Christmas 2017 was spent in Europe. Dan flew back to the UK to spend it at his mums and I took the train to Limoges in France to spend it at my sister (Katie) and her husband (Steve’s) house. I had a Christmas to remember in a very sleepy French village, staying in their beautiful…
Category: Travel / holidays
New Year’s Eve
This New Year’s Eve we were privileged to welcome 2018 in at the Champs Elysee fireworks and party. We counted down the final moments of 2017 in a crowd of thousands, and then with Jamie and Rachel we enjoyed celebratory coffee eclairs. It seems like a strange choice, but at midnight on that cold and…
Brief Reversed Culture Shock
On our winter holiday Dan and I experienced, briefly, reverse culture shock. We have become accustomed to life in Japan, with its immaculate streets, low crime rate, quiet people, and peaceful public transport. In contrast, Paris was loud, smelly, dirty, and full of wild glorious life! A few days in and I was loving it,…
Narita Airport Horror Story
This winter holiday we visited our families and spent New Year’s Eve in Paris. It was the perfect winter trip in the most beautiful city! More to come on that… However, the story of our trip does not start there. This first blog installment is about the journey, and what a journey it was! At…
The Japanese Grand Prix 2017
It’s Hammer Time! On the weekend of 6-8th October 2017, we realised a wish and attended the Japanese formula one at the legendary Suzuka circuit, near Nagoya. I had gifted Dan the experience (being the excellent gift giver I am, the perfect gift, wins all round for me and him!) and so I was a…
Shrooms and Typhoons: “The Earth without art is just Eh”
In September, we were lucky enough to visit Naoshima Island, Japan’s infamous ‘Art Island’. The island is home to an extensive collection of artwork owned by the Benesse Group. The collection includes six of Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’, David Hockney pieces, striking architecture from Tadao Ando, and unique mushroom sculptures from Yamoi Kusama. The long weekend…
Pre-Roasted Coffee Delights
Dan is a master at finding great coffee shops. On our weekend trip to Kumamoto he did not disappoint, as he found his most unusual and delicious yet! There is a unique coffee shop in Kumamoto city that has been in operation for about 50 years with the same delightful barista. In this coffee shop…
Hiroshima Weekender
Another fabulous contractual requirement gave me two extra days in June on top of a weekend. We decided to make the most out of the time and head to Hiroshima for a few days. It was a brilliant choice as we enjoyed trips down memory lane and the best zoo ever. When we came to…
Rusty Baths and Dolphins
Iki island has an onsen town full to the brim of public bathhouses. On our recent holiday, we got to enjoy them all! We enjoyed an indulgent week of lounging in onsen baths full of rusty coloured water. They were extremely relaxing and cheap! It was much better than using the cold showers at our…
Para, Para, Paradise
The beaches of Iki island are true paradise! Two of them are in Japan’s top one hundred beaches, and it’s not hard to see why. Tsutsukihama is a 500m beach of white sand with a glorious turquoise sea, not tarnished in anyway. Behind the beach is a pretty pond and stretch of green parkland. Backing…