Vienna Part III: Palace

Spent our last day in Vienna at the beautiful Schonbrunn Palace - the gardens were so big, they felt endless.

 View of the fountain and the Gloriette perched on top of a hill...

 Feeling enthusiastic...

 Beautiful roses!

 We clambered to the top of the hill for tea and cake at the cafe in the Gloriette. The cakes were amazing!

A Sunny Day in London Town

I'm very close with my sister and I'm very grateful for everything she does for me (I'm the youngest of three and therefore have always been spoilt by my older siblings). This sunny Saturday we spent the whole day wandering around London and generally having a lovely time.

It wasn't until after I took this photo that I realised the sun lines up perfectly with the top of the Shard. I love the contrast between the different types of architecture which so typifies the streets of London.

Charlotte and I got frozen yogurt at Gelateria 3Bis in Borough Market. The frozen yogurt is amazing and pretty reasonably priced compared with Pinkberry or Snog. The ice cream also looked incredible so we'll have to go back and try them some time.

 Cheese and wild herbs for sale in the market. Then chutneys and balsamic vinegar in the background. 

 Giant mountain of meringues!

Charlotte and I then walked to the Shortwave Cinema in Bermondsey to see Populaire (the picture above was taken in their lovely bar). I thought Populaire was very charming! It would have been very easy for the relationship between the two main characters to appear sleazy and exploitative (which it sometimes does) so it's a real testament to the ability of the actors that the relationship comes off as sweet and genuine as it does.

The one thing that really bothered me about the film was that it's never explained why the main male lead is so obsessed with training Rose (the female lead) to win the World Speed-Typing Championship. There's some vague reference to his past as an athlete and the fact that despite having a lot of natural sporting talent, he never really achieved anything. So perhaps he is pushing her to win so he can live vicariously through her and become a champion. But that is only ever vaguely implied and his obsession with Rose becoming champion is never really explained.

Still, it was a funny and charismatic film. The late '50s costumes were also fantastic. Makes me want to watch the first few seasons of Mad Men again!

Charlotte and I then walked along the South Bank to have dinner at a lovely Mediterranean Mezze place behind London Country Hall. I absolutely love South Bank - there's always so much going on. Saturday evening there were numerous pop-up food stands, a community garden project, an artificial beach and, of course, countless street performers. 

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.