Home Away from Home

A couple of weekends ago I went back to my old college for an alumni ball. Going back to a city where I spent three wonderful years and seeing all my old friends together again was an utter delight.

 Amazing chocolate ganache at the Three Horseshoe pub in Madingley. Such an amazing meal!

 

The whole gang together!

Vienna Part II: Roses

Grab a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable - this post is epic ...

There was a beautiful rose garden near the Rathaus... we were here for a long time...

 The Karlskirche is absolutely beautiful - you can go up inside the dome and see the frescoes up close which is amazing.

The adorable cafe inside the Sacher Hotel... We had traditional Viennese Sacher Torte which was a surprisingly light and lovely chocolate cake.

The Belvedere is a Baroque Palace sitting atop beautiful gardens. Inside is a lovely museum and art gallery. They had a whole gallery of Klimt paintings that were amazing. I'd never been particularly fond of Klimt but seeing the paintings in real life as opposed to just prints was really eye opening. The gold on his paintings really sparkles and the pictures just draw you in.

 Awesome column inside the Belvedere's entrance hall...

Chicken stuffed with mushrooms and ham on a mushroom risotto - so yummy!

Vienna Part I: Courtyard and Cathedral

I went to Vienna with assorted family members last Friday. We arrived in the early evening so didn't have much time to explore; we just went into the city centre for a little wander and a lovely hearty dinner.

 Our hotel had this really cute little courtyard/ garden. We had breakfast here every morning.

 St Stephen's Cathedral with its amazing tiled roof. The lens flare is not my attempt to be arty; my camera is rubbish and the sun was setting and this was the best I could do.

 Lovely little flower shop in the square near the Cathedral. 

 Lovely Jesuit church - we had dinner right next door.

Bows and Planes

For years I'd always avoided high-necked tops because of the rule espoused by all fashion magazines that women who are, shall we say, generously endowed, should only really wear V-necks. But when I found this top with its gloriously large, flower-patterned bow, I didn't care whether it's neckline was appropriate for my figure, all I cared about was that I thought it was fun and pretty. So screw fashion rules - I'm not going to pass up on a fabulous item of clothing just because someone, somewhere has decided that my figure is not suited to it.

I completely forgot that I hadn't posted these photos from the last Bank Holiday weekend. For some family bonding time, my father, brother and I went to see the Shuttleworth Collection. The Shuttleworth Collection is a huge collection of aviation paraphernalia demonstrating the first 100 years of flight. They have some really amazing old planes in their collection. For example, they have Louis Blériot's monoplane which was exhibited at Selfridges after the first cross-Channel flight in 1909.

Some of the older contraptions are so rickety and fragile-looking that I'm frankly amazed that anyone volunteered to actually try and fly them. Incredibly, most of the planes in the collection still work and are flown from the airfield next to the museum for special events.

The brother... reading about a very early wooden and canvas plane...

Chime for Change

On Saturday I was lucky enough to go to the Chime for Change concert in London. Chime for Change is a philanthropic community working to promote Education, Health and Justice for women and girls around the world. What's great about Chime for Change is that it brings attention to a wide range of different, interesting projects. You can peruse all the projects on their site, read about them, watch videos about their work, and then donate to the ones that really speak to you.

The concert itself was amazing and I'm immensely grateful to my wonderful friend, Jay, and her family for the ticket. 

For me the highlights were Florence & the Machine (Florence floated across that stage like some sort of ethereal earth-goddess; I couldn't take my eyes off her), John Legend singing 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', and J-Lo's cover of the The Beatles' 'Come Together' with Mary J Blige.

"Savour this moment guys... we will never again be this close to James Franco."

And, of course, Beyonce's performance was the absolute perfect finale to an awesome night. I loved the enthusiasm with which the whole stadium sang along to 'Irreplaceable' (one of my all time favourite Beyonce songs). Also, Jay-Z's cameo appearance in 'Crazy in Love' left me grinning maniacally.

May Day

It's May Day Bank Holiday weekend and I've been having a pretty marvellous time eating, shopping and generally making merry...

The statue above the door to Selfridges, designed by British sculptor Gilbert Bayes.

Wonderful mango and kiwi cheesecake at Allans Patisserie off Duke Street.

Great Gatsby themed birthday party. Some of the outfits were amazing! I felt suitably humbled ('20s fashion is not my friend).

At first I felt a bit embarrassed stopping in busy streets to take pictures of London landmarks. But actually it was nice to be a tourist in my home city - there are so many beautiful places and buildings in London that I don't really notice any more because I see them all the time. Sometimes it's good to stop and take a good look at what's around you.

The recipe for the blondies came from the Gu Chocolate Cookbook, a birthday present from a wonderful friend. I'm not going to lie; they tasted amazing.