5 Things To Do In Iceland #SendMeAway

I'm forever dreaming about my next holiday and for once, I don't have anything booked to look forward to! When icelolly.com asked bloggers to share their dream destination, I couldn't resist imagining my next travel destination. The winner will win £1000 towards their perfect holiday and a coveted Olympus PEN camera, so I wanted to share 5 things I want to do in Iceland, the country which is number one on my bucket list:

1. The Northern Lights
The Northern Lights had to be number one on my 'must-see' in Iceland. I have seen some seriously stunning images but nothing would compare to seeing the real thing with my own eyes. Apparently February, March, October and November are the best months to get lucky with the lights and a solar flare means that you have the best chance of seeing the lights now until 2018, so I need to get organised!

2. Husky Sledding
I'm obsessed with the idea of husky sledding and what better location than Iceland? Huskies are amazing dogs and I've always wanted to go sledding; a thrilling mix of fluffy dogs and extreme sport. In fact, it was one of my failed New Year's Resolutions in 2015 so I really need to tick it off in 2016!

3. The Blue Lagoon
I can't think of Iceland without thinking of sitting in the Blue Lagoon, surrounded by snow and steam. The experience of two extremes, the heat of the water and the cold of the air, fascinates me and again, I really want to try it for myself. I would definitely try a silica mud mask and drink a glass of wine in the water - it's the perfect memory!

4. Icelandic Cuisine
For me, the quality of the food can make or break a holiday. Unsurprisingly, Iceland is well-known for its fresh seafood, thanks to its location. After reading Ally from Digital Diva's post about her trip to Iceland, I would love to try The Fishmarket. It sounds like a great place to try some fantastic local cuisine so it's top of my 'to eat' list.

5. Caving
Finally, it's another unusual activity, although I could have chosen geysers, whale watching, the Golden Circle or even pony-trekking on Icelandic horses - there is so much to do in Iceland! My final 'must do' is caving. The volcanic environment of Iceland has created its unique nature and caving is an exciting way to see more of the Icelandic landscape. I would love the explore the beautiful and fascinating magma caves - and everything else which Iceland has to offer!

I nominate Digital Diva, Queen Beady and Adventures in Tea and Cake to share their choices - with the requirement that if you enter and win, you have to take me! Deal? Where is your number one bucket list destination?

Jess

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Snapshots of Paris

Bonjour! I recently blogged about why we need to think about what we photograph and why. Despite some of the comments I made about the hyper-tourism I experienced in Paris, I of course took a few snaps myself which I wanted to share today alongside my thoughts on the city. Wow, it was a while ago I went to Paris! This dissertation has completely taken over my life and I can't wait to be back blogging properly soon!

Paris … I had visited once before on a school trip but I was excited to return as an adult and explore the city with my Mum and Aunty. It was my Aunty's first visit outside of England ever - she even had to get her first ever passport for the trip - so we wanted the holiday to be perfect. We had a lot of touristy places planned but I’d also left us some free time to explore the city and eat some wonderful French food.

However, we were really disappointed by the lack of anything ‘Parisian.’ Perhaps my Instagram obsession had set the bar too high, but I was half-expecting to be swimming in macarons, eating perfectly cooked steak and having pastries for breakfast. Instead, we found it almost impossible to find any local patisseries or restaurants as the only options appeared to be burgers, chips or hot dogs - not exactly what I'd expected. There were obviously huge hoardes of tourists, which I can't really complain about since I was one of them, but I just found the city to be generally not what I have envisaged.

I still enjoyed Paris and don’t regret the trip but there are many other European cities which I have preferred and am more excited to visit in the future. What did you think of Paris? Most people I know love the city, so I’d love to hear your thoughts! Am I simply wrong?

Jess

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5 Senses of Turkey with Thomas Cook

Last week, I was kindly invited by the wonderful Talented Talkers to an event in London with Thomas Cook to celebrate Turkey. I've been really enjoying writing travel posts recently and I have actually visited Turkey once before, many years ago. I have to admit I didn't enjoy it - although to be fair to Turkey, it wasn't its fault. We had traveled there on a family holiday but a few days before our flight, mine and my brother's middle school, which was also my Mum's place of work, was burnt down by an ex-pupil. When your Mum has lost her classroom and your house is covered in smoke thanks to your school burning down across the road, it's pretty hard to enjoy yourself on your holidays!

Therefore I was excited to give Turkey another chance thanks to Thomas Cook and experience the '5 senses' on offer at Paradise by the way of Kendal Green, the wonderful location for the event. As soon as we headed up the stairs, we entered a Turkish world, full of beautiful pottery, incredible Turkish music and the scents of orange blossom and rose water. We explored our five senses; for scent, there were beautiful perfumes which spread across the room; for sound, we were treated to the wonderful upbeat traditional music from the talented Turkish drummer and violinist; for sight, we got to dress up in some vibrant embroidered Turkish costumes and for touch, we made ourselves our very own body scrub. Mine was made from sea salt, rose water and jojoba oil and, much like the coffee and coconut scrub I made with Preloved, it left my skin feeling smooth and nourished. I love making natural body scrubs as a cheap and wholesome alternative to exfoliating products and I loved that the rose water gave this scrub a Turkish twist.

That leaves one sense; taste. Unsurprisingly, I loved the Turkish themed cocktails, particularly the Turkish Delight Martini which was made from vanilla vodka, white creme de cacao and rose water. Thank you Thomas Cook for the lovely photo of the Turkish Delight Martini, since I drank mine before I thought to photograph it - rookie blogger error! A martini is always a great way to explore the sense of taste, but I was impressed with the local Turkish wines too. I also enjoyed the meze options, especially as 'picky' foods is on of my favourite ways to eat a meal, mixing and matching small tastes of different flavours and trying a little bit of everything. As you might have guessed, taste was my favourite of all the senses on offer - food and drink definitely makes or breaks a holiday for me! 

Michelle, one of the airline staff, looked as glamorous as you would expect as she explained the various locations which Thomas Cook fly to; Antalya, Dalaman, Bodrum and Izmir. I particularly liked the sound of Antalya. Like the whole of Turkey, the beaches are stunning and the nearby Sime beach has both golden sand and Roman ruins, which sounds fascinating. After visiting Plitvice Lakes in Croatia and falling in love with the national park, I think the Duden Waterfalls sound incredible - there really is nothing more breathtaking than a set of waterfalls! I'd really love the chance to try Turkey again and truly enjoy the experience, without the worry of a fire in my mind! 

The event definitely left me craving a holiday full of sun, sand, beautiful scents and Turkish baths. Have you ever been to Turkey? Where would you recommend?

Jess

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Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

As you may know, a few weeks ago I travelled to Croatia for a wonderful four days. I posted some of my top tips about the town of Zadar but I also wanted to share some details about one of my favourite experiences in Croatia; the famous Plitvice Lakes National Park. If you start to research a holiday in Croatia, these lakes will inevitably come up and they are well worth a visit:

The Lakes are located about two hours from Zadar and are accessible by bus from most places in Croatia. We used Bus Croatia to access the timetable and this was accurate for both times and prices.
The bus was spacious, air-conditioned and much more comfortable than I expected! When we arrived, an English guide boarded the bus and explained that there were two entrances to the park; one for the lower lakes and one for the upper lakes. We decided to start at the lower lakes and work our way up, to be collected from the upper lakes at about 5pm - the guide also told us the pick up times to return to Zadar.

Entry to the Lakes is 55, 110 or 180 Kuna, depending on the season which you can check here. They also offer a student discount so I got my entry slightly cheaper, which is always a bonus. I had researched the various routes available on TripAdvisor and decided that route C was the best choice. This route was estimated to take 4-5 hours and started at the lower lakes. We walked down some steep stone steps to the lower lakes and I was amazed by the clear and sparkling water. You could see fish casually swimming around everywhere, completely unfazed by all the tourists.

By following the signs for route C, we worked out way through the lower waterfalls to the boat. We then caught the boat, which is included in your ticket price, across to the upper lakes. These lakes were much larger and more powerful and we followed the paths right to the top of the park. Then we caught the train back down to the upper lakes entrance with about an hour until our bus arrived, so we timed it well enough that we could explore this area too. If you are only at the lakes for a day, I'd definitely recommend this route as you cover pretty much everything over a few hours.

The lakes are incredibly beautiful and they were my standout favourite part of my trip to Croatia. I would love to go back as every corner you turn there is a new 'wow' moment. The photos are obviously incredible (if I say so myself) but the sights themselves are even better. Have you ever visited Plitvice Lakes?

Jess

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Zadar, Croatia: All You Need To Know

As you will hopefully know thanks to my recent #SplashedByGeorge post, I spent last weekend in the beautiful Croatia. It's such an up and coming country and I fell in love with the stunning scenery, fantastic food and friendly people. I wanted to share some tips to get the most out of trip, as it's somewhere which I spent some time researching before we travelled there. 

How to Get There
Ryanair is one of the few airlines to fly to this more unusual part of Croatia, as most people fly to Split or Dubronovik. The benefit of choosing somewhere more unusual is the price - we paid just £32 for return flights from Manchester. We caught a taxi to and from the airport, which costs between 150 and 180 Kuna and takes about 20 minutes. The Croatian currency is the Kuna, and £1 is equivalent to about 10 Kuna. This means that everything is fantastic value - we drank Kir Royales for 25 Kuna and large bottles of still water were about 3 Kuna in the local supermarket. 

Where To Stay
We knew that we wanted to stay in the old town, where we were amongst the shops and restaurants and could easily explore our surroundings. We found Apartments Donat on Hotels.com and it was just £60 each for three nights. The owner was so friendly, even heading over to find us and show us where the apartment was when we got lost! She was always on hand to offer advice and recommendations for the area and made our stay so much more comfortable. The air con and small kitchenette were both massive bonuses, allowing us a clean and comfortable base for exploring the town.

What to Eat
Food in Zadar is cheap and good quality. A three course meal with a bottle of wine for two cost about £20 each. One restaurant I would particularly recommend is Trattoria. We shared a bottle Spanish cava for 120 Kuna and I started with some fantastic marinated and salt anchovies, accompanied by freshly made pitta bread, for 35 Kuna. My main was orecchiette al forno, a oven baked pasta with homemade salsa, tomatoes and cheese which cost 50 Kuna. I was far too full for dessert and my meal cost me 145 kuna is total - just less than £15, which is amazing for a two course meal including alcohol. I'd also recommend for going for a drink at Ledana, a bar near Fosa. The drinks were so cheap and the setting was amazing. Think of a trendy garden party, with hidden areas, paths to explore and great music, all set in the historic old town of Zadar. 

Where to Go
The Sea Organ and the Greeting to the Sun are the two main attractions in Zadar. The Greeting to the Sun is a nighttime attraction; a light-up floor powered by solar energy collected in the daytime. If you sit on the nearby steps, you can hear the Sea Organ. This series of pipes plays music dependent on the sea's waves. It's fascinating and ever-changing - I could have sat there for hours. I would recommend this in the daytime, as you can listen to the sounds of the Sea Organ as you sunbathe, paddle, people-watch or swim.
In the rest of Zadar, I would recommend simply walking and exploring. To walk from one side of the old town to the other takes about 15 minutes, if you are walking slowly, so it is easy to explore. The streets are simple to navigate and outside of the old town there is also a marina and the 'new' town if you want to explore further afield.
If you want to explore further than Zadar, I would recommend the bus. We consulted Bus Croatia for all our bus times and prices, but bought our tickets on the day at the Zadar Bus Terminal. A trip to Plitvice Lakes cost just 165 Kuna for a two hour journey to the beautiful national park and was well worth the money. Entry to the Lakes was 110 Kuna (or 80 Kuna if you are a student) and I couldn't recommend it more. Read a more detailed post on what I got up to at the Plitvice Lakes!

Have you visited Zadar or elsewhere in Croatia? Do you have any other tips?

Jess

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