Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Twenty Two
'I was always best dressed with bedroom eyes and a strut that could outrun freedom'
(Lauren Eden)

The extra day off on Monday was appreciated after a busy weekend. I went for a run in the sunshine to collect my car from Gatley just after lunch, and met up with people for a curry in the evening at Essence in Altrincham. It's one of those places that looks a bit dated from the outside, but the interior and food is worth a visit - I had the lamb tikka massala with a chapatti (I don't often eat rice) and it was top notch. There was a good crowd out and we had a laugh about the events from the wedding.

My track for this week is a cracking tune by Reiko. I have been listening to a chilled house playlist on Apple Music in preparation for my holiday and it was on there - great little find to get me in the mood for lying on a beach.



On Tuesday I was back in work, but it has been the school holidays this week so I had Aum all day. He had a friend round and we went to Laser Quest and then for lunch at Nando's which (shock horror) I have not actually had for nearly ten years. I was a bit of a cop out and had a portobello mushroom and halloumi wrap with a chickpea, mint and bean salad with an avocado and buttermilk dressing, but it was bloody tasty, and I challenged the boys to try the hottest chilli sauce, which created some excellent videos. 

The rest of the week was a bit of a blur at work and prepping for Mallorca, although Aum and I had chance to go for a little dog walk to Cheadle on Thursday where we stopped at Nice Ice for an ice cream (I had cookie dough but his salted caramel was much better!).

On Friday I finished earlier than expected and Bex arrived around tea time. I made us a curry and we had a gin before setting off for the airport. It was a bizarre experience as our flight was the only one left to leave the terminal after midnight, so all the shops were shut and the bar was super quiet - it didn't stop us from having a (really pricey) wine though. We got to our hotel in Palmanova (the Rosa Del Mar) at about 5am which was a bit disorientating, so we slept until midday before getting up for a wander around our base for the week!

The resort we were in was a two minute walk to a gorgeous beach and loads of shops and restaurants; we stopped for a toastie and some sangria for lunch on the seafront and then went back to the hotel for a chill by the pool. The weather was beautiful, around 29 degrees, and the sun stayed out until after 7pm which made us feel like we still had plenty of the day left despite our late start. Back in the room Bex persuaded me to join the world of Tinder as it has a new option to join up to meet other groups of people, so I (reluctantly) obliged, but I have to say, the calibre of men over here is much better than the UK!

That evening we got ready and went out for dinner at a lovely restaurant called Zen. We shared lots of tapas dishes and a bottle of prosecco (which was surprisingly actually from Italy) and went halves on a s'mores skewer for dessert. There was a guy musician playing recent chart songs on guitar in the corner who was a decent performer, and it made for a chilled atmosphere, and with the bill only coming to 42 euro it got our night off to a great start!

We decided to go for a walk and have a few drinks, and it was then that we discovered that we were pretty much in Magaluf! Having never been anywhere like that before, we were both up for checking it out, and initially were dragged into a bar on the outskirts of the main drag called Bar 29, where we got a goblet of spirit and mixer and a shot of tequila for 3 euro, insane. From there we went onto the strip - daunting to say the least, literally neon lights and huge groups of pissed girls and boys EVERYWHERE - to a random little place where we downed a cheap drink and left, and then I had an Aperol Spritz (7 euro but tasted awful!) in Temple Bar and we ended the night in a sports bar called The White Horse. We had a bit of a boogie and I kissed a very handsome Portuguese guy called Ruben who was on a Stag do, and we swapped numbers to meet the group later, but sacked off joining them at a club in favour of getting some sleep! 

Today Bex was deathly hungover, and I had woken up early and got chatting to a guy with cool tattoos and quirky street style on Tinder (see, I'm giving it a go!) who invited me out for an ice cream, so I thought I'd be spontaneous and make the most of the day (enter B). He is a promoter for one of the bars so I was slightly wary of the reputation, but he is older and seemed a sound guy and we had a fair bit to chat about so I enjoyed myself. Not sure of anything romantically but it was fun to talk to someone new and get some insider tips on places to go, and being able to go to the beach on a Tinder date was a definite perk! We went for a cider afterwards and then I went back to the hotel to check Bex was alive, and we spent the rest of the day napping by the pool.

This evening we walked along the front to the other end of Palmanova, where it was like a time warp to the '80s! We found a cute Italian called Brisas (I had hangover cravings for pizza all day) and they had an absolute bargain of a set menu for 16 euro - starter, main, dessert and a glass of wine and portions were massive! After eating we went to Godfather's bar on the beach for a cocktail and to watch the Manchester One Love gig on a big screen, which actually got me quite emotional, definitely even more proud to be a Mancunian after seeing the reaction of the city to recent events.

Excited to see what next week in Maga brings! 

ReUNIon!

Manchester

This weekend, a few of my old uni friends/ flatmates came to stay to make the most of my current free house. There were six of them altogether, travelling from Guildford, Oxford, Crewe, Northampton, Newcastle and good ol' Stretford. Given the distance, as you can imagine we don't all meet up that often, in fact the last time this many of the group all got together was at Timna's 21st on New Years Eve 2011, which I spent in London so couldn't make, so it was lovely to see so many familiar faces.

Everyone arrived late on the Friday so we stayed in and had a (relatively) quiet one, although that still involved sleeping at 3.30am! On Saturday I woke up earlyish to give Laura a lift to the met stop as she was going to meet one of her bridesmaids in town for lunch. The rest of us slowly surfaced, and had showers etc before Chris made us all a weird egg/pepper/mushroom/salami omelette kinda thing, which was super tasty!

We headed into the city centre at around 2pm, and had some lunch at Font bar, an old fave. I had a chicken burger with cheese and bacon with chips, and a gin cocktail (diet out the window for today...) and then afterwards we moved on to Temple Bar which is a tiny place down some inconspicuous stairs off Oxford Road, and used to be a public toilet! It did loads of the flavoured beers I've had before in the Belgian bar in Altrincham, so I chose cherry Kriek, one which I love.

We stayed in there for a while, and then Joe went off to meet Laura for some shopping while the rest of us went on to Brewdog bar, which is famed for all its ales (lots of which are ridiculously strong!). I had a 'raspberry' beer, which really wasn't good. The rest of the boys chose various concoctions, none of which they were impressed with, so we moved swiftly on. We were heading in the direction of Hard Rock, but time was getting on and it was a fair walk, so we decided to stop in Wetherspoons on Deansgate for a last one before heading back to mine. We met up with Joe and Laura who had done quite a spree, and then all got the met home where we ate lots of pizzas and started getting ready.

By the time I had spruced up it was getting quite late, so we started playing some drinking games to get a bit merry before going out. We got a taxi at 11pm to The Alchemist in Spinningfields, but Geoff didn't get in (casual T-shirt issues!) so him and Chris went to a pub while the rest of us enjoyed some cocktails. I had a Garden Martini which was Hendricks gin, rose liqueur, St. Germain elderflower, lemon juice and was topped with lavender foam and cucumber, and then I got a French Martini which had vodka, Chambord and cranberry juice in topped with pineapple foam and raspberry dust - I could have drunk them all night. Laura and I also got shots of this green stuff called Akwa, which is apparently made from the same plant as cocaine!

At just gone midnight we moved on to Venue to finish the night which was good; decent music and £1.60 vodka mixers - can't complain! We got taxis home at 3am, and attempted to carry on drinking but failed miserably, favouring bed instead.

The next day we were slightly later rising, and enjoyed a cooked breakfast (thanks Geoff!) before everyone started getting their stuff together ready to leave. The last lot went at half 2, leaving me with a very quiet, and surprisingly un-messy, house to myself. I really enjoyed the company and doing lots of catching up; probably the next time will be at Laura's wedding in July, which is very exciting!!

Traveller's Tales...

Dublin (Part 1)

Last weekend I went to Dublin with Chris for 3 days. We got a very early flight on Saturday, so once we had got the bus into the city it was around 9.30am. We bought a 3 day pass for 13.50 euros to give us unlimited bus travel, which was definitely worth it considering just getting to and from the airport would have set us back 12 euros!

The first thing we did was walk onto the main street, and gather our surroundings before going to good ol' Costa for a coffee and cake (not very Irish, but hey). Then, after the caffeine had woken us up a bit, we went for a mooch around the shops, including into Forever 21, which I have wanted to go in for ages, but didn't get chance to in London.

In the afternoon we went to The Church bar and restaurant, walking past the huge metal spire in the centre of the main road along the way. I had a Caipirinha cocktail, which despite being a bit of a killer at 9 euros, tasted amazing. Afterwards we walked across the river to the district called Temple Bar, and had another drink at a place called Havanas. I was a little bit ill on Saturday, so for my second drink I had a Bailey's hot chocolate to try and perk me up.

After our wandering, we decided to try and find our hotel. After getting on the right number bus, but going in the wrong direction, we eventually got there at around 6pm, and collapsed on the bed after an exhausting day. A quick change of clothes and spruce up of makeup, and we headed back into the centre for a meal at Dada, a Moroccan restaurant that we had reserved in advance. It was quite pricey, but absolutely amazing! The atmosphere was relaxed but formal, and the interior made you feel as though you were actually in Morocco - including the temperature!

We each ordered a glass of wine, and for starter I had mini sausages with caramelised onions, and Chris had a kebab type thing (I can't remember the actual names, and the website's an Irish one so I can't check!). My main course was one of the most interesting dishes I have ever had. It was a pastry shaped like an envelope and dusted with icing sugar, and in the centre was a mixture of chicken, quail, apricots, almonds and spices. I must admit, after realising that the white dust on the outside was icing sugar, I was a little dubious, but the combination of all the flavours, and the spice with the sweet apricots was just amazing! It came with a little salad and some orange segments, but I only just managed the pastry alone, as it was very filling.

Chris had the slightly more usual roast duck, but it was in a sweet sticky glaze that tasted lovely, and had peanuts sprinkled on top, so was still not an average meal! The whole thing including a tip cost us 70 euros (approx £61.50) which is more than a typical meal out for us, but I'd say it was definitely worth it for the different food, and overall experience. It was for Chris' birthday after all!

We were really tired after our long day, and I had been suffering with flu, so we went straight back to the hotel to bed, and saved our energy so that we were wide awake for the following day.