Kinsale: Ireland's Cutest Village

This is the next stop I would like to share with you from my road trip in the autumn. Kinsale was one of your first stops along the Irish coast line. 

It is located in the south of Ireland, not far off Cork. 

What makes Kinsale particularly special is how colourful the town is. All houses are painted in different, bright colours, and you won't find one boring one. Ones that have less colour on the façade are then decorated with lots of flowers or embellishments. This whole meticulous appearance leaves the impression of a very neat and well-kept town.

Paired with the numerous cobblestone walls, the colours in Kinsale really accentuate the town and make it a joy to walk through these streets.

Kinsale was literally one of the cutest places we visited. It is a small village, but built in a way that you can always turn around one corner and discover something totally new. Still, it is easy to walk everywhere, and it won't take you much time.

We passed so many special and individual stores: cafés, bookshop, a café in a bookshop, art supplies, kids' wear, jewellery, and anything else you can imagine. Looking at the windows of all these local shops made walking through the town centre even more interesting.

For lunch we then frequented one of the nice cafés we saw during our stroll through the centre. The Lemon Leaf Café made for a great experience, and that's why I'd love to point it out especially.

It is such a cute café, decorated nicely and the staff was incredibly friendly and hospitable. We felt really comfortable there, and had a lovely lunch.

Their sandwiches are really a great choice! With both wholegrain and white bread, you can have lots of different kinds of sandwiches. The one I had was wholegrain with avocado, lettuce, cheese, home-made mayo and ham. It was served with a side of sweet potato and beetroot crisps.

In addition to the great sandwiches, the selection of cakes is also worth a try. Me and my friends all opted for different ones, and weren't able to decide which one was the best. In the picture shown is a walnut coffee cake, but I can also really recommend the carrot cake, banoffee pie and cheesecake.

I have to say that I can definitely recommend you go check out Kinsale should you ever find yourselves in the area. It's not big, but it makes for such a pleasant afternoon stay that you can't miss it!

Has anyone of you ever been there?
xx, Misch

Loch Shiel: the lake where the magic happens

When we were in Scotland, we of course had to visit a couple of the famous lochs located all over the western part of the country. One on the list was Loch Shiel, which is not far from Fort William.

On the northern end of the loch, where we went, you can have a nice view down the lake. You can walk all the way down to the water and along the shore.
Right by the loch there's the Glenfinnan Monument, a very popular monument depicting a highlander in a kilt on top of a tower.

Just a couple of metres away from the loch there's a visitor centre and a trail leads up a hill. After a walk of maybe five minutes, you reach the top of the hill and have a wonderful look down on the lake and the surrounding area.

What you can also see from the hilltop is the Glenfinnan Viaduct. It is a railway viaduct to which you can also walk. It is about another 10 minutes or so into the country, and you can walk right to the foots of the columns. You have a better overview, though, if you stand a little elevated.

On thing that makes Loch Shiel so special to us, and made it a must-see on our list, is that it's the place where Hogwarts is situated. The Great Lake in the movies is Loch Shiel! And the Glenfinnan Viaduct is the way the Hogwarts Express takes to get to the castle.
When we were standing there, it was so simple to imagine Hogwarts there on the side of the lake, or to see Buckbeak flying over the water. It is a very magical place!

Even if you're not a Harry Potter fan, Loch Shiel is definitely worth a visit. We saw the scenery in the autumn, around the middle of October, and it was breathtaking. The leaves in the woods that surround the top of the lake made everything so colourful, which makes for a stunning effect. It's incredibly beautiful and very calm and peaceful. I loved it there! Especially because we went in the late afternoon, which meant that pretty much nobody but us was around.

The loch has a fantastic mirror effect, which adds to the beauty of it. Seeing everything reflected in the water gives the whole scenery a symmetry that is very pleasing for the eye. And it makes it look so much more magical and inspiring.

I can highly recommend seeing Loch Shiel. It's such a pretty loch, and it has to be my favourite of those we saw. It being a Harry Potter filming location only is an added bonus!

Have any of you ever been there?
xx, Misch

Cliffs of Moher: a must-see in Ireland

This stop was one of the most exciting ones we had in Ireland: the Cliffs of Moher.

These cliffs are a super fascinating scenery located directly on the western coast line of Ireland, about halfway between Limerick and Galway. If you follow the Wild Atlantic Way, you will directly drive along them.

When visiting the Cliffs of Moher, you can explore a little exhibition about the cliffs and all kinds of facts in the Exhibition Centre. And then, outside, there's a long way to walk along the cliffs. Starting at the exhibition centre, you can walk quite a couple of kilometres both to the left and the right.
If you prefer to stay safe and a bit away from the actual cliffs, it is better to choose the way to the left, where you have more of an actual path.
To the right, the fixed path ends relatively soon, but you can proceed on a way over some fields. There are no boundaries stopping you from stepping all the way to the edge. This is way more fun, if you like a bit of a risk, but also more dangerous.
We walked in both directions, and they were equally beautiful. The right side was more exciting, though.

You can walk directly along the edge at approximately 200 metres above the sea. The feeling you get up there is indescribable. It's frightening but at the same time very exciting. You're full of adrenaline when you look down, because it really wouldn't take much to fall down.
We sat down at one point, feet dangling in the air, and it was such a strange but good feeling. I was most certainly scared, but I am so glad that I did it and made myself sit down.

The Cliffs of Moher are very popular, not only for their beauty but also because they were a shooting location for Harry Potter. The scene in Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, where Harry and Dumbledore are standing on a cliff in the sea, right before they enter Tom Riddle's cave where he hid the amulet horcrux, was filmed there.
You can see the platform on which they stood in the water, but can also tell that in the movie a lot of CGI and editing was used. It's exciting nonetheless!

Even though it was a rainy and windy day when we were there, we spent hours walking along the cliffs, taking pictures and enjoying it as best as we could. We are deeply impressed by the scenery, and I would most certainly go back.

I highly recommend this experience, and hope that you too will check it out, should you ever find yourselves in that area. But please be safe and don't risk too much by stepping too close to the edge!

xx, Misch

Remember Remember the 5th of November

Today's the 5th of January, which made me think back two months: to the 5th of November.

In the UK, the 5th of November is called Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Night. It is a annual event held to commemorate 5 November 1605, where a guy named Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the parliament and kill the king, in which he did not succeed.

Remember, remember, the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot;

I know of no reason why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

There are bonfires and fireworks all over the country, and lots of people go to watch the spectacle.

On this day we found ourselves near Portsmouth, where we also spent the afternoon. We saw the docks and a bit of the university buildings.

Later in the evening, we drove out to a suburb named Cosham, where there was a fireworks show. The bonfire was really big, but they wouldn't let you go near it. 

There were lots of people, especially families, waiting for the fireworks show. And it was so great! One of the prettiest fireworks I've ever seen. Full of different explosions, and stunning to watch. The whole crowd was ooh-ing and aah-ing, because it was such an impressive show. Also a pretty long one, because it lasted almost 25 minutes!

I really enjoyed that night, and will most certainly remember this 5th of November.

Where did you spend Bonfire Night last year?

xx, Misch

On How Happy Beaches Can Make One

It's almost Christmas, and for that occasion I want to share something that makes me happy. Or rather, made me very happy in the moment I experienced it.

I always get a very good feeling whenever I am at a beach. When travelling Ireland and the UK, I luckily was able to spend lots of time at the beach. There's just something very calming and joyful about beaches and the sea to me!

One moment stands out in particular - though it for sure isn't the only one - when I look back at all the great beaches I saw.
When we arrived in Ireland, landing in Cork with the ferry, we all didn't feel too great. Everyone was getting ill, and the weather wasn't that great. But after a couple of days spent doing nothing much, we began our trip along the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland's famous coastal route. The second we drove along the sea, everybody cheered up. Very fittingly, the sun came out, and we just stopped at some random point along the street.

It was neither a particularly stunning beach, nor special in any way, but we all got out of the car, and felt so good. It's really an indescribable feeling we had; I'd said it definitely consisted of feeling free, joyful and also relieved. Just standing there, wandering on the sand for a couple of meters, looking all around. Green fields all around, light sand, and the dark greyish blue waves. Long shadows caused by the low sun of the late afternoon. It looked so peaceful, and so did the few people who had stopped as randomly as we did, it seemed.
We couldn't help but keep smiling, and continued our drive in a much more relaxed and gleeful manner.

Looking back, we always refer to it as "the first Irish beach we saw", and believe me, we do talk about it quite a lot. There's just something very memorable about the way we felt there.

In case you're interested where exactly this beach is located: It's in the very south of Ireland, a little western of Kinsale, and along the Wild Atlantic Way.

In the spirit of Christmas, as much as my beach topic might not be the best fit, I would like to hear some short stories or thoughts of you guys. Anything that makes or made you feel deeply happy and content with the world and your life. Go ahead and share them with me!

xx, Misch

London: Camellia's Tea House

I've finally decided on the way I want to talk about the great experiences I made during my road trip, and it's going to be totally at random. Whatever I feel like, city, shop, activity, it doesn't matter.
I hope you don't mind I chose that way of talking about it all, but any other way would take a great part of the fun out of it, and I really want to avoid that.

What I want to share with you guys today is a great experience I had in London, which was actually the very last stop of our trip. I loved the city, and one afternoon I went out for tea with two of my friends, as one does in England.

The place we went to is called Camellia's Tea House, and I liked it so much that wanted to recommend it to you, should you ever find yourselves in London.

Camellia's Tea House can be found on the second floor of a tiny version of a food & shopping centre, called the Kingly Court. It is located in Carnaby Street, which is in Soho.

Inside the Tea House you can choose from a great selection of things. They have many different kinds of cakes, pastries and biscuits. What I loved about the tea selection is that they have it put up in a shelf, and before ordering you can go and smell the tea to make your choice easier. Which it doesn't really do, though, given that the teas to choose from are so numerous.

In the end I went for a cream tea with chocolate tea, in case you were interested. They make really good scones, served with jam and clotted cream.

On thing I really appreciated about the location was how lovely it looked. It was decorated nicely, and had this great view down on the court, which itself was decorated by tons of fairy lights. It's not very kitschy, which I liked a lot, only very appealing.

I also loved how there didn't seem to be only tourists in there. It was not one of those places crammed with people, but very calm and nice.

Considering being in central London, it was fairly reasonably priced, with 7,95£ for a cream tea. That's of course not cheap, but kind of what you have to expect when being in London. It is a very expensive city after all!

I can definitely recommend this Tea House! Maybe you'd like to check it out during your next trip to London, or some other shop in the Kingly Court.
Has anyone of you ever been there?

xx, Misch

Guess who's back?

Yes, I am back. Finally.

Although I've been home for a couple of weeks now, it's taken me quite so time to get back to this blog. Which is a shame, to be honest. Because it means that I had more important things on my mind than this here. Which, frankly, is true. Stuff at work to figure out, having to settle back into my normal life, friends and family to see and lots of other things to deal with. And I kind of had to get all of that out of my way before I could really start on here again. 

Then, there was the problem of where to start. I've actually sat in front of an empty post on here, thinking about how I could continue with it. But I couldn't think of any way, really.

I kind of want this to be a new start again. I know I already did a fresh start in July, but it hasn't been what I had wanted it to be. Sure, new things happened, but it didn't motivate me as much as I had wanted it to. 

Therefore, this is going to be the real Fresh start. With a capital F. 

Being away for two months has definitely put some things into perspective for me. Constantly seeing new things, making lots of experiences and for the first time really being out of the limited environment that is home. It's made me realize some things about myself, about how I want to live my life, and what is important to me.

This doesn't mean I've miraculously figured out my life and my future, even if I wish I had. I'm still very undecided on these parts. But I do feel like it's changed me, and I don't think that's a bad thing.

Maybe you'll get to see some of the new parts of me on here. Maybe you'll be able to tell, maybe you won't. We'll have to see that.

I've missed writing. As I'm typing this post, I'm really only beginning to notice how much. While I was travelling, I actually had some blog ideas, and I've also been encouraged by my friends to note those ideas and get back to them. 

I remember sitting in one lonely TV room of a campsite with my friends. It was somewhere near Tralee in Ireland, and we were sitting there in the badly heated and draughty room. There wasn't very much to do, everybody was minding their own stuff; being in a TV room, be it as cold as it was in there, was a nice change from having to sit in our car all the time. And we had WiFi! But I felt so much like writing, so I wrote some drafts on a note pad, manually written. Didn't feel much like blogging, but I think I'm going to use it on here. It makes for a great memory, and I can definitely recall how I felt back there.

This is going to be one of my motivations for writing more, and I hope you don't mind be rambling on about my thoughts. 

I'd love to get a lot more personal on here, about experiences I made, about what I saw on our road trip, and much more. I really hope for you guys to join me for that!

And, as to make my Fresh start on here easier, I'd like to ask you to tell me what you'd like to hear about. What stuff are you interested in? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Let's make this more personal together!

It's good to be back.

Cheers, Misch