These photos were taken more than a month ago but once they were edited and dumped into a folder, they were promptly forgotten. I've talked about exploring more of The Cotswolds since the beginning of time. The area isn't even that far from Hampshire yet I haven't taken the initiative to rent a car and just hit several neighboring villages in a weekend. I happened to see Castle Combe popped up on my Instagram feed and literally stopped dead in my tracks. It's the most picturesque English village I've seen to date.
So we piled into our tiny compact rental car and sped off to Wall. For ardent fans of the movie Stardust, you may already know that Castle Combe was remodeled into the fabled town of Wall. We bumped into busloads of tourists, some scratching their heads quizzically trying to locate the castle on the map. The castle is long gone but the name remains.
The village is picture perfect. No electric poles or litter in sight. Little wonder why the place is a firm favorite for movie backdrops including the War Horse. It's a sleepy little place but overrun with tourists. Some blatantly ignored No Trespassing signboards. As Lil L and I perched our tushies across the bridge to have a little rest, we watched a few who were up to mischief. All in the name of taking the perfect shot. There's the cloak and dagger operation. You know.......the sort that sneaked a surreptitious glance around and crept under the sign. Then there's the cocky strut. He confidently gatecrashed by pretending to be one of the residents. One owner lost it after the nth trespasser and went a little berserk. Few can blame her.
Outfit: Isabel Marant Etoile utility jacket, Alexander Wang t-shirt, The Kooples track pants, New Balance 420 sneakers and Hermes Cape Cod watch
An obligatory shot of my outfit. Ahem. I'm living in my sweats and traveling means.....comfortable clothes.
The White Company candle arrived in the post not too long ago. One sniff was enough to take me back to one of my favorite places on earth - Provence. The Hermes Cape Cod automatic GM double tour watch was a gift from my husband. Five years on, I still love the watch which also doubles as a bracelet. I call it my 2 in 1. I get friendly nods of acknowledgement from other owners every now and then. It's like a secret club........
I'm tired of carrying my oversized organizer/wallet which is big enough to be used as a weapon. I wanted something that's well made, relatively inexpensive (no more than £80) and has a cool factor. I've been eyeing this red embossed Comme des Garcons small wallet for a while now and finally nabbed it when it was back in stock again. The darned thing kept selling out. Pffffft. I went for the smallest size in the end. It's actually surprisingly roomy. I can dump all my cards, coins and receipts but it's compact enough to fit into the pocket of my parka. Since I'm usually dressed in neutral colors (actually....black most of the time), the Comme des Garcons wallet can double as a clutch and add a nice pop of color.
These Charlotte Olympia Kitty flats are a whimsical addition to my otherwise tomboyish and avant-garde outfits. I call them my happy shoes because they seem to put a smile on people's faces whenever they notice my flats.
I fail at Flora and Fauna 101. Recognizing the varieties of flowers just isn't my forte but at least I can pronounce roses, peonies and tulips correctly.
I'm thrilled to collaborate with Laura Turner, the stylish entrepreneur behind Hero boutique (check her fabulous store and website here!) for our first ever photography workshop right here in historic city of Winchester on Wednesday 30th September, 10am to 2pm. Price £65. Click here to book.
1. Instagram
You'll be getting plenty of practice and tips as I take you to some of the prettiest spots in Winchester. Find out how to take beautiful photos with a smartphone as we talk more about composition, lighting, exposure and angles as well as editing photos with various apps.
2. Stock photography & photo styling
How to use effective backdrops, composition and natural light.
3. Portrait and people photography We will also touch on portrait/people photography. How to look good/slimmer in photos without resorting to photoshop trickery. Learning your best angle and how to pose (naturally).
This was my second trip to Barcelona. The first was with the infamous Contiki tour group, a rite of passage that many Kiwis and Aussies take as they embark on their first O.E (overseas experience) to Europe. Days were spent hungover and snoring on the coach, then gradually showed signs of life by late afternoon and completely resuscitated by nightfall to guzzle enough alcohol to fill up a lake. And if you're allergic to alcohol like 4 of my buddies and I.....well...learn to count sheep or in our case, cars that sped past our coach (once you've exhausted the entire collection of Lonely Planet guidebooks you lugged along).
I was given fabulous tips by many lovely Instagramers who are far more familiar with Barcelona than I. Sadly, I was traveling in a group, albeit much smaller than the Contiki so it was difficult to deviate from the given itinerary. We whizzed past all the major attractions like tourists on crack. Casa Battlo, Sagrada Familia, Magic Fountain (Font màgica de Montjuïc), Park Guell, La Boqueria food market.......to name a few.
The architecture in Barcelona? Let me just pick my jaw from the ground. I've stopped dead in my tracks so many times, gawking in awe at the innovative, eclectic and sometimes surreal buildings.
The BCFs - Best Cousins Forever, as they called themselves. Both wish they're both each other's true sibling. I hope they'll have each other's back and continue to be as kind and considerate to one another as they grow into adulthood.
I was told that the temperature the week before we arrived hovered around 38˚C to 40˚C so we were "blessed" with far FAR cooler weather (33˚C). Since this blog is also meant to be a sort of personal style slash travel slash food (as you can probably tell, it tends to skew more heavily towards the latter two), I'll ramble on a bit about my outfit. My choice of outfit? Anything that allowed AS MUCH ventilation as possible since I wasn't able to carry a portable A/C on my back.
The one place I could happily wander around and eat all day would have to be the La Boqueria food market (actually, any food market for that matter). The price tags seemed to shrink as you continued your way into the other end of the market. I was transfixed by the sight of watermelons........... I can't out-drink anyone but I can sure out-eat any Tom, Dick and Harry when it comes to melons of any kind.
I popped into a supermarket and somehow ended up at the fresh seafood counter. There were incredulous gasps all around. Sorry, I meant me. I'm so used to seeing seafood priced so high that it's more like a treat here in England. I can't believe fresh anchovies cost less than €5. In fact, fish and most forms of shellfish were incredibly inexpensive in Barcelona in comparison to the UK. I contemplating moving to Spain temporarily just so that I can eat fresh seafood everyday.
Coming from South of France where the general restaurant scene was rather abysmal, Barcelona was like a food heaven. In fact, I believe Spanish cuisine is completely under-rated. I'm surprised it isn't celebrated more outside of Spain. I know little about the various regional Spanish cuisines but I wish I do now after spending 5 whole days of gorge-fest where I was blown away by the flavor and texture of the different tapas dishes. We ate like kings and paid less than half of our below average meals in Nice. We didn't even had to force feed the kids. Instead we fought over the last prawn, piece of octopus or who deserved the last spoonful of the heavenly paella.
