram grid, this is not the food I am talking about (doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try some of it if I happen to come by). What I am talking about are my personal favourite foods in New York City. Tried, tested and approved by Mr T and I over several trips to New York (and all paid for with our own money, so whilst this is advertising by mentioning the places, I did not receive any payment or even freebies for said mentioning).
Last week my goddaughter and her mum were finally visiting us in England for the very first time. They both live in Germany, in the village I grew up. And although both have been outside Germany before, neither of them had ever travelled by plane. My goddaughter is 14 and visiting London was her birthday / Christmas present. So ever since she’d been making plans of what she wants to see and do. Busy four days this were (more on that here). With the flights booked already, I decided to write them a little beginners guide to first time flying, since they were rather nervous (or at least mum was) giving step-to-step advice on flying as a first timer.
And since I figured they might not have been the only first time flyers out there, I decided to share my Beginners Guide to First Time Flying with you all, just in case there are other anxious first-time flyers out there.
I assume most of you don’t find it too stressful to travel for leisure? (well unless you suffer from severe flight fear) Nah, neither do I. Travelling for business however can be a different thing. Especially when travelling weekly.
Somehow the classic 9 to 5 work schedule doesn’t quite apply then. I’ve briefly touched on this during one of my very first blog posts ‘The glamour of travelling for a living’ and more recently in my ‘Diary of a one day trip’, documenting just how endless said travels can sometimes be. But this is not to say I don’t love it, because I do. But you have to be careful and look after yourself; otherwise this can grind you down quite quickly.
I fly on a regular basis – now there’s a revelation; who would have thought – but pretty much all of my flights are short haul. Just an hour, two hours tops if I have to get to Central Europe or Nordics. But to actually do a long haul flight? Nah, not on a regular basis. But as I told before, hubby and I are New York bound again this month and as much as we were looking forward to it, it does come with a long flight at the start and end. So what to expect on an eight hour flight?
I am fairly relaxed about it all, I spend so much time sitting around airports for hours at a time that this flight couldn’t be any worse. Just make sure I have a fully charged laptop in front of me and I potter away forever (if I run out of things to write for the blog, I could always catch up on work, if and when I get very desperate). Hubby on the other side? Well that’s a different story.
You all remember that scene in Shrek when they travel to the Kingdom Far Far Away and donkey sits in the back, asking ‘are we there yet?’ every other second? Yep, that’s my other half (nah, he’s not a donkey obviously). He’s fine for the first hour, two tops, after that he gets a little restless.
So, I decided to share the pleasure with you all with my ‘diary of an eight-hour flight’. To give you a better idea what to expect on an eight hour flight, if you’ve never flown long-haul.
Last trip was a trip of firsts. First ever trip to Norway. First ever flight with Norwegian Air and SAS. And – believe it or not – my first ever connecting flight. Yes, I am as shocked as you are. Despite being a frequent flyer, I have never before changed planes. I have had days when I took a flight in the morning and then continued with another flight in the evening, but never direct transit. So here I was. Ready to do this not once, but twice in as many days. No better time to tell you all the things to know about connecting flights.
To me Berlin is very marmite. You either love it or hate it. Not much in between. And what shall I say… I don’t love marmite…. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying I hate Berlin. Not really. But it would not make it into my top five of cities (hey here’s an idea for a new blog post… stay tuned). Nor would it be my first (second or third) choice of places to live in Germany. But I am always up for the odd weekend or visit (unlike marmite… that I do loath at all times). So if you are planning a trip to Berlin, let me tell you which airport to pick for Berlin.
Last week’s work trip was yet another two day trip to Germany.
It all started with an early morning flight from London City to Düsseldorf, a fairly straight forward affair with no notable story to share.
After visiting two showrooms in the area and a brief sweat getting stuck in traffic during rush hour on the way back to the airport, I eventually made it back to Düsseldorf just in time to board my onward flight to Berlin for the night.
Whenever you visit London, chances are at some point during your visit you will end up with a little (or not so little) shopping trip. And why wouldn’t you. There are plenty of stores, catering for all budgets and tastes. From high-end designer shops to well-known mainstream chains to the vintage and unique. So to help you pick the right shops for your taste and budget, here’s a quick overview of the best shopping places in London. If you are looking for plus size shopping tips for London, head over to my London Plus Size Shopping Guide.
Let’s just assume that most of you have the same habit as me when it comes to city trips. I tend to take the plane rather than car to get there, meaning I have to rely on public transport to get around town once arrived … but then I can think of very few major cities where I would consider driving around in a car a good idea (actually I might struggle to think of any?). Visiting Rome was no exception. If, like me, you need to know the easiest way to get around Rome, you have come to the right place.
