THE ISLAND OF CAPRI AND ANA CAPRI

Happy Sunday,

Finally i'm getting to sit down and work on my second trip we took while on our Italian holiday. The next trip we got to take was a visit to the island of capri and ana capri. We needed to take a 20 minute ferry first across to capri from the Sorrento coast. Capri island is known for upscale hotels, shops from all your favourite designers from miu miu, prada to roberto cavalli (I had to walk away lol). While at the harbour we were all asked if we wanted to take a cruise trip around the island. Straight away we all said yes and guy's if you get the chance do it. Well €12 you can't go wrong!

Passing the harbour and getting to see all the amazing yachts docked there Julia pointed out a bronze statue of a little boy. It's scugnizzo giving a welcoming wave, greeting seafarers to the island. Continuing onwards we got to see some amazing cliff views of capri and caves where below the water of the sea is a beautiful turquoise blue which gives you the result of sunlight passing through an underwater cave.

Also there we passed the blue grotto unfortunately we didn't get the chance to visit here maybe another time. Truthfully the amount of boats that were there already you wouldn't have any chance in seen this place and that was only half ten in the morning. Again maybe it was because it was high season were as more people wanted to see the blue grotto. Well i'm not disappointed as I got to see other amazing views like the punta carena lighthouse, faraglioni rock formation and capri castle which from the boat can be seen right up on top of the cliff. Back on dry land we headed for a coach to continue on to our next location of anacapri.

Here anacapri is located at a higher elevation than capri the reason we headed there was to see the villa san Michele. The villa was built be Swedish physician and author axel munthe and the panoramic views from this villa are breathtaking. Just even walking around this villa is pretty spectacular as it was built on the ruins of an ancient chapel dedicated to san Michele.

Axel Munthe "My house must be open to the sun, to the wind, and the voice of the sea, just like a greek temple, and light, light, light everywhere!".

Hope you enjoy the piece!

Bubbles xx

POMPEII AND SORRENTO TOWN

Hi guys,

I've decided to break up my Italy holiday piece and instead i'm going to do three blogposts on the trips that we partook in. I just have so many beautiful picture's and things to talk about I wouldn't have gotten it all done in one piece. Here goes when my sister asked me could I take a holiday in august to head to Italy for a week I got straight on with work. I could not go to Italy an not see pompeii, capri and the amafli coast. We book our holiday through www.traveldepartment.com who in fact have been in business for the last 14 years.

They have a shop in arnotts department store on henry street which I also did not know thanks to my sister. The one thing I will say is I truly enjoyed this holiday as it was stress free because they include excursions into your holiday package in which you went on. That's one thing off your mind that you don't have to be worrying about when planning to head off on your holidays. Definitely be doing another holiday with this company. Back to my trips though! Pompeii and Sorrento town were an early start on thursday morning but sure who cares as you are going to be walking around on history dated back since 79 A.D. Just to warn you we went in august it's of course high season be careful. We had to bring hats, wear suitable footwear,sun cream and a bottle of water with us. By jaysus it was roasting!

Our guide Julia was lovely she's been doing this for over 30 years now. She knew every nook and cranny of pompeii and Sorrento. She told us that you basically need three days to see the whole of Pompeii. We got to see the main picks that Julia wanted us to see from Pompeii. I was just overwhelmed to have read about this in the history book back in the good old school days but to be actually walking on the streets where houses still stand there to this day. It was a dream! She took us to see the gladiator gym and told us with what we see in the films about gladiators having to kill the other gladiator it's not true,films ah! We were then brought to a house that painting on the wall is still visible but you had to be careful as when you're taking pictures you needed to have your flash off as it would ruin the painting, crazy!

We seen a couple of skeletal bones but nothing major as they were locked away in a glass cabinet in which we could only see from a distance. We also got the chance to see a plastering which was in the shape of a whole human form you can clearly see he was trying to run from this disaster. While walking through Pompeii you feel like you have a moment to yourself were your just thinking about this event and thinking of all those poor souls that lost their life. I would have liked to have seen more but we had to move on as it was just so busy that day with loads of other tourists and locals. We broke for break time most of the group stayed together for this part but a few went off and did their own thing. Have to say I was starving so we stayed with the group. That was Pompeii finished with now it feels like I've never even stepped foot on it. Back on the coach and we we're giving the choice to stay or go to see Sorrento town while back at our hotel. We made the decision to stay on the bus and go to explore Sorrento town. Why not as it actually turned out to be only 4 stops away from us on the train. Really we were only down the road from it!

Sorrento town to my surprise is just a square that you simply walk around in. It has it's many little hidden ally ways loaded with shops, restaurants and bars all next to each other. Again Julia picked out the spots to really see but you had your own leisure time to pop down and really explore Sorrento town if you wanted to. It's just beautiful and when the sun shines it's even more spectacluar. The views were incredible and I definitely would head back to Italy again as once you've seen this place you have falling in love with Italy even more.

Hope you enjoy the piece!

Bubbles xx

GET YOUR HANDS ON A PINAFORE DRESS FOR AUTUMN/WINTER

Happy Sunday,

Nothing says autumn wear better than a pinafore dress. If you haven't notice but autumn/winter fashion has hit the shops big time. While I made a routine check into Penneys I came across some fab a/w piece's. Straight away I made a mad dash to get this burgundy cord pinafore dress. I for some reason Iove the colour burgundy for the colder months. I simply teamed this with my cute little white tee but I reckon my black long sleeve polo neck will work too. Are we mad for a pinafore?

More styles on the pinafore

Where to get a pinafore dress

Asos denim mini pinafore in washed black €40 www.asos.com

New Look grey flecked pinafore dress €29.99 www.newlook.com

Scoop pocket pini dress €46 www.topshop.com

Embroidered suede pinafore dress €34 www.boohoo.com

Tan faux suede pinafore dress €35 www.prettylittlething.com

Hope you enjoy the piece!

Bubbles xx

FIVE THINGS TO DO IN SHANGHAI

Happy Tuesday,

For a while now my friend has been asking me to come visit him in shanghai. I'm hoping to finally take the leapt in January to see him and also to have a nice holiday. With seen all his beautiful pictures of him sightseeing it would really push you to go on a plane faster. If I don't do this now I think in the end he will stop asking me to go over and really I've lost my chance to see shanghai. In the meantime it has made me check out some of shanghai popular tourists spots to see while visiting.

1.The Bund

The bund is a long mile stretch of water front promenade along the Huangpu river. To the west of this stretch stand 52 buildings of various architectural styles, including gothic, baroque, and neoclassical styles. It is often referred to as the museum of buildings.

The best way to appreciate the buildings is to have a walk along the bund. Roaming among the architectural complexes, you'll have a better understanding of the century long charm of this city.

2.Dongping National Forest Park

Dongping national forest park is a forest located on the north side of the chongming island in shanghai,china. The park is 12 kilometres from nanmen park which is connected to jianshe on the southern side and neighbouring dongfeng farm on the western and northen side. It is the largest man-planted forest in eastern china and is also the biggest forest park in shanghai.

3.Jade Buddha Temple

The jade Buddha temple is a Buddhist temple in shanghai,china. As with many modern Chinese Buddhist temples the current temple draws from both the pure land and chan traditions of Mahayana Buddhism. It was founded in 1882 with two jade Buddha statues imported to shanghai from Burma by sea. These were a sitting Buddha, and a smaller reclining Buddha representing the Buddha's death. The temple now also contains a much larger reclining Buddha made of marble, donated from Singapore, and visitors may mistake this larger sculpture for the original smaller piece.

4.Oriental Pearl Tower

The oriental pearl radio and tv tower it's location at the tip of lujiagui in the pudong district by the side of Huangpu river, opposite the bund, makes it a distinct landmark in the area. It's principal designers were jiang huan chen, lin denlin, and zhang xiulin. Construction began in 91 and the tower was completed 94. At 468m high it was the tallest structure in china from 94-07. When it was surpassed by the shanghai world financial center it is classified as a aaaaa scenic area by the china national tourism administration. The tower is brightly lit in different led sequences at night.

5.Shanghai International Circuit

The shanghai international circuit is a motor sport race track situated in the jiading, shanghai, people's republic of china. The circuit is beat known as the venue for the annual formula Chinese grand prix, which it first hosted in 2004.

Hope you enjoy the piece!

Bubbles xx

S&E PRAWNY PARCELS WITH ALMOND BUTTER RECIPE

Happy Sunday,

Are you ever looking for some idea's on what to do as a quick lunch for yourself? Maybe you have the friends around but don't know what to rustle up for a quick bite to eat? My sister and myself combined together this recipe as she had some cooked prawns and almond butter left over from the night before. We pulled out some puff pastry and brought them all together and made these prawn parcels with a green leafy salad.  

What you need:

One sheet of puff pastry

A pack of cooked prawns

A pack of blanched almonds

A clove of garlic

Butter

Salt and pepper

180c

10-15 minutes cooking time

How to make almond butter:

Pop in a good dollop of butter into a frying pan

Add your garlic, blanched almonds,salt and  pepper for taste

When the butter has melted and you have popped the rest of the ingredients in all together

Pour your butter into a ramekin/bowl and pop it into the fridge

Leave it for a while to harden in the fridge

1.Then spread the almond butter across the puff pastry

2.Place three to four prawns in each parcel

3.Pop a couple of piece's of coriander in with your prawns and almond butter

4.Fold the edges of the puff pastry together

5.Place on a baking tray with greaseproof paper

6.Place into the preheated oven

7.Leave cooking for 10-15 minutes until the puff pastry is golden in colour

8.Take them out and let them cool down on a baking tray

9.Then simply enjoy them with a light salad

Hope you enjoy the piece!

Bubbles xx