3 DAYS IN ST IVES, CORNWALL

Sunday

Earlier this month, I went on a trip to St Ives in Cornwall with my boyfriend. It was a much-needed getaway and it was also my first time ever visiting Cornwall, definitely not my last as I had such a great time.


We went from Thursday - Sunday and driving from my house on the Wiltshire/Hampshire border took around 4 hours which was worth it for the pretty views and the amazing time we had.


Day 1


Carbis bay beach st ives

When we arrived, we had a few hours before check-in time at our B&B so we went down to the beach at Carbis Bay which was where we stayed. The B&B we stayed at was called Chy an Gwedhen and I couldn't recommend it enough. The hosts, Pete and Heidi, were so kind and the breakfast was great. We were so well looked after and I would definitely stay there again. 


The location of our B&B was great too, we usually got the bus down to St Ives as it was just a little too far to walk and taxis back. The taxis were only around £5 and it took around 5 minutes, so it was very handy.

Related: 3 Days in Suffolk

Carbis Bay beach was so pretty and tranquil, it made me feel like I was abroad. You can hire out water sports there too and it's a lot less busy than the St Ives beaches.


After checking in and getting ready, we went into St Ives. We actually took the train there which was only £1 but we realised there was a bus stop right by our B&B so it was a lot easier than getting to the train station.


Joe used to go to St Ives when he was younger so he could kind of remember the beaches but it was my first time and it looked amazing. I am getting holiday blues writing this, take me back!


St ives harbour cornwall


We went to a pub called the Lifeboat Inn for dinner which was right on the harbour front, then we went to Tretho Lounge for cocktails.


Day 2


On the Friday we had booked a trip to St Michael's Mount. I'm annoyed I didn't get a good picture of the mount from the causeway but I got some from the views on top of the Mount.


St michaels mount

We were able to walk across the causeway although when we parked, it was covered in water but by the time we'd walked there, it was clear. I couldn't get my head round it. I loved learning about the history of the mount and there are actually people who live on there today. We went into the castle and inside, was mostly loads of pictures of old white men, but the views from the top were so pretty!

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After St Michael's Mount, we went back into St Ives for dinner. This time, we went to an Italian Restaurant called Peppers which was really nice. Then we went for an ice cream, they have really nice ice cream parlours by the way, I wanted to try every flavour! This was then followed by an evening in a really cool rooftop bar which was an extension of The Sloop Inn pub along the harbour.


Day 3


The weather was meant to be best on the Saturday and we hadn't really planned any trips for then so we decided to have a beach day. For September, it was still so hot and I managed to get in the sea (with great struggle) and get sunburnt - always remember your SPF, or in my case, to make sure you put it EVERYWHERE.


Porthgwidden beach st ives cornwall


For lunch, we had crab baguettes from a Cornish bakery of which there were many (I can't remember the name of it now but there were about 3 of these bakeries in St Ives). I did have a seagull mishap which I would like to try and forget about but luckily, it didn't steal my baguette. Lauren 1 Seagull 0. This was followed by more ice cream.


For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Firehouse bar and grill which was good too. We also went to the arcade and played air hockey and on the basketball hoops. Annoyingly, I started to feel a bit ill on our last night, probably because my immune system is just not as good due to being in lockdown for so long earlier in the year. As a result, we went back to the room early and watched TV.


Sunday was then driving home day and it did take a long time to get home, mainly because of all of the traffic by Stonehenge which is the bain of my life anyway but apart from that roads were pretty clear.


I definitely hope to go to St Ives again and other places in Cornwall, it was so fun. A highlight was that so many people took their dogs on holiday there so I got to see loads of cute furballs.

Related: Places you need to visit in Dorset

Have you been to Cornwall?

9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL AT THE MAYFLOWER

After waiting a year and three months to go due to the pandemic, I finally went to see 9 to 5 the musical and it definitely did not disappoint.


9 to 5 the musical mayflower southampton

As the show was at The Mayflower in Southampton, we headed over by train and went to a few shops and had some food and drinks before going to the event.


For lunch, we went to Zizzi in West Quay and I had the chorizo carbonara, so nice would definitely recommend! The burrata salad starter was so nice too. I also had the passion fruitini cocktail.


The show started at 2pm so we walked over to The Mayflower after lunch and getting in was super easy there weren't really any queues. There were no empty seats though as so many people must have been waiting to go since 2020 like us.


I had seen 9 to 5 the movie with Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin which I loved, but this was my first time seeing it as a musical on stage and it was amazing!


It was a really clever adaptation of the film and it was so funny too, at one point I think tears were coming out because I was laughing so much.

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The characters were fab too. Franklin Hart Jr, the misogynistic CEO of the company is definitely more exaggerated in the musical than in the film which really helped to get the point across of how women have been treated in the office compared to how men have been treated.


I'd like to think the way women are treated in the workplace has improved since the 1980s but there are still some improvements that need to be made in certain workplaces I would say.


The three women main characters are so empowering and it's great to watch their journey and see a happy ending for each of them.


There was a great balance between comedy, and also keeping focused on the serious themes of misogyny throughout. Every so often, Franklin Hart Jr would make sexist jokes about women to one of his male coworkers, Bob. At the end of the show, Bob then hit him back with my favourite line: "What do you call a female CEO? A CEO."


I definitely need to see more musicals, I always love them! So far, I have only seen 9 to 5, Mamma Mia, The Rocky Horror Show and Shrek The Musical - all of which were so good.

Related: A-Z of date ideas

Are you a fan of musicals, which is your favourite?

MY TIME AT BOURNEMOUTH 7S FESTIVAL

Saturday

Over the August Bank Holiday weekend, I spent the Saturday and Sunday at Bournemouth 7s Festival. I had my ticket booked so long ago and was due to go in May 2020, so I felt like writing about my experience there.


Group of people at festival

If you have been following me for a while, you may remember that in lockdown last year, I tried recreating Bournemouth 7s Festival in my back garden.

Related: Throwing a festival lockdown party

Luckily I was able to stay at a friend's house so I didn't have to do any camping. I'm so glad, it was such a tiring weekend so I needed the proper sleep in a bed.


Day 1 


For day 1 my friends and I went out for breakfast so we could line our stomachs and started drinking pre-lunch time. No judgment here it was a big weekend! We had some more pre-drinks at the house before heading to the festival at around 2pm.


The queue for day 1 was pretty long as we had to show covid passes or test results, tickets, ID, and our bags all in different places.


When we arrived we tried out all of the different music tents and got the drinks in. The sponsored drink this year was White Claw, which I really think helped me out. Because it's a hard seltzer which is quite watery, it was so easy to drink all day and was quite hydrating. They were also not too strong so I didn't overdo it too early. Incidentally, water was £3 and these cans were £4!


The headlining act on day 1 was Ella Eyre. She was good but the main tent was so full and we were so far back that we couldn't really see that well and it was getting a bit crowded, so we ended up just going to an RnB tent which was so good.


Day 2


Again, we had a couple of drinks before leaving for 7s, some of us were more hungover than others (I am smug because it's usually me but I felt amazing - thank you White Claws). We left for 7s earlier and there was no queue as we all had wristbands by that point so got in a lot quicker.


We did actually watch about 5 minutes of rugby on Sunday, I know it's mainly for sports but I much prefer just dancing and listening to music to watching the sports (sorry!)


After that we did a bit of the Bingo Lingo which was good, my feet were killing from the day before and there was still so much walking be done so I was just grateful for sitting down really.


As for the rest of the day, it was pretty much the same as the day before, just going between tents and dancing listening to the different music.


We didn't end up seeing the headlining act, but I can't remember who it was anyway and the other tents had such good music anyway that it didn't really matter.


It feels quite weird now because that was the last event in Bournemouth that I'll probably go to for a while because I've finished uni there now. But I'm looking forward to more events in the future.


Have you been to any festivals this year?

5 ECO-FRIENDLY ITEMS I CARRY WITH ME

Sunday

This is a guest post by Caroline from Enviroline Blog.

This year is the year of the staycation. As annoying as it is that we can’t go abroad, it’s much better for the planet and it reduces your carbon footprint. Did you know that a flight from London to Rome produces 234kg of CO2? That is the same amount that the average person in Sierra Leone produces in a year! A flight from London to New York is 986kg of CO2, which is more than the average person in 56 countries use per year, including Paraguay. (figures from The Guardian

eco friendly shopping bag with recycle symbol on phone
Image by Ready Made on Pexels.

I don’t tend to fly because I really hate going on aeroplanes, but my parents and I usually take the ferry to France or Spain. The last time we went was 2 years ago, obviously not last year! Although I was very much into helping the planet, I wasn’t so aware of constantly carrying around eco-friendly alternatives with me. However, now there are 5 items that I always carry with me - as well as the obvious keys, phone etc. 

Tote bag 


This seems fairly obvious because you need a bag to carry things around in. I’m not really a handbag kind of girl, I’ve always liked to carry a tote bag. I love the fun messages they have on them! The reason why they are so useful is that they can fold down. If you are walking to the shops, you could keep your purse, phone & keys in your usual bag and fold down the tote bag to fit in too. I sometimes do this with spare plastic bags in my tote bag. 

Another great thing about tote bags is that quite often you can get them for free. If you are visiting a uni, most of them will give you a tote bag. Ironically I didn’t receive one when I visited Bournemouth Uni, which is where I am now! 

Reusable water bottle 


When I first decided that I wanted to be more sustainable, I decided to stop buying plastic water bottles. This sounds simple but I get thirsty very easily when I’m out and about. For example, I would be in town with my friend and wouldn’t be able to buy any water because I didn’t want to buy a plastic bottle. Sometimes I had to cave, I mean your health is number 1. Though, this is actually what forced me into remembering to bring a reusable water bottle wherever I go. I now take one with me everywhere! It doesn’t have to be a big heavy one because you can refill it in a cafe. 

Spare bags 


Carrying on from taking a tote bag with you, bring some plastic bags. Plastic bags are made to look really bad and as much as they are awful, if you have to buy one, reuse it as much as you can! If you throw it away because plastic is bad, it will end up going to landfill so much quicker than if you use it until you can’t. 

In lockdown, I quarantined my food or wiped the packages down with antibacterial spray before using them. I didn’t want my tote bag to be contaminated too, so I used to line it with a strong plastic bag. I did that for another tote bag too, for when I was having a bigger shop! Everyone has that bag of plastic bags, they are much better in use than sitting gathering dust. 

Cutlery 


I would really recommend carrying a cutlery set in your bag. This could be a bamboo set you have bought from the shop or spare metal cutlery you have from home. Either way, it needs to be reusable so something that you can wash. A little bag to keep it in is useful too, so that it doesn’t get all dirty in your bag - pencil case size would be perfect. It still astonishes me how shops provide plastic cutlery in the ‘food to go’ section. Saying that, I have also seen bamboo cutlery wrapped in plastic! It makes no sense. I like to include a straw in mine too, some travel mugs include a straw hole so it would be very annoying to forget that! 

Having a reusable cutlery set is great if you are worried about the cleanliness in restaurants. I’m sure that they have a high standard of hygiene, but sometimes I just prefer to use my own. Just before the UK went into lockdown, I had my 18th birthday meal out with my friends and I was so worried about Covid, so I took my own cutlery along. It might seem a bit excessive, but it makes me feel safer. 

Travel mug 


A travel mug is a definite must. You never know when you are going to want a coffee. I feel like it’s just one of those spontaneous moments, like if you are out with friends shopping, I guarantee someone will want to get one. Even if you don’t, you could lend it to your friend so that you are still reducing plastic. I went to Starbucks the other week and was unsure they would let me use my own mug because of Covid. But, luckily they really welcomed it. I just placed my travel mug in one of their ceramic mugs so that neither of us touched both the mugs. It was a super simple process! 
Thank you so much to Lauren for letting me guest post on her blog! You can find me over at Enviroline Blog for more environmental posts, as well as mental health posts. 

What eco-friendly item do you always carry with you?