Happy Thanksgiving!

I just thought I'd write a quick post to say a big "Happy Thanksgiving!" to my American friends (and any other lovely Americans reading this!)

I've only been to America once, to New York in 2004 (I think it was 2004 anyway!) and I had a great time. It was a long weekend with my family, and we all had fun shopping, walking round Central Park, taking the Staten Island ferry past the Statue of Liberty, waiting in line to go to the top of the Empire State Building, visiting the Guggenheim museum... you get the picture, we did the tourist-tastic stuff. It was ace!

Obviously, there is a LOT more of America to see, and I would love to get the chance to explore more of it. I also heard there's a little town somewhere called Rachel. Need to go there, obviously.

That's brother David, me, and my dad in Central Park. It was COLD.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Forza Milano!

Dan and I went to Milan in October, for 4 nights. We booked  the flights because they were too cheap to resist, without doing aaaaany research (well, apart from reading my friend Laura's blog post about her own trip there) and then before we knew it, we were 2 weeks away with no accommodation and no idea what we were going to do. A sweep of Late Rooms secured us the cheapest hotel room we could find (we stayed at Hotel Vienna which was ideally located by a metro stop but with nothing much else - except for the most amazing pizza shop - nearby. It did the job though - somewhere to sleep and shower!) and we bought guidebooks to swot up on the action.

The main highlight of Milan itself was the Duomo. The main cathedral is beautiful in the day, and even more stunning lit up in the evening. The square it sits in is buzzing and has a real "European city" feel with people milling around taking photos, pigeons everywhere and traders trying to sell you flashing yo-yos, postcards and the like. I loved the Duomo - as well as being a stunning building it felt very calm inside and you could almost feel the history. We didn't climb up to the roof (I'm veeeery lazy and there were LOTS of stairs, plus you have to pay and we were skint) which I've heard offers a great view, but I didn't feel we missed out at all - there's a lot to see inside the Duomo itself as well as in the square. It sounds obvious, but it's not to be missed if you're going to Milan.

We also went to Sforzesco Castle. I consider myself to be a bit of a castle expert, as I've been dragged round many by my enthusiast friend Reg. Sforzesco was great as castles go - it had a beautiful courtyard with lovely mosaic ceiling tiles and some impressive turrets, but I was a little underwhelmed all in all.  I guess I'm just hard to impress, castle-wise!

I'll be honest, the rest of Milan was pretty forgettable. We had a lovely time just wandering round, seeing things, but nothing that I feel compelled to share. Word to the wise - the San Siro football stadium (home to both AC and Inter Milan) is a looooong walk from what the guidebooks claim is the nearest metro stop. Unless you're doing the stadium tour (we weren't) think hard about how much you want to stand in a car park looking at an empty football stadium... I'd have preferred another pint of Italian beer and a slice of pizza!

San Siro. Well, I'd gone all that way, I wasn't not taking a photo!

To bring a bit of positivity back (yeaaaah, PMA!) I'll move on to Como. We decided to jaunt to Como as it's just a 1 hour train ride from Milan, and cost around 13 euros for a return ticket. We spent a day there towards the end of the trip and it was beautiful - exactly what we needed. The lake itself was really pretty, and the town felt very quaint and less hectic than Milan. Their cathedral is worth a visit - we ate dinner in a lovely cafe right outside - and a walk along the lakeside with an ice cream comes highly recommended  We didn't take a boat trip (although there are plenty, and to other lake towns as well) or go on the cable car to the mountain top for what we heard were stunning views as we were short of time, but it didn't matter - our Como trip was definitely the highlight of the weekend and I'd tell anyone going to Milan that they must visit - I'd suggest a couple of nights in Milan, and a couple in Como (or another lake town - there are plenty to choose from).

 

All in all, I'm glad we went to Milan - I'm always happy to visit a new city and the pizza from the shop next to our hotel made the trip worth it all by itself. I do wish we'd planned a little better and booked at least one night in Como though, and maybe I'd try to make it to the Formula 1 race track in nearby(ish) Monza if I went back too. Still, a good time was had by all - Bellissiomo!

Photographic genius I am not. Do love Dan's expression here though!

Lake Como :)

This One Time, in Malaga

I went to Malaga, Spain in February with my family, which was lovely. I never wrote about it, which was naughty. Better late than never though, right? Here's my thoughts on things to do in Malaga...

Don't assume it's full of stag dos and the cast of TOWIE
It is not. A friend of mine made this assumption when I went, but actually Malaga is a very classy place, with a relaxed vibe and plenty of lovely streets, buildings and beaches to explore without a whiff of chav to be found.

Me at the fountain in the main square - lovely!

Have a good ol' wander... there's lots to see

I went on a walk with my brother, heading nowhere in particular with no real plan of what to see, and we had a great morning. We took in the bull ring, the cathedral, the Roman ampitheatre, many other beautiful buildings and streets and a lovely little coffee shop with teeny but tasty cupcakes.

    

Traditional "jumping" photo at the cathedral, the Roman ampitheatre and Our David enjoying a tiny coffee and tiny cupcake. Manly.

Eat fresh, barbequed fish on the beach

Self explanatory, and why wouldn't you? There are loads of little restaurants all along the beach, catching and cooking fish daily. We had lunch at one of these places on our first day and it was a great start to the holiday - sitting in the sun with a beer/vino eating the fish we'd watched a guy cook for us in an old boat he'd turned into a bbq. We took a nice stroll along the beach after we'd stuffed ourselves and burned off the calories (well, sort of... exercise still counts if you stop for a pint at the other end of the beach, right?)

Go to a football match

If you like that sort of thing, of course. My dad and brother went to see Malaga F.C -they were able to walk to the ground from the centre, and had a great time with the "crazy, mental" fans there. Malaga's ground also played host to an international fixture on our last day and the city was overrun by excitable South American marching around en masse chanting "Ven-Uz-Ua-Laaaaa!" all afternoon. It was brilliant.

Malaga's newest fan

Climb up to the Paradores Hotel

The views from this 5 star hotel are great - you can see all of Malaga while enjoying a beer in their garden bar (you don't have to be a resident to drink there) and the walk is a nice, scenic one with plenty of places to stop for a rest on the way if you're as unfit as we are. It was only when we got to the top that we realised there were buses... so maybe get the bus up and walk down, instead of the other way round like we did... I imagine it's much less sweaty.

Ma and I checking out the view halfway up

Go to the Picasso Museum

Malaga is where Pablo Picasso was born dontcha know? So of course there's a museum with plenty of his fantastic art on display. I have a Picasso tattoo so obviously enjoyed the museum, but if that's not your thing his influence is still very obvious throughout the city... and you can pose with a statue of him that sits on a bench too, if you're so inclined :)

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

There are a LOT of amazing tapas restaurants in Malaga, and many great bars too. It would be rude not to take advantage...

FYI... we stayed at the Petit Palace Plaza hotel which was lovely and ideally located. If you're not travelling with your amazing and generous parents though, there are plenty of more budget friendly places to stay. Viva Malaga!