Florence in 3 days

D and I got a bit fed up over the holidays so booked a last minute trip to Florence! I had to twist his arm as we're trying to save money for next years holiday, but we managed to do it on a budget. 

I've been to Florence before, but D hasn't. We both thought it would be a good place to go as the weather is always tip top, and the train service is so good in Italy that we knew we could travel to nearby cities if we wanted.

We started our trip flying out of an afternoon, landed just a couple of hours later, a short coach trip from Pisa and we were in the beautiful city of Florence! Tip - fly to Pisa which is much much cheaper, then get one of the shuttle buses to Florence city centre which only costs you 10 euros per person!

The first day we just pottered around the city - it's such an easy place to walk on foot and you get to see so much more - I'd recommend just wandering aimlessly and only looking at a map when you are well and truly in the middle of no-where. It's much more fun that way! 

We loved walking up to the Piazzale Michelangelo to get a full view of the city from height. On our way back down we stopped at a great place called Gecko for a bite to eat. Whilst not typically Italian cuisine, it did great burgers, healthy salads and open sandwiches. Make sure you pop to the toilet to see the resident Bulldog which sits lazily by the loo's - it's pretty cute! 

Next day we decided to venture further out and get on a train to Siena. Siena realy is a beautiful city - it sits right on top of a steep hill, and is just a maze of tiny cobbled streets. We stopped off at a local deli to try some of the areas meats and cheeses.... food coma alert. It was delicious! We struggled with our Italian at this point... and made a fool of ourselves trying desperately to order, but the embarrassment was worth it. I would just recommend brushing up on some simple phrases before you go to help you out, and save being a babbling moron like me!

Finally, our highlight in terms of wow factor was a rooftop bar we found on our last night. D and I love a rooftop bar, and every holoday/break we go on we seem to have one night that just tops it all. This was the night! We did a bit of googling and stumbled into Hotel Minerva, shot up a flew floors in the lift and were greeted by the best view in the city. We splurged a little on this night, spending more than a tenner for a cocktail (a lot considering we were meant to be saving) but it was totally worth it. We spent a good hour up there, talking, laughing and laying on the sunbeams pretending we were fancy. Overall a great place to see the city and soak up a bit of atmosphere. I'd definitely recommend this place if you want both a day or nighttime view of the city with a little pzaz! 

I know we didn't do a lot of cultural bits that I'm sure most people would, but I'm sorry, D and I are just your typical pottering tourists.

Where have you been that's worth a visit?

Party palette, birthday present or just a bit of indulgence - the face palette I'd recommend!

The 'real cheeky face palette' is a gift I bought myself. Naughty I know, but it was a grey winter day and my John Lewis discount needed some usage.

I bought this palette back in February, and it's had some good usage since then. At only £29.50 I thought it was quite a good buy. 

It includes:

• dandelion illuminating face powder
• hoola bronzing powder
• sugarbomb "sugar rush flush" face powder
• rockateur famously proactive face powder
• CORALista "a rio pleasure" face powder
• watt's up! soft focus highlighter
• they're real! mascara
• they're real! push-up liner

I would say that the set it worth the money you pay for it, but some of the products don't work well in miniature form - most notably the push up liner. I don't know if I misused mine or whether they're all the same, but it started to come out all clogged and just needs to be binned. It doesn't apply smoothly on the eyelid at all!

On the other hand, the blushers all work really well, the colour is highly pigmented and they last a good few hours. 

Have you tried any other palettes you'd recommend?

The 1 second polish?

Hands up if you hate painting your nails only to smudge them a minute later whilst putting on your shirt?

My hand is way up.

I wouldn't say I love painting my nails, but I do like to have them painted. The continual smudging is so frustrating, so when I saw this quick apply, quick dry polish I knew I wanted to have a try. It claims to take 1 second to apply on each nail, and under a minute to dry.

Long story short, I like it. A lot. 

It really is easy, especially with the square brush which I haven't ever seen before. With a thin coat it takes only a couple of minutes to dry, though I would definitely recommend applying two coats just to get a nice even coverage. 

I'm definitely going to be buying myself a few more bottles of this stuff!

Perfect perfumes

Another few months have flown by, and another teaching year is over, even the summer holidays are coming to a close.

Feeling the need to do a little blogpost has come over me again, so I thought I'd kick it all off with a bit of beauty.

At work I like to wear a perfume, but want something affordable that I can spritz a few times without feeling guilty. It's like a little pick me up in the middle of the school day, when it all gets a little too much and I need to back away from the books and stuffy classroom.

This one from Zara is my newest love, just £7.99 a bottle, it smells fresh, clean and fruity as the name suggests. It's the perfect size to pop in my work handbag too!

Where have you found affordable perfumes?

Iceland - A Guide - Pt 1 Places to Eat

Iceland....cold, beautiful, sharp, serene, rugged and natural. 

After returning from 3 days in Iceland I'm feeling a bit lost and rather hungry after having some of the most delicious food. To quench my thirst to rave about it, I've decided to write a series of posts about our recent trip; food, accommodation, places to go and things to do - watch out for them!

D and I are your typical young tourists; a bit hedonistic but always looking to save money. We see holidays as a perfect opportunity to try new things, though have a bicker when it comes to the more extravagant of choices e.g. snowmobiling. D twists my arm and we mostly always do something fairly expensive. But love works two ways and I manage to get him to do cheaper, cost saving alternatives too.

Anyway, back to it, lets run through some of the best places to eat in Iceland (there are plenty to choose from!).

An easy lunch

Glo, Laugavegur 20B, Reykjavik 101

Glo (cafe) was exactly what we needed after a cold landing in the capital. Situated right on the 

main shopping street, close to the bus station it was the perfect little hideaway for us to cosy up 

with a coffee and healthy lunch. Specialising in juices and vegan cuisine, D (an avid meat eater)

was a little skeptical, but soon calmed down when he saw there was plenty of choice and it catered

for vegans and carnivores alike. D went for a meaty sandwich whilst I opted for a vegan meal - falafel,

roasted veg and rice - sounds dull but I promise it was super tasty. This was our first experience of the

sky high cost of living in Iceland, with each priced around £7-8. Not the cheapest meal but what made 

this place great is that they offer two coffees (including speciality ones) for a cheaper price. And so we 

cosied up with our capucinnos and watched the world go by. 

Cost: mid range for lunch 

Decor: Cosy, comfortable yet Scandinavian chique 

Food: Tasty, good choice, nice option of soups for a cold and windy day, colourful, maybe a little small 

portions

Overall rating: 7/10

Feeling risky?

Tapas Barinn, Vesturgotu 3b, Reykjavik 101

Now I only say 'feeling risky' because of the amazing options available at this place and the chance to

try some more obscure meats like puffin and whale. We stumbled upon this place on my birthday evening,

hoping for somewhere not too expensive (as we had planned to spend big the following night). This

place oozes charm and atmosphere, snuck underground in a small maze of rooms that have an authentic

Spanish feel (right in the heart of Reykjavik!). The waitress led us down the stairs and for 7pm the place was

packed. Completely and utterly packed. Luckily we were able to squeeze into a little table by the radiator to 

keep warm. The menu is pretty large. It starts with a range of set tapas which would be around £30-£40 a head,

then moves on to the individual dishes. This is where we went wrong and my advice to your would be to go small 

and add more if you need. D is more adventurous than me, so he went for the Icelandic Gourmet Feast. I opted 

for the De la heuerta (veggie again) though snuck a fair few tasters from D. Overall we felt the 'tapas our way' menus

were a bit too much food - we ended up having 6 courses plus bread which felt like far too much. Each dish was 

small and delicious - our favourites were the puffin, whale and spanish omelette. If we went back we would share tapas

and opt for possibly 4-6 between the both of us. Overall this 'cheaper' night turned out expensive when paired with

wine - totally our fault so don't be put off - there is a much more affordable way of trying this delicious night out!

Cost: Expensive our way, but can be made more affordable

Decor: Cosy and authentic

Food: Super tasty and very filling. Perfectly proportioned dishes

Overall rating: 7/10

No budget fine dining

Isafold, Þingholtsstræti 5 - 101 Reykjavík

Finally, I've saved the best 'til last. Isafold, our best meal of the whole trip. Whilst Iceland's cuisine is expensive (in part because they are trying to become a wholly organic country and are proud of their self sufficiency) this was our most pricey, yet totally worth it, meal of the trip. For D and I's birthday's we decided to splash out on a tasting menu for the final night. The trendy Isafold restaurant is located within the CenterThingholt hotel, just off the main shopping street. If you didn't know it was there you could definitely miss it! We booked to avoid not getting in, though funnily enough we needn't have bothered as it was very quiet. The 5 course taster menu included halibut, beef carpaccio, bacalao, lamb and desert. There are no words to describe how good the whole meal was. The fish courses were beautifully fresh and delicate. The meat was just to die for....lamb totally pink in the middle and cut like butter. The staff were absolutely excellent and we cannot rave enough about how they made our night special - even providing a little birthday cake as a treat for our final course. If you save money to go anywhere, let it be this place!

Our one and only disappointment with the experience at the Isafold was the atmosphere, or lack of it. On a Tuesday you just can't tell how many people will be there and unfortunately for us it was the quietest day they'd had in ages (so the waiter told us). We were the only people there all night and so it was half romantic and half strange experience. Restaurant can't help this kind of thing though so I wouldn't want to put a downer on it, but maybe choose a Friday or Saturday if you want the best experience!

Cost: Expensive - budget £125+

Decor: chique, calm and smart

Food: Beautiful, stunning, every positive word under the sun

Overall rating: 9/10 (just the atmosphere that let it down)

That's all for the Iceland food diary. Have you visited anywhere in Reykjavik with incredible food?