Whitby (a.k.a. the best place on earth)

WARNING: Picture heavy post!

On Easter Monday me and my friends decided to go on a trip out and chose to go to Whitby. I've been to Whitby loads of times before when I was younger (we had a caravan in Filey for a while) and it is one of my favourite places I've ever been. It's just beautiful, even in the drizzle.

It took us just about 2 hours to get there and it was crazy busy when we arrived at noon.

I'm going to make a bold claim and say that Whitby has the best fish and chips. Ever. We walked down the pier and stopped off to eat, they were bloody expensive though! Colette and I bought a portion to share, along with a can of lemon Fanta (who knew they had it in the UK?! I've only ever had it abroad) and it cost us £5.60! They were worth it though, the fish was delicious. I am biased though, fish and chips is probably my favourite meal.

We walked right to the end of the pier to the lighthouse. I find lighthouses fascinating and beautiful. There's something so safe about them. We had to walk along a slightly rickety bridge and Rose, who is scared of heights, freaked out a tiny bit so we turned back whilst everyone carried on. 

 

We went onto the beach, I love donkeys, these ones looked a bit pissed off though, imagine walking up and down with kids on your back all days. Especially all trussed up like that, no wonder.

The Fleetwood Mac fan in me couldn't resist taking a photo of this shop name. It's just awesome. The font and everything.

Just before I took a photo of 'Arguments Yard' a bloke was stood in it pulling a face and waving his fist while his girlfriend took a photo, it was hilarious. Whitby's just full of these little walkways. The bottom plaque was from the side of the lighthouse. 

 

We didn't pay to go into the Abbey (erm £6.20 really?) so I took this photo from over the wall. I don't think I've ever been around the Abbey. The 200(ish) stairs to get to up to the Abbey still killed me, even though there didn't seem as many as when I was 10. I'm just disgustingly unfit.

Yet another cute shop name. This lovely little vintage shop was adorable and sold the nicest clothes that I could never pull off in a million year.

The whole day was great, we wandered round the old part of the town, revisited the Lucky Duck shop, had our tea in a little pub at the bottom of the Abbey steps and did a little bit of shopping. I bought a book, some rock and biscuits for my dad, some blackcurrant jam and some fudge. The weather held off pretty much all day too, just drizzling slightly. 

We got back at about 9 and went straight to bed!

I've got some great news to tell you all, I'm just waiting to see if it all works out before I spill the beans. There should be a review post up soon too, I think it'll be a book review seeing as I've nearly finished Wicked. 

Posts may be few and far between for the next few days as I'm working a lot and have an essay deadline next Tuesday, but I'll do my best :)

How did you spend your long weekends?

Thanks for reading x

Edit: Oh, I also have instagram, my username is piuma_ Twitter: @aptpupil_ and Tumblr (bit of a warning though, my tumblr is a kind of diary, there are a lot of emotional ranty posts over there ha!) 

Weekend in Berlin!

Hello! (WARNING: mega-long post, sorry)
I finally arrived home in Manchester from Berlin at 8.30pm (we were supposed to arrive at 11am, but I'll explain all that). The weekend was amazing, Berlin is truly a beautiful city, covered in art and culture. It is (apparently) a similar size to Paris but with about a third of the population, so it seems almost empty of people, there isn't the sense of stress you can get with other big cities because there aren't really many crowds. At this time of year it is freezing, literally -7 degrees during the day, so any 'fashion' went straight out of the window.

The journey down was awful, due to horrible weather down South, but the ferry crossing was calm and I bought a few goodies on the ferry (another post coming). The company organising our trip severely underestimated the time it takes to get from Manchester to Berlin; their estimate was 17 hours, when it really took about 23, so we missed out on an entire day in the city. However, on Friday evening we went out as a group for a meal.

The snow; Courgette stuff with cheese, and a tomato sauce. Pretty sure there was a bit of risotto in there too

On the Saturday we had a walking tour of the city, and saw some of the city's favourite landmarksthe Brandenberg Gate, the Reichstag Building, some Second World War Memorials for the murdered homosexuals and the murdered Jews of Europe and some remains of the Berlin Wall. The Memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe was designed by Peter Eisenman and is made of 2,711 concrete blocks. The number of blocks has no significance, allowing each person to draw their own conclusions. It was haunting to say the least.

The Memorial for the murdered Homosexuals which plays a video of gay couples in Berlin; the Memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe, which also has a museum.

Remains of the Berlin Wall; Checkpoint Charlie

There was so much to see; one of the highlights of the weekend for me was Tacheles. Tacheles is a squat that was taken over by artists and is covered in graffiti. Some artists were exhibitioning their art work, which was amazing.

In the evening, Lydia and I went to see a film at the festival. It was a documentary called Soldier/Citizen, which was about a programme that exists in Israel where soldiers who have completed their National Service can complete their High School Diploma. There was a Q&A session with the director, which was a bit lame as she didn't really answer any questions.

On the second day, we had the entire day to ourselves. We went to see the East Side Gallery, which is parts of the Berlin Wall which have been painted, and to a flea market.

    

                     One section of the East Side Gallery; A stall dedicated to clocks at the flea market 

I took a million photos, whilst we were there, and would love to go back again. Soon.

Outside of the Hostel; A mural of Amy Winehouse (RIP)

       

Outside the shopping centre at Potsdamer Platz; On the ferry home

The journey home was the worst part of the trip; the water pipe burst on the coach home, meaning no lighting or heating so it was -6 degrees all the way through Germany, Holland and Belgium. We had to change coaches after the ferry, which was warm and had working lights!

It took about 28 hours in total to get back to Manchester, but even that couldn't ruin the trip. Berlin is like no other city, it really was a perfect weekend.

Hope you enjoyed reading, congrats if you made it to the end!

Berlin Film Festival 2012

Hello!
I've been lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to the Berlin Film Festival this year with the Film Society at my university. We leave Thursday evening and arrive back at Monday lunchtime. I thought I'd show you what I am taking with me in my handbag. We're travelling by coach, so obviously I can't be carrying a load of junk with me (my bag usually rivals Mary Poppins').

Purse, Camera (Samsung MV800), Passport/Insurance Documents/Health Insurance Card, Deodorant
Pencil Case, Notepad, Glasses, Kindle, Phone
Travel Make-Up, Face Wipes, Keys, Water


I'll also be taking some sandwiches and my toothbrush and toothpaste in my bag too, for once we get on the ferry.
I have a lecture and seminar before we leave to catch the coach, hence the notebook and pencil case. I'm a bit of an organisation freak, having made lists of everything (in sections). My housemate thinks I'm mad.

On a side note - I went to the Clinique counter in Harvey Nichols today (I use the 3-Step System) to have a 'foundation fitting'. I'm not one for getting my make-up done, but the lady was really nice and helpful. She shade-matched me and applied it for me, as well as putting blusher on for me. She wasn't even miffed when I left without buying anything, and asked for samples instead. Very pleased.


Just a mention about the Kindle;

I bought this once my student loan came through in January; I honestly never thought I'd buy one, being a book devotee, but it has been a brilliant investment. I'm bringing it to Germany with me so I can get some research and reading done for a project I have just started. You can download PDFs onto Kindles, and can highlight and make notes on sections of text. It is ridiculously useful and makes me want to read. I doubt the novelty will wear off anytime soon.

I plan on taking plenty of photos whilst I'm in Berlin, having never been before, so expect a post about my trip once I get back!