Phone Free Week

I've always loved the idea of turning off my phone for a week and living without texts, Twitter and all of that techy stuff we think we can't live without. Going away on holiday for a week seemed like the perfect time to give this a try!

James and I went to Spain at the end of August and I turned our phones off completely from the moment we got on the plane. It meant we were far away and could not be contacted, everything a proper holiday should feel like.

I did cheat a bit and use my phone as a camera and the hotel wifi for some Twitter action, but I couldn't receive calls and texts which was half the point of this!

070. Visit New York City: Saving & Planning

I've priced up a trip to New York once a year for the last couple of years, but we've never been. It's an incredibly expensive place to go and one of those trips that you just cannot sacrifice experiences because of the lack of money - it really needs commitment to saving money so you can do all the things you want to and buy all the things you love. Pricing up a trip for 2012 I had pretty much decided that was it, we were going! With a realistic budget of £2000 for flights and a hotel for either 5, 6 or 7 nights I started my internet searching.

I priced up flights for around £900 from London to New York, but wanted to find them cheaper - I checked KLM and Virgin Atlantic once a week for fluctuations in price. At first late-October was looking cheap, then I tried a few different dates and found the last week of September and first week of October to be the overall cheapest time to go for flights. We also want to time our visit with some sporting events and we'd love to go and watch a basketball game, fingers crossed the season starts in September so we can get some tickets.

New York City is not short on hotels, we will be able to find something we like to suit our budget, but booking the flights and hotel separately was working out slightly more money than booking the two parts together through a site like Expedia. We will definitely book the two elements together, it just seems easier and will definitely work out cheaper.

Funding it we've decided to book the hotel and flights on a 0% credit card that James is researching and will apply for. We'll then save like maniacs from now until September, I've got a final target figure of £3000 for spending money for everything including shopping, souvenirs and food/meals out. I need to do some boring, adult budgeting work to make sure I can be on track, but I'm hoping I can save £400 a month for the next five months to get to £2000, and the rest will be made up in other means like work bonuses, eBay selling and birthday money (my birthday is in June). 

Decided on 5 nights I made a wall chart to plan our daily activities including sights, meals and shopping! It seems excessive and obsessive, but you can't wake up in the morning, late, and then decide what you want to do - you have to have a plan! Most of the shopping (orange) has been left for the last day or two, this will ease James' mind because he always worries about my spending and we definitely don't want to run out of money too early in the week!



Another way of planning the places we want to see and go to includes plotting all points of interest on a Google Map. I saw this little tip posted on a message board for holiday planning and it's working for me really well so far. Is there anywhere I've missed? (Blue = sights to see, Green = stuff to do, Yellow = shops and department stores, Pink = restaurants and cafes)

View New York 2012 in a larger map

We seem to have most things accounted for and lots of plans in place. There's also the small matter of my fitness, being on the go all day and walking so much is going to take some preperation and if I can lose some weight in the next five months as well, I'll be very happy! We're planing an intense 12 weeks of healthy eating and exercising starting tomorrow, this should be just the kick start I'll need in the run up to our anniversary Olympic trip, and then the remaining eight weeks until our NYC trip will be just as intense to get the results I really want - I want to look great in all the photos!

Let's go!

A Day In The Life - October 22 2011

This 'A Day In The Life' was inspired by a project at sh1ft.org - we were asked to record our October 22 2011, in 24 photos or less.

We had travelled up to Liverpool on Friday October 21 for a long weekend away. We had tickets to see Jessie J on Saturday October 22, this is my day.

Taking advantage of not having to be up early for work or an absurd international Formula One race, we laid in until after 8am (probably not most people's idea of a lie-in, but for us it was good). Breakfast in our hotel room courtesy of our mini kitchen, complete with fridge. By 10:30am we were ready to go.



Our plan was to head straight down to the Albert Dock and spend time walking around that area.



We did one lap of the Albert Dock and started the indoor exploration with the TATE Liverpool gallery. Now, I'm not a gallery type of person, I really only like the gift shops!



Dressed for winter, the TATE was incredibly warm! I was bored and there wasn't much to see so we moved onto the next, which was the Merseyside Maritime Museum. In there was the International Slavery Museum, which was the most interesting part. I also enjoyed the Titantic exhibitions, I cannot believe it is almost 100 years since the disaster.



By 1pm we were ready for some food and drink. After walking past a few of closed the restaurants earlier, they were now open for lunch, so we wandered back around the dock to find somewhere suitable. We ended up at the Miller & Carter Steakhouse knowing that they will definitely cater for my picky eating. I chose to have a grilled chicken breast burger and James ordered a beefburger, both plain with no sauce, no cheese and no mayo. When our food finally arrived my chicken was covered in bacon and barbecue sauce! James and I swapped plates, so I ended up with his beefburger and he enjoyed the free sauce and bacon that should've been paid extras. The service staff were also terrible! We felt ignored and sat with dirty plates on our table a long time after we'd finished eating. We tried everything, making eye contact with the waitresses just got us a blank response or a 'how are you' before wandering away. James had to literally flag down a waitress to take away the plates and bring us the bill so we could leave. Terrible! And it wasn't even busy.



After lunch we went to take a look at the Liverpool Wheel. It was very windy and the cabs seemed to sway a little bit too much for me. It's so small compared to the London Eye, it just scared me. So we just looked and left.



We'd walked past a confectionery shop round the Albert Dock and near that was the Funky Shake Bar - they made milkshakes out of chocolate bars! James chose a simple Rolo milkshake, I went for a special for just £1 extra! It was called 'Bubbles' - it contained Daim bar, Galaxy chocolate and was topped with Maltesers. Amazing!



By 3pm we were back at the hotel for sit down and rest before heading back out to the Jessie J gig. I enjoyed some iPad Twitter time and a read of my magazine.



All I wanted to do was stay in a have a nap, but it was time to put my face on ready to go out.



Not bad!



Converse on, the only type of footwear suitable to gigs at Universities! 5:45pm, we're out.



On the walk to the University we stopped off for food in Subway. Mine was a 6 inch chicken on hearty Italian bread, toasted, with lettuce and red onion. Yum.



We queued outside the venue for 45 minutes. So glad I took my hat, scarf and gloves - it was very chilly. Some girls who were queuing near us were just wearing dresses, no coat, cardigan or tights! WHAT!



We changed our chosen position for Jessie J a couple of times once we were inside. I always knew I was going to have a hard time seeing her when she got on stage, I don't generally do standing tickets for gigs but that was all that was available. She looked and sounded great, love the purple hair! And there was confetti at the end, shaped like hearts!



We got back to the hotel at 11pm, after a quick stop in Tesco for some chocolate and Mountain Dew. Aching feet from the walking, standing and dancing - glad to get those shoes off and relax.



Checked Twitter before bed. Jessie J loved her loud Liverpool crowd - yeah, that was me!

067. Visit 5 countries I've never been to before (3/5)

DENMARK: Copenhagen

Last summer we spent two beautiful summer days in London at the beginning of July on the hunt for elephants! Not real elephants, they were art displays created to raise money for the prevention of the extinction of Asian elephants. It was called an Elephant Parade. In London there were 260 elephants to discover all over the city, some in the parks, others in shops and shopping centres and lots at the big tourist attractions. We managed to see just over 100 of them in London, so when I found out that other parades were taking place across Europe in 2011 I knew we had to do it again.

We had the choice of four destinations for a 2011 elephant parade - Heerlen in the Netherlands from March to May, Copenhagen in Denmark from June to August, Milan in Italy from September to November and Singapore from November to January 2012. Heerlen and Milan were small parades with just 40-50 elephants, Copenhagen and Singapore had approximately 100. Singapore seemed too far away and would be very expensive, so we chose Copenhagen!

I spent months and months pricing up hotels and flights and researching areas of the city. Finally we booked our trip and the map of the parade was released in June.

We flew from Stansted at lunchtime on Monday July 18 and stayed for three nights in Hotel 27. The hotel was wonderful, really stylish and in a great location. Breakfast was included in the price and every morning was great - the bacon was my fave. Each evening there was also a free dinner, in a buffet style - there were salads, fresh bread and a selection of hot food which ranged from beef casserole and mash, roast chicken and potato wedges and chicken curry. I'm a picky eater and was worried there wouldn't be much I'd like, but every evening I managed to find something - even if it was mainly bread and butter!

On the first evening we headed out to get a feel for our surroundings and to see how many elephants we could find - we ended up seeing 10 around the Radhuspladsen and Stroget area. Then the rain came down and we found shelter in an Irish bar with a glass of apple cider! When we were dry and the rain had stopped we went back to the hotel for an early night.

Tuesday was an early morning, down for breakfast and then out to find more elephants. We walked the entire length of Stroget and saw all the designer shops on the way to Kongens Nytorv and Nyhavn. From there we walked down to Kongens Have (King's Garden) by the Rosenborg Slot and the Botanical Gardens. By the time we got to Osterport station my feet were struggling with all the walking - we got on the train and headed back to Copenhagen Central and back to hotel for a rest (and an afternoon nap). After an hour or so of rest we went to lunch at a burger 'joint' called Chilis which was a short walk from the hotel - the food was excellent!

Round the corner was Christiansborg where we found one elephant and then we went back to Stroget - none of the shops were open when we walked down there before at 9am so there were some elephants we missed. From there we got the Metro from Kongens Nytorv to Norreport to see the elephants at Orstedsparken. Again, my bad choice of city break footwear was failing me so we walked back to the hotel for a rest and some dinner. We headed back out for a third time and went looking for a few elephants around the Vesterport station area. By the end of the second day we'd seen over 40 elephants!

Wednesday saw us going further afield to see more elephants and hopefully that meant less walking for my tired feet. We go the bus up to Langelinie and the Little Mermaid. From there we ended up walking to Amalienborg (palace to the Danish royal family), crowds were gathered and we wondered what was happening - turns out we were there in time to see the changing of the guard. I'd never seen this kind of thing in all the times we've visited London and been outside Buckingham Palace.

We got the bus back to the centre of the city and walked back up Stroget to see some more elephants, visit the Elephant Parade store to buy some replica models and go to Illums Bolighus to buy some more souvenirs. Lunch was at the Irish bar we visited on the first evening, traditional fish and chips and another glass of apple cider!

After another afternoon nap we traveled up to Norreport where there were two unseen elephants by the canal. We then went out to the shopping centre at Frederiksberg on the Metro and saw three elephants in that area. We got the bus back to near our hotel, went for our free dinner and packed our cases for an early flight the next day.

Our flight back to Stansted was a bumpy one, Easy Jet flights don't feel great! We were back in Norwich by 2:30pm and quite glad to be home for a rest! We were up early every morning and we did so much walking, I don't think I've ever had so many afternoon naps!

There aren't any Elephant Parades listed for 2012 yet, but I'll be keeping an eye-out for them! In the meantime we aim to visit Edinburgh in Scotland for Jungle City during September 2011. It's a city we've always wanted to go to and events like this are a great excuse. But I wonder if we have to fly Easy Jet again?

011. Take That - 'Progress' Tour 2011 [Croke Park - Dublin, June 19]

Our trip to Dublin came about purely because I could not get UK tickets for Take That's 'Progress' tour. The day that the tickets were released was crazy, I tried at 9am and at lunch, after work as well and couldn't get anything. A friend said to try Ticketmaster.ie rather than the UK site, I saw Dublin still had good availability in the standing section and with only 2 minutes to make up my mind, we went for it!

It was an expensive trip away, but I'm glad we stayed an extra night to see the city of Dublin. We had a great weekend and it was so nice to get away. It felt bizarre to go on a plane for only an hour, I actually got a little nervous before we took off and I'm always so sure of my love for flying - odd.

We were lucky with the weather pretty much all weekend - hoodie and jeans was a good outfit choice, it got quite chilly at times. No rain on the day of the show was great, the night before had been torrential!

Here are a selection of the best pics of the night.

067. Visit 5 countries I've never been to before (2/5)

IRELAND: Dublin

We were in Dublin to see Take That play a concert at Croke Park stadium. We made the most of having to go so far to see the show and stayed an extra night and day so we could have some time to explore the city. More on the show later!

We bought a three day city bus pass which let us use the airport's Airlink transfer bus, the Dublin Bus network and the hop-on, hop-off open top bus tour for our entire stay. At just 26 Euros each, the passes saved us so much money - such a great idea, they don't put the posters in the toilets just for the fun of it!

We flew out from Stansted on Saturday lunchtime. Once in Dublin, checked in and rested for an hour or so in the hotel room we headed out for a walk into the city. Our hotel was in Parnell Square right at the top of the central O'Connell Street. We intended to hope on a bus all the way down to the river and Temple Bar, but it wasn't really that far so we just kept on going. Our exploring turned into a hunt for somewhere to eat dinner, finally we found the familiar TGI Friday's restaurant.

Sunday was our full day for exploring and doing the tourist thing. It was a shame because everything is so slow starting on a Sunday morning - with Irish hangovers and the church-goers, nothing really came to life until lunchtime. While we waited for the shops and restaurants to open we hopped on the bus tour to Dublin Castle and walked back towards the Trinity College through Temple Bar and Grafton Street.

I didn't take many photos of the city at all, there aren't really that many infamous sites recognised by everyone. So I stuck with a few of the statues (Parnell and Larkin), Temple Bar and Dublin Castle.

071. Visit 5 UK cities I've never been to before (1/5)

CAMBRIDGE

James was away in Manila for the Bank Holiday weekends at Easter and the Royal Wedding, so the holiday at the end of May was a pleasant surprise. We decided to seize the opportunity of a day off work and do something that we weren't able to do while James was away.

On Monday May 30 2011 we took an early morning train to the city of Cambridge. Where we live now and where we grew up at not that far from Cambridge but it's a city I had never been to before. Such wonderful things are always said about such a place because of it's history and beautiful buildings, we had to visit eventually.

Armed with our smart phones and the knowledge that we at least had to get a bus from the train station to the main city centre we headed for the shops. Norwich is a top shopping destination but Cambridge is amazing. The shops are so exclusive and expensive, selling lots of high-end products - I imagined quite a shopping spree until we arrived, I really didn't spend much at all by the end of the day.

As well as the shops, there were the historic college buildings which the city is completely built around. It was really great to be surrounded by the tourists visiting the city just to see such famous sights, but we were only there to explore, observe and not take part in any tours. I did take a few photos of the buildings, but I couldn't tell you exactly what buildings they were - I really should've turned on the GPS for my camera!

And the bikes! I had never seen so many bikes or nearly knock down as many cyclists! Amazing! Anywhere there was a railing, any space against a building, was owned by a bike.

Finally, on recommendation from someone we work with, we headed to Patisserie Valerie to pick up a little treat for the journey home.