Two places to have brunch in Krakow

I often find it hard to find a decent brunch in other countries. We have such a solid brunch culture here in the UK that nothing ever really seems to live up too. I think we're a bit spoilt! But Karkow didn't disappoint. We were only there for a couple of breakfasts and each one we picked got our seal of approval. Good work Krakow!

Ranny Ptaszek
If you're after a quick and casual breakfast, then this is a place to go. Sitting at the bar I ordered one of my favourite breakfast dishes, the Middle-Eastern speciality of Shakshuka. Accompanied by a basket of warm pitta bread, pickles and siracha mayo, it was just the ticket to begin a day. The breakfast menu isn't the biggest but it's great value and service is very quick.

Alchemia Od Kuchni
Located in the trendy Jewish Quarter of Kazimierz, this restaurant is just off the main square. Full of hip exposed brickwork, industrial-themed decor and a good solid breakfast menu, it's perfect to enjoy your first meal of the day. I decided to pump for the chorizo hash brown. A chunky round chorizo hash brown topped with wilted spinach and two poached eggs drizzled with tangy hollandaise sauce and chopped chives. It was great value, priced at about £5, and a good centre location for a day out in the Jewish Quarter.

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Three places to visit in Warsaw outside the Old Town

Wilanov Palace
When we go away I always drag everyone to some sort of palace or castle. I love them. Everyone else? Not so much. But this one was a winner for everyone. Over my 28 years I've seen lots and lots of palaces but this 17th Century one might just be my favourite - it's one of the most beautiful buildings I've seen. It doesn't hurt that yellow is my favourite colour too! It's an easy 30 minutes bus journey from the Old Town and couldn't be simpler to get to. Just one straight journey and you can use your travel card (a must for getting around Warsaw). Amazingly this grand royal palace survived the Second World War. I find this incredible as so much of Poland was destroyed and rebuilt. A stunning yellow colour, the palace is now an art gallery so we never made it inside as galleries aren't really our jam. But we did pay a couple of pounds to go in the gardens and they were absolutely beautiful. There's a lake where you can hire rowing boats, a gorgeous rose garden, the Baroque garden which is the oldest part of the park and an English-Chinese garden.

Neon Museum
Located in the Praga district of Warsaw, the super cool neon museum is a collection of vintage neon signs from the communist area. It is quite a trek from the Old Town but Praga is said to be the hipster district of the city so it's a great place for a bar crawl. It's very different from the Old Town, a lot more grittier but it's a great place to get a 'real' feel for the city, away from the hoards of tourists. The museum reminded me a lot of God's Own Graveyard in Walthamstow. It's not a place you'd spend hours wandering around but it's really interesting, cool and something a little bit different.

Palace of Culture and Science
Built by the Soviets in 1955 as a 'gift', the tallest building in Poland has such a presence in the Financial District of the new town. Now it's home to a huge congress hall, theatres, a multi-screen cinema and museums. Catch the lift to the top to the observation tower and you've be rewarded with amazing views over the city. It's well worth a visit just for this but beware, it gets windy on the 30th floor!

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Why Gdansk should be your next European city break

I think I stumbled across Gdansk on a blog somewhere and soon popped it top of my list if I ever made it back to Poland. When we started planning our two week jaunt across the country, we decided to peg it onto the end. I'm very glad we did! Gdansk was my favourite city on the whole trip - there's just something so serene about being close to the water.

Located in the north of the country, Gdansk is a port city with a rich history. It's the place where the first Polish shots were fired in WWII and the place which is said to kickstart the fall of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe. Part of a 'Tri-city' with Sopot and Gydnia, the narrow, cobbled streets are perfect for getting lost and spending a few hours admiring the architecture. It's a great location to base yourself to enjoy the Polish Baltic coast.

Still fairly undiscovered, it doesn't have the insane hustle and bustle that many other popular European cities have. Sure it's busy but it isn't unbearable. The heart of the city is Main Town where you'll find numerous restaurants, cafes and bars to refuel. Check out the city's landmark Żuraw for a fantastic view over the city. Or, head to MS Sołek to find out about the rich maritime history. The European Solidarity Museum offers a fascinating insight into the Gdansk Shipyard movement that kickstarted the fall of Communism. It's worth investing the Gdansk tourist card* as you get invaluable unlimited public transport around all the Tri-City, free entrance into certain attractions and discounts off others alongside restaurants. If you're looking to really take advantage on everything on offer, it's worth investing.

But the best way to enjoy the city is to simply walk. Walk and walk and walk. Always remember to look up and don't worry about getting lost. It's a small city so you'll always find your way back home. It's so rare to find somewhere in Europe that feels so new and authentic. Make sure you visit before too many people find out about this gem of a place.

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Four places to visit in the Scottish Highlands

The Scottish Highlands are one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I still can't quite believe they're in the UK. And that it took so long for me to finally visit! Make sure you don't wait as long as I did as trust me, you're missing out. We're lucky to have friends living up there who knew all the best places to take us. If you're planning a trip to the east coast, here are four places you should definitely add to your intinerary. 

1. Golspie
This little town is famous for being the home of the beautiful Dunrobin Castle, a fairytale chateau-style castle build an incredible 700 years ago. Make sure you spend an hour or so taking in the walled gardens and catching the fun falcon show. Once you've enjoyed the castle, it's time to refuel with some cake at a little tea room in the high street before heading out to explore the waterfalls. The city girl in me had no idea that scenes like this existed in the UK. I don't get out to the countryside much! The Big Burn is an easy 2.5km walk through lush, green woodlands. Pack sensible shoes and wander until your heart's content.

2. Tarbat Ness
This lighthouse is the perfect places to watch the sun go down. Climb over the rocks and you're greeted with the amazing sight of seals splashing about in the water below - this was by far a highlight of my trip. If you visit during the summer, you'll find the seals soaking up the rays on the rocks themselves.

3. Loch Ness
Probably the most famous loch in Scotland, Loch Ness is the largest one in the UK thanks to the sheer volume of water. It's around 45 minutes from Inverness and makes a great day trip. We explored the Loch with an hour long boat ride with Jacobite Cruises who helped to set the scene. It was fascinating to listen to the folklore and history of the area. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, even on a gloomy day.

4. Glenmorangie Distillery
No trip to Scotland is complete with squeezing in a trip to a whisky distillery. Book yourself into the fascinating tour and learn about the history of this famous whisky. You'll be able to try a sample at the end. Even if you're not a whisky fan it's still worth doing because it really is such an interesting process and the guides are so enthusiastic.

Have you been to the Highlands before? Anywhere I should add to my list? I'm definitely planning on heading back soon!

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A weekend in the South of France

Like I mentioned in my Marseille post, we spent the day in the port city before getting the last train back to Elodie's hometown. We didn't see much as we got into Sanary-Sur-Mer around 11pm. Plus we were too busy fawning over Elodie's incredible pink house. Yes a pink house. The dream eh? We retired to bed just after midnight, looking forward to doing some more exploring the following day. 

We had a lie in before getting ready and walking down to the beach for a breakfast filled with pastries. It was just as glorious as it sounds. After hitting up what was said to be the best bakery in town, we found a bar to tuck into. My sugary brioche and cheese and ham croissant were amazing. Still dreaming about that croissant actually. After what seemed like hours of gossiping and drinking orangina, we decided to check out the (ridiculously windy) beach as we cheered on Michelle taking some outfit snaps.

After a slow walk into the centre of town we realised that Elodie actually lived in some sort of alternative Disney town and started to regret not coming over sooner. Have you seen the cinema below?! We walked passed a bustling farmer's market filled with delicious looking plump vegetables, tempting creamy cheeses and traditional biscuits. Surrounded by tall palm trees and basking in 25 degree heat, I could hardly believe this was just a short flight away from home.

Elodie gave us all a tour and we being the fickle bloggers we are, we fell in love with every single winding street we stumbled across. That architecture really is something else. The French Riviera really captured my heart. After climbing to the top of a hill for a cracking view of the town, it was time to go home as Elodie had an fun afternoon planned for us in Hyeres. More on that in another post!

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How to spend 24 hours in Marseille, France

Marseille was somewhere that was never really on my list and only really came to my attention because it's about an hour from my friend Elodie's hometown. We flew into there for the day before making our way down to the coast to where she lives. Now I've been? I absolutely loved it and would love to venture back to explore some more. We managed to squeeze a lot into our 24 hours there and here is how you can too.

10am: If you catch the early morning flight from London Stansted you'll land in the city just before ten. Catch the airport bus into the centre, jump off at the train station and make your way towards the beautiful old town - La Panier.

11am: Take your time getting lost down the windy, cobbled streets and browsing the many unique and independent shops to buy some souvenirs to take home. I'd recommend a quick pitstop to La Grande Savonnerie, home of the city's famous soap Savon de Marseille, and UndARTground, a cool concept shop where I treated myself to a cool wall print as seen on my Instagram.  Make sure you make a quick detour to the gorgeous Centre de la Vielle Charité. Once a charity shelter, this beautiful neo-classical building with pretty olive trees is the perfect place for a wander and take shelter from the sun.

1pm: You'll want to take full advantage of those harbour views so make sure you book a meal at La Poulpe in advance. We went for their great value lunchtime deal of a starter, main, dessert, glass of wine and cup of coffee for 28 euros. I enjoyed perfectly cooked squid to start, meatballs on a bed of wild rice smothered in a tomato sauce for my main and a banana and chocolate hybrid cake for dessert. Washed down with a generous glass of rosé, it was a great meal to kickstart my French adventure. After lunch head to Glacier Vanille Noir to try the infamous black ice-cream made from squid ink. No need to screw your nose up as it tastes just like vanilla ice cream. What's a holiday if you don't have two desserts eh?

2.30pm: After that big lunch you'll want to walk it off. So take a stroll along the beautiful harbour in Vieux Port and laugh at the mad selfies you can take in the Pavilion, a huge mirror. Once you begin to get bored, prepare yourself for a trek up a hill to the MuCEM, a cool building that looks like it's made from lace. Here you'll have a cracking view of the city, enjoy a quick drink pitstop in the cafe before continuing your sightseeing.

4.30pm: For somewhere a little different, take a stroll through the French African quarter of Noailles. An Aladdin's cave of interesting shops selling beautiful African-inspired crockery, on-trend straw baskets for a fraction of the price of those in high street shops, delicious looking food and various knick knacks you didn't think you needed until you spot them. It's full of hustle and bustle making a great alternative view to the city.

8pm: Now it's time to grab dinner. Au Bout Du Quai is a cool, instagrammable place that wouldn't look out of place in Miami. I adored the vibe, the staff were friendly and accommodating and the food was absolutely delicious. Once again you'll be rewarded with views of the harbour. I fully recommend the local clam spaghetti. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the clams tasted so fresh and delicious. I didn't want the dish to end!

10pm: We never got the chance to take advantage as we had to catch the last train home to the coast but make sure you take advantage of the cool cocktail bars for a few drinks before retiring to your hotel room or apartment.

Bon voyage!

Some pictures taken from Michelle as my camera ran out of battery half way through the day!

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