Thoughts: my travels so far

I am one stressed out student at the moment. I've just handed in my dissertation and have two more deadlines at the end of this week- the end of university feels so close yet it's never seemed more out of reach. Luckily, I am an expert in procrastination and my current method is reminiscing over past travels and wishing I could go back to a few places in particular. I thought it would be interesting to share some of my favourite places that I've been lucky enough to visit.

1. New York, USA

I visited New York nearly five years ago with my family and it has to come in high as one of my favourite places. We did the typical tourist attractions; the empire state building, Rockefeller centre (which in my opinion has a better view than the former), times square, central park, the statue of liberty...and we also tracked down the building they use as the exterior of the apartment block in Friends, which I was probably far too excited about. I'd love to go back now and explore more of the 'off the beaten track' New York, this time being of legal age to enjoy a cocktail or five. 

2. Berlin, Germany

Berlin is the kind of place I could see myself living in. Kerrie and I started our interrailing trip there last year and I'm dying to go back. I know there are plenty of people who think Berlin has been ruined by hipsters and gentrification, but I really loved it there. There just seems to be so much going on and, although I've never been one to enjoy a history lesson, learning about Berlin's past was so interesting. Also, they have bars called 'weinereis' which are like sitting in somebody's living room where you drink as much wine as you want then pay what you'd like. What's not to love?

3. Budapest, Hungary

Another place that I'd consider calling home; I've been to Budapest twice now on two different interrailing trips.I'll admit the first time I went to Budapest I felt a little intimidated; it was the first place we'd been where the currency was not in euros and the language looked and sounded like nothing we'd heard before. But after settling in Budapest just feels like a fun, young place to be. Lots of the bars here are known as 'ruin pubs', which are basically old warehouses and buildings which have been turned into bars and they tend to have an abundance of unusual chairs- think bath tubs and hollowed out cars. The exchange rate is also insane- it does feel odd to press a button to get 10,000 forint out of the cash machine, but then you realise it's equivalent to £27 and it all feels okay again.

4. Lake Bled, Slovenia

Does this picture need much more explanation? This was our final stop last year and it was the perfect place to relax. This must be the most picturesque place I've ever been to (if you ignore the fact we stayed in a George Best themed hostel). You can row out to that church in the middle, which we did. Yes, we were embarrassingly slow in comparison to the other people flying across the water, but we managed it in the end. You can lounge on the board walk around the lake and have a quick dip if you get too hot. Just watch out for the swans and ducks swimming around. 

I'm hoping to do a lot more travelling next year after I graduate but for now these are my top dreaming-of-going-back destinations. Where's the best place you've visited?

Fictional bucket list

I wanted to write about my favourite films but thought a simple list might be a bit boring. I saw the idea for this on a blog the other day but unfortunately I can't for the life in me remember which. I believe on that blog they said the original idea was to make a fictional bucket list based on books, but they had changed it to be based on films. Seeing as I have a lot more favourite films than books I thought I'd do the same and show you what I would include on my fictional bucket list.

1) Almost Famous - go on tour with Stillwater. This is probably my favourite film of all time and makes me wish I'd been alive in the 60's and 70's so badly. 

2) Ferris Bueller's Day Off - skip school and go on an adventure with Ferris, Cameron & Sloane. I'm a big fan of any 80's John Hughes film but I think this is my favourite one. The parade scene in this film is probably the reason that I love the song 'Twist & Shout' so much. 

3) High Society - go to a 'swellegant, elegant' party with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly. I have a real soft spot for this film; it's a family favourite, we watched it on two consecutive days over Christmas and I still could've watched it again.

4) Leon - let Leon teach me how to be a hitman. Okay so I don't really want to learn to kill people, but Leon is just so lovable. This was also Natalie Portman's first film yet she's still amazing in it.

5) The Breakfast Club - spend a day in the library with them. I told you I love John Hughes films. My love for this film goes hand in hand with my love for it's theme song which always requires an air punch when I listen to it.

6) Edward Scissorhands - have Edward carve an ice sculpture of me. I think it'd be quite fun to spend a day in Tim Burton's brightly coloured perfectly pruned world.

A few other favourites which don't lend themselves well to a bucket list situation:

• Pan's Labyrinth
• The Virgin Suicides
• Blue Valentine

What would be on your fictional bucket list?

"Go down to the record store and visit your friends"

I alluded to my love for vinyl in my last post after buying a few records over the weekend. The title of this post is a quote from one of my favourite films, Almost Famous (which deserves a whole admiration post all to itself).

This little area is probably my favourite part of my bedroom or is, at least, a close second to my bed. My record player was a birthday present from my ex and though it is a very basic version, it does the job pretty well. 

I have an ever-growing collection of records including some from my parents' personal collections- two of these are pictured above; Kate Bush 'The Whole Story' and Fleetwood Mac 'Rumours' (which is one of my all-time favourite albums). Of course, I have also had handed down to me Lionel Richie's 'All Night Long' single, which neither of my parents will admit to originally being theirs...Other records are the result of hours of thumbing through rows of records in vintage shops and market stalls or are my prize from several panicked ebay bidding wars. The Beatles' Red album is one such example; I won this for £2.70 and although some may be put off by the fact the sleeve is being held together ever so slightly with masking tape, I actually rather like it because it shows that someone really loved it once. While the vast majority of my collection is made up of records from the 60's, 70's and 80's, I also have Haim 'Days Are Gone' which, despite my normal insistence that buying modern records is silly due to them being ridiculously expensive, I am very happy to own.

I intend to keep my collection expanding, there's just something I love about the whole experience of listening to a record. Some of the sleeves are also useful for a spot of light entertainment- George Michael's perfect bouffant and cheesey grin on the sleeve of Wham's 'Make it big' is priceless. I consider myself to have a pretty varied music taste but my love for my records (and the fact the only radio station allowed in the kitchen is absolute 80's) does often lead me to think I was born in the wrong decade. Alas, at least now I can enjoy the classics while also being able to indulge my inner One Direction fan-girl every now and then..don't judge me. 

Are you a vinyl fan?

Rubber Soul

The past weekend has been one of the best I've had for a while.

My parents came down to Birmingham to visit me on Saturday. My dad doesn't really like to follow my mum and I round the shops (understandably) so we decided to drive off and see what we could find.
Our first stop was a small town called Bewdley. It's a very pretty place without a Starbucks in sight, just lots of independent local businesses. We stopped into a bakery called 'Kimmy loves Cake' where we bought some impressive-looking treats- I went for a s'mores slice which was basically some sort of biscuit stuffed with marshmallow and chocolate, needless to say it tasted great.
We also had a rummage round an antiques shop called The Park Royal Collection where I bought a silver trinket box and an old vintage camera still in it's case. I've yet to discover if it's useable; there doesn't seem to be a brand name anywhere on it, only a logo of a ship, which is making google searches quite difficult. The part where the film needs to go looks a little bigger than the standard 35mm film that my other camera takes so it might be a lost cause but I'm going to keep researching and see what I can find!
I also took a photo of a sign we saw in honour of the deceased town cat- I like the fact that the residents of Bewdley were clearly so fond of a local cat that they now have a memorial to it.

After a hot drink sat by the riverside, we got back in the car in search of somewhere else to wander round. We ended up in Ludlow, which we'd seen described as a York-esque town with small cobbled streets and old buildings. It hasn't quite replaced York in my heart, but it was certainly a nice place to explore. There's an excellent record shop there too- the records are organised by band, decade and genre, making searching through them a lot easier than some other places I've been. I bought both Prince's Purple Rain and The Beatles' Rubber Soul for less than a tenner- there's nothing I love more than a well-priced record shop.

On our way back to Birmingham, we stopped off again in Bewdley for tea at an italian restaurant called Piccolos. I had arancini (one of my favourite things ever) and a very cheesey pizza washed down with some white wine; all in all a good meal.

Once my parents had dropped me home and we'd said our goodbyes, I headed off into Birmingham city centre to meet my housemate who had a friend visiting. We went to The Lost and Found for cocktails- if you ever go there, please please please order a raspberry lemonade. If I could replace all the water in the world with something, it'd be that. I imagine it'd make getting things done a little harder due to it's vodka base, but I don't think anyone would mind much.

On Sunday morning I woke up to find the sun streaming into my bedroom. I tend to think of myself as someone who prefers winter to summer, mainly because I burn if I'm in the sun for more than half an hour and I've never been a beach lover, but something about the sun being out really does cheer me up. I decided it was too nice of a day to spend it indoors doing work (yes my dissertation deadline is next week..) so I asked my other work-avoiding friend to join me in a visit to the park. We bought a few cans of cider, and some plastic cups so as not to horrify the parents of the children playing a football game too much, and spent a few hours sitting in the sun. 

To say that it's nearing the end of my last semester of actually being taught at uni, my weekend was definitely too relaxed, but sometimes it's important to just do what you want to do instead of what you should do.

How was your weekend?

February

I'm not doing too well with my whole regular blogging resolution am I?

Forgive me; February has been dissertation central- in the past few weeks I've had to give a presentation of my project and then hand in a draft version of it, so I suppose you could say life has been pretty stressful.

But the last month hasn't been all work and no play. One of my housemates, Lauren, turned 21 a few weeks ago so we paid a visit to one of our favourite cocktail places in Birmingham, The Jekyll & Hyde. It's a lovely little place with portraits of dogs heads on human bodies and some of the best cocktails I've ever had. For her birthday she had hired out the gin parlour upstairs which was suitably fancy and we had a 'madhatters tea party', complete with a cocktail to drink out of a miniature porcelain bath.

I also paid a visit to the capital at the start of the month with my sister and her best friend in order to find bridesmaids dresses for her upcoming wedding. I really do love London; it just feels so alive and there's so much to do. I fully intend on moving there at some point, if not purely for the food. I managed to visit both Byron burger (probably one of the best burgers I've eaten) and Pizza East (again, probably one of the best pizzas I've had) in the same 24 hours. In fact, the same 12 hours. Some people eat to live, I live to eat. But it wasn't all about food, we were successful in our dress hunt and I'm so happy with the result. We found the perfect dresses in a little boutique called Two Birds and I genuinely want to wear my dress all day every day. Thank god my sister isn't one of those brides who makes her bridesmaids wear vile dresses just so she looks better.

Of course, February is also the month of romance due to Valentine's day. Alas, my night on the 14th was spent at work pouring pints of snakebite and jagerbombs for the locals of Selly Oak- possibly one of the least romantic places you would wish to be on a day celebrating love. But one of the locals did buy me a pity rose so at least there's that...

Now for some February favourites:

Music: I'm sad to report I've not made any musical discoveries this month. However I have fallen even deeper into my Haim love affair, if that's actually possible, with the release of their new music video for 'If I could change your mind'. Seriously these girls can do no wrong in my eyes; the full choreographed dance routine, hair whipping and their outfits. Perfect. 

Books: Another resolution badly kept- I haven't finished another book yet..and I bought a new one despite having about six already on the go. I know, bad Hannah. I am enjoying my new book though, Norweigan Wood by Haruki Marukami, which I bought while trying to kill time in Waterstones. I had no intention of buying anything, in fact I went in there because I thought it'd be somewhere that I could resist making a purchase. How naive of me. There's something about that Waterstones which just makes me happy. If you're ever in Birmingham you must have a quick look inside (the one on New Street), it's a gorgeous old building with a huge staircase - a quick google has just told me it used to be an old bank. Anyway, this is off topic. I like my book so far and maybe by the end of March I'll have finished it.

Birmingham: It's no secret that I don't exactly love the city I study in. I love my university campus, it's very green and has some beautiful old redbrick buildings, not to mention Old Joe (the clock tower). I've just never found the city centre to be my cup of tea. Though saying that, I don't actually like tea so maybe I should say it IS my cup of tea. Anyway, I do want to take back some good memories of the city when I graduate so I'm going to add a Birmingham favourite for every monthly blog update. This month it's Boston Tea Party, a breakfast/lunch cafe a little off New Street. There are a few dotted around the country but they're all a bit different and don't have a 'chain' feel to them. My friend Sarah introduced me to the Birmingham branch last week and I fear it may become a dangerous addicition; she had eggy bread with bacon, avocado & roasted tomatoes and although my croque monsieur was perfectly nice, I had major food envy. Something tells me I'll be back there very soon. Possibly also motivated by the fact that the guy who served us was certainly what you would call easy on the eyes..

I think I've probably rambled on for long enough now. March will be a month of deadline after deadline so of course I will be doing my best to find some new music, restaurants and cocktail bars to ease the pain.

How was your February?