Going Anywhere Nice On Your Holidays? - Travel - Places To Visit In West Cyprus.

Hi!!!

So, I've done a lot of 'travel' posts over the past few weeks, I know. But I thought this one would be really fun to put together, because I can share some holiday snaps and share what I did with you, as well as give any of you heading over there some ideas of where to go.

For a bit of background: We stayed in Pafos at the Avanti Village and the apartment we had was absolutely wonderful - well decorated, great facilities, and top notch air conditioning.

 

My first recommendation would be visiting an archaeological park. We went to the

Kato Paphos Archaeological Park, Kourion Archaeological Site and to Sanctuary of Aphrodite at Palaipafos.

I'd recommend the Kato Pafos site for the House of Dionysus which is full of mosaics that are in brilliant condition and feature intricate designs. There is also an Odeon there to check out.

I'd highly recommend the Kurion archaeological site for those who want to see a bit of everything - the columns above are located there, there are the ruins of houses, baths and there is an ancient theatre there, too.

The site of Aphrodite's sanctuary is mostly known for the ruins of the sanctuary itself but there are loads of artefacts from different periods onsite. I'd seriously recommend going to check those out, they are really well preserved.

 

 

Castles are always fun, right? We were going to visit Pafos Castle but it was closed for the opera (which wasn't starting until after we left, boo) however we did see Kolossi Castle as part of our road trip (more on that later). It is only a quick visit that you'll be making, but I'd recommend it, just so you've seen a whole range of stuff. 

 

Finding Troodos Geopark was a hilarious mess on our part - we turned back down the hills just before the turn off for the park without even realising and had to drive back up.

The area is home to Millomeri Waterfalls, which you can see above. The waterfall is so beautiful and you can actually get in the water and have a bit of a swim/splash about - the water is really cold but it is so worth it.

 

 

Cyprus is sometimes known as Aphrodite's Island, which probably has something to do with her birthplace being located there. It's a quick stop to see, unless you chose to go down to the beach, but its a cool thing to see.

 

A trip to somewhere like Cyprus wouldn't be complete without spending some time at the beach. Our holiday rep suggested Coral Bay, which we did visit, but we all much preferred the Pachyammos Beach in Pafos. It was not only closer to the hotel, but it was also so much nicer - it's a bit more secluded, there are lawns, the water is crystal clear and there is plenty of space. I loved it and would recommend it over Coral Bay. 

 

In order to see as much as we could during the week we were there, while also relaxing and swimming and reading, we decided to go on a bit of a 'road trip' of the West of the island. We had gone to the Kato Paphos Archaeological Park earlier in the week, and I would recommend doing that separately like we did.

On our road trip, we went to (in this order): 

Sanctuary of Aphrodite at Palaipafos, Aphrodite's Birthplace, Kourion Archaeological Site, Kolossi Castle, we stopped in Limassol for lunch, and finally Troodos and Millomeri Waterfalls.

By doing this you drive down along the coast from Pafos, then along the Southern coast towards Limassol, up to Troodos and then you can easily get back to Pafos.

 

I'd highly recommend seeing some of these things in a one day road trip style because it is so much fun, it feels like an adventure and you get to see far more than you would if you tried to make separate trips to each thing.

 

  So, I hope you enjoyed this post. I hope I've achieved my aims of a) telling you a bit about my holiday and b) giving you some recommendations in case you're jetting off there any time soon.

Have you been to Cyprus? Where did you enjoy visiting most? Which of the places that I visited do you most like the look of? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts. Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks so much for reading, you darling human beings.

Have a totally groovy day!

GingerSnaps xxx

So, To Sum It All Up - Summer-y Summary.

Hi!!!

Well, September is upon us, as I'm sure you'll have noticed and I've been planning lots of posts for this Autumn season which made me think of doing a summary of the Summer for you all. Partly because I haven't done a summary in about a million years and also so that I can reflect on all the cool things I have done and feel ready for the new season.

Anyway, time to stop babbling - I hope you enjoy!!!

So, what happened this summer?

 



Birthday's!

 

I had a fantastic birthday this year and got to spend lots of time with my family and friends and enjoy lots of very nice birthday cake!

I was very lucky to get lots of lovely cards and wonderful gifts, too, and I am so grateful to everyone for making my birthday this year such a special one filled with the most wonderful things.

As well as my birthday, there was Elf Girl's birthday which was spent playing really old video games, eating Chinese food and watching some favourite films.
There was also my friend Lauren's birthday and  some family birthdays throughout July and August, too - you know who you are.
I hope everyone else had amazing birthdays, too.

 

To see a post I wrote about my birthday, click (ME).

For my post about Elf Girl's birthday, click (THIS) and to view her blog, click (THIS).

Special Occasions!

My blog turned two in June which I commemorated with reflections on how much things have changed and also with cupcakes, obviously.

I would just like to take another opportunity to say the biggest thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me and this blog. I truly hope that you'll be sticking around to see what is in store for the future.

If you're interested, my post about my blog's first birthday is (HERE).

Travelling...

I did some staycation travelling throughout the summer to some places I hadn't been to before and I had a lovely time.

As a little post birthday birthday celebration, we went to stay with my cousin P in Cambridge. I'd never been to Cambridge before and I got to do a bit of exploring while I was there as well as go and see two open air productions of Shakespeare plays - on our first night we went to see The Merry Wives of Windsor and on the second night we went to see Romeo and Juliet.
I had a great time - thanks for having us P.

I also had a holiday in Brighton with my lovely Auntie S and my Mom. I'd also never been to Brighton before. It was an awesome holiday, it was really sunny and we did such a variety of things like exploring castles, paddling and reading on the beach, walking along the seafront and going shopping and I have fallen in love with Brighton.

Posts to come soon on both of these things.

Getting Cultural...

I did lots of "Arts and Culture" type things as well over the summer.

I went to the Tiffany and Co "Fifth and 57th" installation at the Old Selfridges Hotel in London in July which was so, completely amazing and spent other parts of that day exploring the Summer Streets Event on Regent Street. That was a great day and we did so many cool things.

Later on in July, I went to see the RSC production of Othello, which was an incredible show that I was so impressed by. The cast were amazing and so was the set design, staging and everything else in between. It was extremely powerful.

Still theatrical but in a different genre was The Importance of Being Earnest which I went to see in June. It was hilarious and the cast was fantastic. It was a great evening and I cry-laughed lots. Oscar Wilde is one of my faves and I was very impressed.

Earlier this month, I went to the National Portrait Gallery's "Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon" exhibition was really interesting. I have always admired Audrey Hepburn and it was lovely to spend some time looking at her life in pictures.

To see my post about the "Fifth and 57th" installation, click (ME)

To check out my review of The Importance of Being Earnest, click (THIS)

Historical Things...

Many historical commemorative events and anniversaries took place over the summer, such as the 70th Anniversary of V.J Day.

As always, I hope you spent time reflecting and remembering all of the brave people involved in these things and/or the things they did.

Little Moments.

 

There were lots of lovely little moments over the summer that are so good to look back on.

 

Dancing with friends, barbecues with some of my favourite people, eating ice creams, walking in the park, going for picnics, paddling in the sea, exploring markets, discovering new songs and artists, watching movies in pyjamas, trying to steer rowing boats (unsuccessfully) with friends, waving to people on river boats, reading, going out for lovely meals and spending time with my family have all added up - amongst other things - to make a fantastic summer to look back on.

I always say that the little things add up and, looking back, I can honestly say that they do - thanks to everyone who was a part of it all. 

Songs of the Summer!

I enjoyed lots of songs over the summer, some of which I mentioned (HERE).

I can do a dedicated post for some of my other favourite songs of the summer, if you guys are interested. Be sure to let me know.

I think that's everything - apologies if I missed something out. I had such an amazing couple of months that I am very thankful for and I am excited to now see what Autumn will bring.

What did you get up to this summer? What do you think of what I did? Would you like a post on some of my other favourite songs from the past couple of months? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts? Be sure to let me know in the comments.
That's your lot for today then, folks! Thanks for reading and I hope to see you again soon.

 

Have an exceptional day!

GingerSnaps xxx

 

Oh My Life! - Tales Of My Life and Times - Road Trip!, Disney Sing-a-Longs, Air Guitars, THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR, Gavin and Stacey Times and Mr Blue Sky!

Hi!!!

Today's post is a good'un! (I know, I'm so modest...) Alllll the way back in April, I went to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff with one of my favourites ever - of course, my ever fabulous best friend Elf Girl (find her tiny elf-self HERE) - and it was, as you can imagine, a pretty epic day.

From where we live, it takes about two and a half hours to get to Cardiff, but we know how to handle such road trips - with air guitars and rock songs and Disney soundtracks and selfies in traffic, which is just the best. Like, seriously, I had such a great time spending two and a half hours sat in a car!

When we got to Cardiff, we had something to eat before heading over to the giant blue thing that is the Doctor Who Experience.
We bought our tickets and then had a bit of a walk round, taking photos of the bits and bobs that are sat lining the queue.

Once you get inside, there's the Interactive Experience that gets you much more involved in it all. I don't want to spoil it for any of you Whovians out there, but it is awesome!
Do it the GingerSnaps and Elf Girl way and make sassy comments the whole way around, feel confused about why random people keep talking to you and always elbow your way to the front.

Upon leaving the interactive bit, we entered the Exhibition Hall which is where all of the sets and artefacts are.
We ran around like crazy people trying to see everything and take photos with everything and we did pretty bloomin well. We also had our photo taken in the TARDIS - twice - and saw lots of really interesting things. There is more up the stairs from here, from lots of more recent episodes, which is cool, and we had loads of fun being silly and trying to pose like we were "running away from the bad guys" which inevitably involved falling over! Ooops! 

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Mermaid Quay, which is right by the experience, entering the children's colouring competition at Starbucks - including a FRIENDS reference - and making it to the wall (!!!), and heading out to Barry to fangirl over Gavin & Stacey and to get ourselves on every kids arcade ride possible (including a rollercoaster simulator on which we nearly lost a purse!)

The way home included singing ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) and Queen at the very tip top of our lungs and lots of laughing.

So, thanks to Elf Girl for asking me to join her, I had such an absolutely brilliant time. Go and check out her excellent blog (HERE), and the posts she has done about our day (HERE) and (HERE), the latter includes captions of epic proportions for some of the photos seen here, and some of her own - should make you chuckle.

To find out more about the Doctor Who Experience, click (ME).

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have enjoyed this post, and that this was interesting - especially for the Whovians amongst you.

Have you been to the Doctor Who Experience? What did you think? Would you like to go? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts that you'd like to see? Let me know in the comments below.

See you all soon,

 

Have an superb day!

 

GingerSnaps xxx

 

So, To Sum It All Up - October Summary.

Hi!!!

Welcome to my October Summary. I am aware it is a few days behind where it would usually be but I have been very busy! I know its no excuse, but I think that maybe it might be OK? Anyway, lets get on with this shiz.

Travelling!

During October I was travelling in Normandy for around 4 days non-stop and then came home and went to London nearly straight away!

Being in Normandy, especially in the year of numerous war anniversaries, to see cemeteries, a number of D-Day Landings museums and activities and spending time with a bunch of awesome people was really a very memorable, special and enjoyable experience.

 I was exhausted when I got home as we began our travel very, very early in the morning and basically did not stop until we got home very, very late after 4 days but it was so truly worth it.

While in London, I spent time with my brilliant family and went to see the beautiful poppy installation at the Tower of London. I had a great time and I really enjoyed myself. It was very relaxing and my sleep was "repaired".

Getting a New Follower on BlogLovin'!

I hadn't checked my BlogLovin' or my emails in quite some time and when I did the other day, I got the delightful surprise of a new follower! I now have 3 followers, which may not seem like many in comparison to some other blogs, but you have no idea how much it means to me.

Thanks to everyone who follows my blog on Blogger, BlogLovin' and everyone else who reads this blog. I hope you enjoy it.

You can follow my blog on BlogLovin' using the button on the right hand side.

Watching Charity Telethons.

I love a good charity telethon and I view it as a very easy and enjoyable way of helping out some amazing causes.

Stand Up to Cancer was on Channel 4 during October and I was watching, laughing and occasionally crying at the stories shown. It was a great night of telly and it is such a good cause to support.

To see a post about Stand Up to Cancer, mosey on over (HERE).

Appreciating a Bit of Advertising.

You guys know I love a good advert and October produced some pretty good adverts.


One of my personal favourites was the SSE advert featuring the orangutan discovering all of the beautiful things energy can do.
It was innovative, interesting and very wonderfully done.


To see a post I wrote about this advert, see (THIS).


Halloween Fun-Times.


Halloween, as I always say, is not just about creepy, spooky things. To me, it is about having fun with friends, dressing up and being silly.

This year, I spent time with the fabulous Elf Girl and some of her family, watched movies and ate too chicken and popcorn and really enjoyed myself.


To see a post about Halloween, click (HERE).


To find Elf Girl, click (HERE).


Nearly Completely Moving House.


We are finally super close to moving, with the final stages in motion and it is exciting. We are looking forward to moving in and enjoying our new home at last.


I will update you when we have made our official move and will possibly provide more updates as we enter the final stages of the move.


To see the most recent post I did on moving, see (HERE).


My Favourite Blog Posts From October.


"A weekend in the Cotswolds" on A Rosie Outlook, (HERE).


I really like places like the Cotswolds, and I love spending weekends and short breaks like this - big, long walks, pub lunches/dinners and cosy evenings - and loved Rosie's friend's home.


An enjoyable read, indeed.


"Berlin" on Charlotte's Web, (HERE).


This post included brilliant photography of the beautiful city of Berlin and a couple of very cool insights into some of the best things going on there, as well as Charlotte's personality.

A cool, wanderlust-y post.


"We liked: The Start of Autumn" on Little Winter, (HERE).


I really liked the simplicity of this post and the warmth that it gave me reading it. I too enjoy cosy evenings and trashy TV, which made this post relatable.

A nice lifestyle post which will make you want to drink hot chocolate.


"Love in Unexpected Places" on The London Project, (HERE).


This post is charming and incredibly sweet. I am a complete sucker for things like this and found this post a bit great, really.


A quirky, cute post worth a view.


See also "Postman's Park".


"5 Minutes With... Dawn O'Porter" on What Olivia Did, (HERE).


I love reading interviews and this was a quick, interesting read with lots of talk about all thing vintage and fashion.

A fun interview with a lot of Sixties moments.

So, I hope you enjoyed this post everyone. I thought October was a pretty ace month and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

What were your favourite parts of October? What did you think of what I got up to? Did you enjoy the posts I recommended? Any thoughts about this or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments. 

See you guys soon....

Have a completely great day!

GingerSnaps xxx



I've Been Thinking... - Things That I Love... LOTS.

Hi!!!


So, for those of you who have been living under a rock/don't celebrate it, it's Valentines Day on Friday. Now, I know that some people love it, and some people hate it but I guess you are going to have to accept it.


I personally like Valentines Day. I spend it with family and friends. To me, it is some time spent with friends, and a meal with family before one of my beloved rom-com's in my pyjamas.
I don't think people should dwell on "couple status" when it is a day based upon love and love comes in many different ways (e.g family, friends, pets, shoes, handbags, food, coffee in the morning... whatever takes your fancy).
All love should be celebrated as far as I am concerned (even if it means putting a party hat on a kitten... that made more sense in my head... I'm so sorry...).

Therefore, to show how love can mean many a different thing, I have compiled a list of some things I LOVE... LOTS.

Films I LOVE...

My favourite film of all is About Time.

I cannot even put into words how much I LOVE it. It feels like it was made just for me - it wasn't, obviously, but hey. It could not be more perfect - in my eyes. I LOVE IT!

To see more films I LOVE, head on over to my Blogger Profile.

Music I LOVE...

The artists I LOVE includes Van Morrison, Elbow, and Jake Bugg.

To see more music I LOVE, see my Blogger Profile.

If you want to talk about the songs that I LOVE, then let me know in the comments and I can chat to you there, or update the post. It's no bother, I would LOVE to.

Models I LOVE...

I LOVE models like Lily Cole, Georgia May Jagger and Kate Moss and LOVE their work and creativity.

I LOVE quite a few other models, but will discuss them in my upcoming additions to the "It's So In Vogue!" series.

Places I LOVE...

To name but a few places I LOVE - Northern Ireland, the area I live in, London, St Albans/Watford, Leamington Spa, Leeds, York, Barcelona....

I could go on about the places which I LOVE all day, but I wouldn't want to bore you. If you want to I would LOVE a conversation in the comments about it!

Blogs I LOVE...

In no particular order... A Rosie Outlook (HERE), Charlottes Web (HERE), The London Project (HERE), Little Winter (HERE), Chronicles Of The Red Herring (HERE), I Get The Feeling (HERE) and Zero Reality (HERE).

To see a few more blogs I LOVE, click on my Blogger Profile.

People I LOVE...

I LOVE my amazing family.

I LOVE my wonderful friends.

I LOVE all the people who inspire me, whether it is through music, fashion, art, books, anything, and are all round good eggs.

I LOVE all of the people who read this blog, who hopefully LOVE it and who have supported me - whether you have read from June 2013 or 5 minutes ago.

So, just a short post today. I probably could have gotten through many a category, however I think "short and sweet" was a good approach for today. I just wanted to remind people to focus on the little things that matter to them in this week of love and stuff.
What do you love? Did you enjoy this post? Let me know in the comments.
And, that, as they say is a wrap...

Have a marvellous day...

GingerSnaps xxx