The Swallows Nest at Chelidonia Luxury Suites, Oia, Santorini

The Swallows Nest at Chelidonia Luxury Suites, Oia, Santorini

Monday, 25 October 2021

I'm not sure why or how but the pandemic seems to have made European travel alot more attractive to me. Whereas I would never have considered it before, my short haul bucket list is now growing rather quickly. 

The Greek islands were the first one I managed to tick off and having not had any travel to write about for two years, there are a whole list of posts I want to write about my trip. I've decided to start with the thing I was most excited about, the hotel we stayed at in Santorini.

Our two nights in the Swallows Nest room at Chelidonia Luxury Suites were something I'll never forget. 

As we arrived and walked alot the main street in Oia, which is along the top of the mountain - the excitement set in. I spotted our room in amongst a sea of white buildings that covered the side of the cliff opposite

It looked exactly like the photos and stood out from all the others.

This photo is not doing it justice but it is the only one that has the beautiful blue of the plunge pool and the intense pink of the local bougainvillea flowers; by far the most beautiful room on the cliff. 

The location of Chelidonia Luxury Suites 

The location was perfect. Reception was on the main strip whilst the rooms were a little way down, past a private entry gate and then spread out across the cliff face. 

The most popular Instagram spot in the town - the best view of the blue domes was just before the gate so it was rather busy although past the gate it was very serene and you didn't really see anyone else as you walked along the cobbled paths.

The staff at Chelidonia Luxury Suites 

I can't say enough about the staff at the hotel, particularly Ned who took care of absolutely everything.

When we arrived, he explained every detail we might have needed, dropped us to our room and disappeared. We hopped in the pool as soon as he left and 30 minutes later, he arrived with a bottle of sparkling wine which was a really lovely touch. 

He served our breakfast, checked in on us every now and then and offered to take photos every time he came around which I really appreciated.

Another thing that was really helpful was the virtual concierge; a whatsapp number. Anytime we needed anything we just sent them a message and our problem was solved. This was how we put our breakfast orders in, how they let us know our reservations had been made, how we asked them to book our airport transfers, everything!

Our room at Chelidonia Luxury Suites 

The room was the most exciting place I've ever stayed. We had quite specific requirements when booking, we wanted a cave style room and we wanted a private plunge pool and this room ticked both of those boxes. The inside was white and airy with curved ceilings and door ways and the outside was extra special. 

Not only did we have a pool that went deep into the cave and snaked around corners, with a bench at each end, but it could be accessed from a secret hatch in the room.

It had crazy views across the cliff face and was the perfect temperature so we made the most of it, day and night.

As well as the pool and sunbed area, there was also a secret terrace...

Breakfast at Chelidonia Luxury Suites 

The room had so many different parts to it, each one more magical than the last and whilst the pool was pretty incredible, it was the terrace that took me by surprise.

Just up a few steps up and around the back of the room was our private terrace. With seats carved into the the stone and a table and umbrella set up for dining, it looked out in the other direction over the caldera and the Agean sea. 

It was the most incredible place I've ever eaten breakfast. 

Ned set up our feast and left us to enjoy our first course which usually consisted of breads, coffee, juices, fruit and yoghurt.

And then he was back twenty minutes later with the rest!

It was an absolutely magical way to spend the morning. We ate our food and spent a further hour sat there looking out over the ocean with not another person in sight which was one of my favourite parts of the day. 

It's not often I'd prefer to stay in the room than get out and explore but our stay was one of the best things I've ever experienced. I have always wanted to stay on one of Santorini's cave rooms so I can happily tick that one off my list! 

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Sourdough masterclass with Good in Bread

Sourdough masterclass with Good in Bread

Monday, 11 October 2021

I love baking. Fairy cakes, banana bread, Tuesday nights watching bake off, although the more I bake, the more apparent it becomes that I'm not particularly good at it. 

Keep it simple and I'm fine but move on to more intricate recipes like sourdough and I wouldn't know where to start.

Sourdough became the 'it' thing to eat a few years ago; avotoast has never looked back and once people realised that they were going to have alot of time on their hands last year, it became one of the 'it' things to bake.

I know it takes a very long time because I have just successfully baked (and immediately eaten) my first two loaves.

I definitely cannot take all the credit. The guys at Good in Bread sent me all the stuff I needed, a simple recipe and they even set up a Zoom call with Emily (who founded the brand) who talked me through the process step by step and let me tell you, sourdough is no easy feat.

With one step unsupervised, I did manage to burn the first loaf (it was a little extra crusty) but the 2nd was perfect and a very proud moment. I try to avoid bread at home where I can but there was no resisting a loaf that I had baked fresh myself. We had bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two days last week. 

Good in Bread is an artisan sourdough subscription service which means it's now possible to have a freshly baked loaf delivered to my London door step on a bi-weekly basis.

*Invite

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Five Tips For An Easy Morning

Five Tips For An Easy Morning

Monday, 31 October 2016

With the clocks going back this weekend, we got an extra hours sleep; I was exhausted after day exploring Malaga on my recent press trip so Saturday night was perfect timing for me; an extra hour in my big fluffy bed at The AC Hotel Malaga Palacio and I could actually see out of my window before I left for work this morning. 

Since working full time, I've gotten into a bit of a morning routine which has been great after years of college or working part time, starting at 6am one day and 1pm another. Whilst getting up early every day can be hard, these few things make my early mornings that little bit easier:

Routine
Even at the weekends, if I sleep in past 8.30 I feel like I’ve already wasted a big chunk of my day; so waking up at the same time all week actually works pretty well for me! On a work day particularly though, it means I know exactly how many minutes I have until I need until I need to do the next thing.

Breakfast
On a weekend, as you know, its usually avocado toast but I don’t always have time to eat breakfast before I leave for work. I find it very hard to work with an empty stomach so I will always fit it in somewhere. During the week I always try to have a piece of fruit and some kind of cereal when I get to my desk! If I really cant wait though, I'll pick up a chocolate chip belvita soft bake (or the crunchy hazelnut one) on the train. They're easy to eat on the tube and the five wholegrains in them slowly release carbohydrates over four hours - it's really important for me to have a breakfast that can supply me with steady energy through the morning otherwise I spend hours digging through my snack drawer, usually finishing up with me eating a whole bag of chocolate raisins.

 Knowing that I am a big fan, Belvita sent me a cute care package to work - so thats breakfast sorted for the next week. I'm going to take a couple of packs home for the weekend as well. I saw as part of their #GoodMornings campaign that they also work well made up with yogurt and fruit so I definitely want to try that when I have time!

Radio
These days, the house is very quiet in the mornings and it’s just not something I am used to. Growing up, my brothers were slow so everyone would be shouting at each other to put shoes on or brush teeth but now that they have to sort themselves out in the morning, it’s a lot quieter. I like a bit of noise so I listen to Capital every morning. Apart from upbeat music, I actually just enjoy listening to them talk, it seems to make my mind focus a bit more.

Light
When the alarm goes off for work in the morning, I need light otherwise I fall back to sleep just as quickly as I woke up. If it’s a dark wintery morning, I switch on my bedside lamp but in the summer, I tend to sleep with the blinds half open so that the natural light from the sun can fill my room in the morning and gently wake me up; it always puts me in a good mood for the day. 

The Night Before
I’m a bit of an early bird and recently, I have really noticed how much difference an early night makes to how I feel in the morning; any later than midnight and I struggle. I also try to prepare some of my clothes the night before, waking up and not having to think about what you are going to wear for the day makes mornings so much less stressful, you wouldn't believe it! This video from Safestore suggests doing it for the whole week ahead which, come to think of it, would mean a little extra time in bed, every single day!

What makes your mornings easier?

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Five Places For Breakfast In London

Five Places For Breakfast In London

Sunday, 18 September 2016

If you guys have followed me for a while, particularly on Instagram, you will know that I am a little bit partial to a nice brunch at the weekends! Breakfast during the week is such a boring experience for me, I've been making my way through a box of weetabix this week so that's why I like to indulge a little at the weekend.

If you asked me what my perfect 24 hours in London would be, it would definitely start with brunch! Usually it's all about the avocado but since I had five different sitting to attend to this week, I mixed up my choices a little! My birthday plans were left completely up Andrew this year and luckily for me, my boyfriend knows me well.

Duck & Waffle at The Heron Tower

This was on the morning of my actual birthday and I was so excited because I have wanted to visit duck and waffle for such a long time now. We got in the lift up to the 40th floor and sat at a window seat looking out over London. Compared to the sky garden and even the shard, it seemed so much higher and whilst it was pretty scary, it was also pretty amazing.

I popped to the toilet and when I came back, Andrew had ordered two belinis! Champagne for breakfast it was then! I kinda wanted to order the duck and waffle, because, well you know; but the duck egg en cocotte sounded too good to pass up. So whilst Andrew got stuck into his full English, I had a pan of melted gruyere cheese, wild mushrooms and truffle with a fried duck egg in the middle and a basket of toasted bread soldiers. It was delicious and a bit over indulgent for breakfast but it was my birthday after all!

As we finished our drinks, the manager brought over a cute little cake with a candle in it which was a nice touch and just the sweet bite I needed needed to finish off.

Hubbard & Bell at The Hoxton Hotel

We've been here a few of time now because its one of our favorite places for breakfast! The eggs are always poached to perfection plus I love that the avotoast comes with pistachios for a little extra crunch.

After feeling ill every single time I eat bread, this time, I though you know what!? Why do I keep doing this to myself and decided to order gluten free to see what happened. I was a bit scared to eat it at first because even though it was gluten free, it was still a slice of bread and I was convinced that it was going to make me feel ill plus I wasn't even sure that I was going to like it. I needn't have worried though, because the thick slice of seeded bread that arrived with my breakfast was delicious and I actually really enjoyed it's crumbly texture. Afterwards, low and behold no stomach ache, no acid reflux and no falling asleep. Problem solved!

The Holborn Dining Room At The Rosewood

Andrew had booked a super weekend for us and the first night involved a stay at The Rosewood Hotel. For breakfast in the morning, we had three options; room service, the mirror room or the holborn dining room. I wanted to see as much of the hotel as I could so that put a cross over room service. We first popped to the mirror room but it was a bit too loungey for us as so we moved on to The Holborn Dining room in the courtyard of the hotel, which was much more of a proper restaurant. We both loved the style and don't ask me how but strangely, it reminded us both of main street Disney, it just had that vibe.

Anyway I thought I'd try something different this morning and went for scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, I also ordered an exotic fruit salad, tea and juice and some more gluten free bread! It was quite expensive but luckily it was all included in the price of our room.

Room Service At The South Place Hotel

The next evening, we stayed at another amazing hotel and decided to spend our last morning together in bed. Whilst they have the rooms and design down to a T, we weren't so impressed with the breakfast. It was a little bit cold when it arrived and they forgot a smoothie, which was quickly brought up afterward, although it was tasteless. This definitely won't stop us from going back though as I would count it as my new favourite hotel, we just won't be booking breakfast next time!

NAC Mayfair

This one was a few days later but I took it as a chance to celebrate my first full week of being 23! I popped down to Mayfair for breakfast with Farfetch. As I like to describe them, its like ASOS but for designer brands - they have a selection of over 400 boutiques and some incredible stock.

It was a great opportunity to hear about blogging from some different points of view, especially as some of them were fashion magazines as well as blogs and of course catch up with the Laurren who arranged it all!

Of course I went to the avotoast yet again and a glass of fresh orange juice. I loved that they spread the toast with avocado before they piled it on top as well. There were chilli seeds on it which I was not expecting but those were easily scraped off! 

 *Collaborative Post

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London On The Weekend In My Favourite Dress

London On The Weekend In My Favourite Dress

Thursday, 28 July 2016

I've been a huge fan of Motel Rocks since I first spotted them as a Topshop concession in 2009. Back then (lol) it was all about the bodycon and I bought up four versions of the same dress in different colours and wore them whenever I got the chance! I loved those dresses.

I rarely wear anything too tight any more but I am still totally obsessed with the brand and my collection of Motel dresses have been a godsend these past few weeks. I am currently loving the more floaty shapes and for last weeks heat, this Tiara dress in Elephant Parade was perfect! In true Georgina style, I also have it in two other prints but my parents bought my this bright orange one for christmas and its my favourite of the three.

The Tiara shape is a smock dress with just a little more shape than most of the others, it also has a pretty lace up detail at the back and I just love the Indian (I think?) elephant print on this one. It's actually what inspired my whole blog redesign a few months ago.

I wore it last Saturday for brunch with Andrew. It'd been a few months since our last brunch date so I was very excited to have won a tab at Christophers which I booked up for my first weekend back in the UK. Andrew and I were the first ones in, eager as usual and ordered as much as we could manage. He had an omelette with truffle fries, tea, coffee and juice whilst I also had an orange juice with my lobster benedict and a side of avocado. Obviously. And after that, I had dessert. Go hard or go home right?! We had a lovely couple of hours stuffing our faces with delicious food.  

Since it was such a warm day, we decided to walk it off and spent the afternoon walking through London. Andrew took charge and was my tour guide taking us through a part of town that I dont really know that well. We saw the Tate Modern, Shakespeare's' Globe and The Golden Hinde, I never did any of the tourist stuff when I was younger so this was all totally new. We managed 18,000+ steps before getting on the Central line at Liverpool street to go one stop before it broke down again and we had to get an Uber home. I had a great time and I think the fact that I dont even have any photos from the walk says something, right? It was nice to just enjoy being with Andrew. 

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My May Day Bank Holiday

My May Day Bank Holiday

Sunday, 8 May 2016

I've been really interested in trying a diary style post for a couple of weeks now. The first one I wrote never made it out of my drafts but I thought I'd try again and write about my May Day bank holiday weekend. Let me know what you guys thing yeah?

I finished at 4 on Friday and although that should have been a good thing, it was a bit of a pain because Andrew didn't finish until 5.45. I was pretty exhausted but I decided to make the most of my spare time and go to the gym, on my own for the first time ever - I'm still a gym newbie remember. We go to one locally so I got on the tube back to Essex and went straight there from work. I took my new Ivy Park shorts for a spin and actually got loads more done on my own and felt so awake by the end of it that I decided to get back on the train and meet Andrew for cocktails!

We went to Searcys at Westfield because it's not too far into town, the prices are really good and so are the drinks! It's such an easy place to spend the evening and it means we have a huge choice for dinner afterwards. We picked YO Sushi. Obvs but I was a bit drunk to think about taken any photos before I stuffed it in my mouth.

The next morning, we were up bright and early! After spending a whole year saying that we dont want to get on the train again at the weekend, we decided that, that was the wrong way to look at things and going into London at the weekend to do something fun rather than work was a good idea.

So on Saturday morning we jumped on the train to Oxford Circus for breakfast! I'd been to The Riding House Cafe for a meeting a couple of weeks back and it was absolutely delicious. So I was super excited to take Andrew there. I ordered near enough the same thing as last time but with a different smoothie. I loved how they arrive in cute little old school milk bottles so I definitely wanted another one of those - this time I went for Racer, chocolate and banana, my favourite smoothie combo - hold the espresso. 

Now as for the food, rather than just the usual avotoast and poached eggs that you know very well, I love, I had avocado benedict which is a dish I search for everywhere and rarely find, so when I did find it, I ordered it large. And stepped it up another notch with feta. It was honestly delicious and my favourite breakfast dish so far.

After breakfast we went for a little walk down to Oxford Street but soon regretted that - London is a nightmare when you dont know how to dodge tourists but I do, so we retreated back up to the empty back streets - it was absolutely empty and a pleasure to wander down to Selfridges.

We somehow then ended up drinking champagne in the sun on their rooftop before deciding that, actually, we don't like the trains and getting an uber home.

After a little nap, Saturday night was spent on the sofa with a big duvet and all of Tesco's (think chocolate crispy bites, mango juice, and a 2 liter tub of mint choc chip) stuffing our faces some more whilst watching Britians got talent and catching up on first dates. It was pretty chilled.

On Sunday morning I went home and just relaxed with Molly because on Monday, I'd planned a long awaited trip to Lakeside with my Mum and as usual, that meant leaving at 9 and doing Primark before anyone else arrives! We bought alot, and we ate alot and it was a great day! I think I'll leave what I bought for some upcoming outfit posts!

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Breakfast at Darwin, Sky Garden, London

Breakfast at Darwin, Sky Garden, London

Friday, 29 April 2016

In many ways, I am not a typical blogger, I don't wear make up, I don't take my outfit photos in South Kensington and I don't really like macaroons (shh) but when it comes to brunch, I am as cliche as it gets. Although, to be fair, I loved avocados waaay before they were cool - I have been eating them with a spoon straight outta the skin for as long as I can remember! 

I am always on the look out for exciting new places to have breakfast around London and this time we had it on the 36th floor. There are so many sky high bars and restaurants popping up all over the place at the moment that it's hard to choose which one to go to, especially with so many charging extortionate prices and sometimes, the food really doesn't live up to its ridiculous price tag that which can be really disappointing. Darwin at The Sky Garden is not one of those places - we had the loveliest breakfast!

For those of you who dont know, Darwin is part of The Sky Garden at the top of the walkie talkie building (aka 20 Fenchurch Street) on the 36th floor. They serve breakfast until 11 and have an incredible view over London.

We arrived at 9.30 and it got busier and busier, it's certainly a popular place for breakfast and I can see why! Everyone seemed so pleased to be there, it was such a lovely experience to walk past for many happy people chatting away together and enjoying their breakfast, I guess if your up and in London at that time in the morning on a Saturday then its because you really want to be there!

We were seated straight away by a very smiley waitress. Something I noticed pop up in one review after another when I checked Tripadvisior beforehand was that all the staff are lovely and I was very pleased to be able to agree with them, you really do notice when staff are good. Apart from that, the place is very bright and airy and the decor is simple, laid back and understated, it kind of had a bit of a Scandinavian vibe which I liked alot. 

 

Also, I wanted to point out that when you go to place like that you want a table with a view and I was so pleased to see how cleverly they had laid it out so that most of the tables for two were by the window meaning that as many people as possible would be able to have the incredible view.

We started with a few drinks whilst we had a little look at the menu. Andrew had a coffee while I had a fresh mint tea which is something I love so much in the morning, super fragrant and refreshing. We also went for a juice each - Andrew went for his usual big glass of orange and I picked something off of the smoothie menu called Pash ‘n’ Shoot which was a mix of passion fruit, pineapple & mango.

I was pretty pleased to see quite a few healthy options available on the menu as well as alot of other choices, although there is no tearing me away from my avocados.

 Andrew went for Severn & Wye smoked salmon, scrambled eggs & toasted rye bread (£13.50) and of course, I had smashed Avocado on toast, poached eggs with tomato & chilli salsa (£10.50.) The prices here are very reasonable and we have definitely paid more for breakfasts on ground level! I got a very healthy portion of the green stuff with two perfectly poached eggs which oozed down the mountain of avocado as I cut into them. I also love when it comes with a tart tomato salsa as it cuts perfectly the creamy avo.

 Andrew also had a lovely big portion which he really enjoyed as well!

 We just wanted to sit there and chat all morning, even when the food was all finished. It had such a lovely atmosphere and was just a really nice place to be - we ended up staying for about an hour and a half - through which time the staff just kept coming back and topping up our water, we didnt feel obligated to order more or rushed at all.

Breakfast was lovely and a combination of all of my favourite things so of course I was going to enjoy something like that! We will definitely be returning and hopefully bringing Andrews parents along next time, We're sure they'll love it too!

*Our breakfast was complimentary in return for this review although all thoughts are 100% my own

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