The Wedding Planning Series #13 Honeymoon

Good morning lovely friends! I've got some exciting news from a few weeks back, we've booked our 'mini-moon'! A couple of days after we get married we'll be jetting off to the beautiful Barcelona! I couldn't be more excited for some sunshine, tapas and drool-worthy art and architecture. Every time we book a city break, I treat myself to a mini Lonely Planets guide. They're so worth the money and great to take along; including a little pull-out map, top places to eat and interesting facts and history behind the places it helps you find. I'd always recommend them. Now of course I'd love to hear all about any 'must see' places etc if you've got any in mind but it's not Barcelona that has brought me to seek your advice today. 

I'm really struggling with where we should go for our proper honeymoon? We've narrowed it down to three places and I'm hoping that one of you out there will be able to give me some advice as to where's best? 

Time Of Year: Late October- Early November
Destination: Long Haul- Caribbean, West Indies, South America
Budget: This is pretty flexible but approx. £3000 for us both
Length: 7-10 days
Wants: This is where is gets hard: Relaxation, Exploring, Adventure, Luxury.

1) St Lucia.

Beautiful beaches, total paradise, relaxation at the forefront; St Lucia has been somewhere we've considered since we first started thinking about where to go. Such a small place, we're quite conscious that we probably wouldn't get up to that much whilst there. Which in some ways is a blessing, but for such a long trip to make, we'd like to venture, learn and explore a little bit whilst away.

2) Cuba.

Cuba is probably the total opposite in what we're thinking of doing. There's so much history, culture and sight-seeing to do that I almost worry we won't stop and relax really much at all? I'm also not too sure that how long we're looking to go for would really be enough to feel like we'd really had the true experience? 

3) Costa Rica.

I'd loved the idea of going to Costa Rica when we first started thinking of where to go, but quickly ruled it out when it came to actually looking to book somewhere; it seemed pretty hard to find all inclusive packages that suited us. I feel that Costa Rica could be the perfect destination for us, beautiful scenery and nature adventures that offer that real once in a lifetime trip feeling. I still seem to be struggling to actually put it together though?

Have any of you been to any of these places? Maybe you have somewhere else to recommend? What booking sites do you use for the longer haul? If you have any and all recommendations I'd love to hear all the opinions!

*Catch up on the other plans for our wedding*

#1 Venue
#2 Bridesmaids
#3 Food
#4 The Groom
#5 Venue Visiting (Not the one we chose in the end but beautiful!)
#6 Wedding Fayres
#7 Invitations
#8 Honeymoon Choosing
#9 The Last Of The Wedding Fayres
#10 Miss/Mrs Ms 
#11 Marquees
#12 Minimoon: An Excuse to Holiday Twice
20 Things I've Realised Planning Our Wedding

Over & Out

Sophie.

Location Location Location: The Lost Gardens of Heligan.

I used to visit The Lost Gardens of Heligan every time I came to Cornwall on holiday. Now, at only £13 for an adult ticket (and a new option for a locals pass!) it's a perfect place to take a springtime walk without breaking the bank *cough Eden Project cough*.  A genuine lost garden, these beautifully wild grounds were owned by the Tremayne family; during WW1 ivy, overgrowth and brambles took over this estate as the family and workforce joined the war. Unlike many estates, it was never sold or developed in that time; proceeding a further 'sleeping beauty' timewarp to the grounds.  Eventually, in the 1970's the house itself was sold, split into apartments and yet, the grounds were left undiscovered...

It wasn't until the 1990's that Tim Smit (Eden Project creator) and John Willis (Tremayne descent) discovered a tiny doorway, covered in hedgerow and brambles, and began the clearance and restoration of the classical gardens and enchanting landscape. 

You really can get lost for hours in the different areas of the grounds. Acres to walk, Stacie and I headed first for the jungle (like any adventurer would!) This landscape could be anywhere, in reality, it's 20 minutes or so from my house. Do I mention enough how brilliant Cornwall is?

Taking the rope bridge is a novelty experience and guaranteed to have you declaring yourself as the next Indiana Jones. Stacie and I queued for about 10 minutes and as we got closer, shouted at the children ahead of us, rocking and jumping on the rope bridge "You'll weaken it before we get there and we'll die!" We're slightly dramatic adventurers...

Since we'd practically mastered the jungle (Tarzan eat your heart out) we ventured over to the farm area. Squealing at the piglets and having a stare-off with an emu, we rolled around in the sunshine, feeding sheep and lambs, declaring ourself as the first ever 'Farm Jungle Experts'. Every little moment just screamed "SPRING HAPPINESS" in your face. I can sense you feel it right now. 

Farming aced (it really was quite the mastering day) we needed to slow down a little and headed for the Italian gardens and melon yard for a hunt of inspiration and peacefulness. One of the many joys of Heligan is just how relaxed the different spaces are. It's venturing into someone's beautiful home without being pretentious or invasive. It took us a little while to spot the pineapples growing (that's right we grow pineapples in Cornwall) and we were a little early in the season for the veg garden to be fully appreciated but despite being a bank holiday weekend with a queue of genuinely almost 200 people when we arrived, there were plenty of spaces that were empty and serene. 

The scent of The Citrus House was invigorating and fresh, placing my little mind somewhere much more exotic than a corner of the UK. Legs a little tired, hearts filled with sunshine, we headed over to the farm shop for a bit of local produce (honey purchasing- duh) and headed home. 

Thinking of a trip to Cornwall? You may want to have a browse of some other locations that are tip-top! 

Daymer Bay Beach

Charlestown

St Ives

Falmouth

Roche Rock and Hermitage

Pentewen

St Austell Brewery

Melinsey Mill

Polgooth

Dairyland Farmworld

Mevagissey

Eden Project

Lanhydrock

Over & Out 

Sophie

Location Location Location// Eden Project

Have I already warned you that this is the most photo heavy post in town? Well consider that your warning. So sue me, Sunae convinced me to man-up and practice shooting in manual and I pretty much ran with it. My photography knowledge now stretches to 'moving the dial-ly thing' but hey, I'm getting there! If you haven't yet gagged over my 'ode to Sunae', take a little read here and come on back for some plant photos, a couple of funny looking birds and mostly a little tour around a must-see attraction in Cornwall (and one of the only ones still open in the winter months!)

I've been to the Eden Project a few times now; more-so for charity related goodness or a little browse before seeing a band or two, it's somewhere that I totally overlook and take for granted, living so near by. The great thing about going there though is that so much is indoors (a rarity for a Cornish attraction) and meant that it didn't really matter what the weather was like, Sunae and I could visit and warm the o'l cockles whilst taking our time snapping and nattering. Starting in the education centre, she educated me more on the microbiology more than the exhibition did- I'm sure we had a small group even listening in at one stage. The 'seed' pictured above is an incredible instillation with the most amusing acoustics (when you're stomping around pretending to be dinosaurs like we were, you need great acoustics!)

Beautiful tiles in the Mediterranean biome. I'm not actually a penguin by the way, my TOMS just make me look like one. Can you spot the bird?

David Attenborough eat your heart out. 

Cacti and succulents galore!

I'd just like to remind you (again) that I am using the manual mode on my camera finally and for first attempts I'm pretty proud as punch (even if Sunae and I probably took hours longer seeing everything!) After a spot of lunch (which was super tasty, if incredibly overpriced-it's a tourist attraction so you kind of expect it!) we headed over to the rainforest biome for what became a LOT of humidity that made us go a little crazy...

I spent a good while hunting for these little birds name plaque (like the ones you get with all the plants) only for Sunae to highlight to me that 'birds move around Sophie, there probably isn't one!' I think I dubbed thee, punk chickens.

A lot of craziness later, and deciding as evening descended so much so that it got rather dark, that we were in-fact in Jurassic World, we started hiding from dinosaurs. As you do.

Finally we made it to the end, after being a little convinced that it had actually closed and we were going to spend the entire night trapped in dino-land. *wipes brow*

To wrap up, Eden Project is a great day out for a visitor to Cornwall in winter because it's mainly inside. It isn't cheap but they do offer a locals' pass which is great value for money and gives you access during all the exciting times of year. It's been almost two months since my little dinosaur queen was here and I totally miss her every day. Sorting and commentating these photos has filled me with joy and reminiscence. I'm suddenly back to planning moving my life to Australia again.

Miss you Sunae.

Over & Out

Sophie

Thankful Thursday // All The Things.

It's been a while. Too long really. *Waves at screen!* I've had many a draft sitting there since I disappeared at the end of January; too tired to switch on and write, too tired to feel guilty for doing so. To be honest, the start of this year has been quite testing, I've lost myself a little and it's only really now I'm coming together again. I wanted to take some time to come back, read some books (so many books!) Watch some Netflix and spend some time resting. The cold evenings and even colder mornings have driven me to the comforts of hot baths, snuggles under blankets and pyjama attire whenever I'm not outside. A couple of days have been spent hands in the earth, making sense of the overgrown mess that my garden has become over the winter months. It's been good for me. Thinking about what the future holds for the rest of the year and with a little perspective under my belt, here's some things about myself that I'm thankful for...and totally unapologetic for being so...

• Being Strong: When shit gets tough, I'm like a rock. Yes I may cry whilst watching an episode of DIY SOS but when the proper grown up, horrible shit happens, I seem to grow 10ft tall. I'm proud of myself for that.
• Being Sensitive: In the totally opposite way, I'm starting to realise to stop apologising for being sensitive about the 'small things'. It's something I've been judged for before and I think we as women, feel we have to apologise for that sometimes? Well fuck that from now on, I'm sensitive because I care, I've got a great big heart and I hug like a unicorn, so there's that settled.
• Curiosity: If I could learn something about everything then I'd be happy. My Netflix binge has been a mis-match of documentaries, from art fraud, bees (obviously), to cane toads and space. It's been amazing.
• My Ass for Looking Amazing in my Wedding Dress: Because I'm not the greatest fan of my body but it looks pretty. fucking. great.
• Wisdom: Someone recently said to me that wisdom is something that only comes with age. I've thought about this a lot and I agree... to an extent. I know plenty of people older than me that are quite simply naive and I personally think wisdom is something that comes from life experience, how long you've been alive doesn't make you wise.

That's about enough self gratification for today I think. I've missed you all. How is everyone? I currently have over 650 missed posts to catch up on reading so expect a little comment spam! In the mean time, please go ahead and pop recent posts in the comments and I'll get to nattering with you even sooner!

Over & Out

Sophie

P.s. I don't actually steal forks, but Curb Your Enthusiasm is one of the best programmes ever made. WATCH IT!

Sunae Goes Euro

There's a lady right over on the other side of the world who's captured my heart. In our little community we were all living through Sunae over seven weeks as she bravely, inspirationally and amusingly traipsed herself around Europe. If you haven't followed, head over to Instagram and look under #sunaegoeseuro (which she reminded me that I actually thought of!) and get yourself up to speed with this little Aussie treasure. You may already know her as Little Foal, or maybe you've come across more recently, her midwifery themed blog, Life En Caul. It blows my mind how through writing in this little space on the internet, you can come across real life people who actually are just as great as you hope and think they will be! Ignoring the few who muted 'but what if she's actually a murderer?' I was overjoyed when she told me she'd pay me a little visit in Cornwall-land. 

The best thing about Sunae (and trust me, there's loads- she's a total babe) is that we're pretty much exactly the same. Though she only stayed for three nights, it honestly felt like a lifetime that we'd known each other. Possibly something to do with the fact that we barely breathed for air from talking  so much, possibly because we could not say a word and be thinking exactly the same thing. We squeezed in as much as you can in Cornwall during winter (I'm sure she didn't realise quite how much I meant Cornwall shuts down for winter but discovered this when she couldn't get food past 3pm or cake in the evening!) Still, a few long walks, a trip to Eden Project (which needs a separate post because it's one heck of a photo heavy day!) and cosiness galore, we lapped our time together and when it came to waving her off at the train station like some 50's film noir, I sobbed all the way home (and some!) because it felt like a little part of me had left.

There were only a couple of things Sunae wanted from her time in Cornwall; a couple of new places to take pretty photos of (and ended up teaching me in our own language how to use my camera's manual settings!) The other, to try some traditional Cornish foods. The obvious choice being a delicious and PROPER Cornish cream tea (Jam to cream ratio and layering is important stuff ya'll!) and a proper pasty (which I didn't get a photo of because I blinked and she'd devoured it.) 

There's something really rather special about being so comfortable with a friend who you've only known online,  in real life, after less than 12 hours together, being able to look at each other and say 'Yep, you're in my life for good now.' Making plans for the future together, talking about the past and generally learning those little things that cement a friendship, I could honestly talk about her for days and days (and will most certainly be doing so!) So stay tuned for more Sunae adventures and love letters addressed only to her. 

Over & Out

Sophie.

Oh and if you'd like to know a little more about the super places photo'd above, check out Lanhydrock here and Charlestown here.