Anglesey

My mother's side of the family comes from Anglesey, and because of this I've been coming up here at least once a year to stay with my Granny (minus the years when I lived abroad). It used to be not-so-lovingly referred to as 'Grey Land', mainly because the experience was always tainted by long car journeys covered in dogs and luggage, followed by a week of vicious wind and rain. Anglesey is not famed for its weather. In the last couple of years however I've been going up by myself and it has been entirely different. This week especially has been a definite exception, especially weather-wise. People have even been braving the chilly Irish Sea...

Not me. I'm not ridiculous. I've just been taking lots of different pictures of it with my fancy new camera, and suddenly noticing how many abandoned boats there are around the Island. 

Borthwen Bay

I thought I'd take you on a little picture tour of my stay, and show off some of my fancy landscape shots. These were all taken around Borthwen Bay (I think, I'm pretty unsure on the names and where I end up on my walks...).

These flowers are everywhere on the headlands. 

I love these little houses overlooking the beach. A lot of them are for sale or are rented out for holidays. Be warned though, this is rare Anglesey weather...

 One of the things I love about Anglesey are the harsh landscapes. The coast is really rugged, and we used to spend hours when we were little scrambling over the rocks, coming back with grazed knees and treasures from the rock pools.

Another 'abandoned' ship, dragged up onto the cliff. Up close it's a lovely light blue.

On Friday I decided to venture up Snowdon (it was incidentally the hottest day EVER!), but my camera died half-way up (a lesson I really should have learnt by now). I know that sounds like an excuse, but I did, I promise! Here's the view from halfway though...

It was sunnier than it looks, and I came back a bit sun-burnt (another lesson I should have learnt), and very tired. Luckily I was greeted at the door with an enormous Pimms from my Granny. She knows me so well...

My favourite place I only discovered this visit. Maybe it's the sunshine, but it's a bit breathtaking. Mynachdy is part of the coastal walk, but you can also access it by parking up in Llanfairynghornwy (again, I think) and walking across a field to the cliffs.

You do get stared at by a lot of sheep. But it's worth it when you get to the beach...

This cove looked pretty enticing, and the explorer in me wanted to wade in to check it out, but a few steps in  I remembered how cold it is and how expensive my camera was, and decided to check it out from the cliffs instead. 

It was a pretty scary path up to here, especially with the wind blowing. Luckily the beach was deserted apart from a few kayaks, or there would have been a lot of people seeing up my dress as I scrambled up the hill. It was well worth it for the view though. I climbed to the highest point on the very edge, and could see all the way around the coast.

The walk back was a bit surreal, like an old western movie with the locals (sheep) staring menacingly at you as you pass by, and trees that look like this...

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There are parts of Anglesey though that are just beautiful, especially if you're willing to do some walking. If you're staying with my granny however, this is not a big ask. Being a typical welsh Granny, she bombards you with food from the moment you arrive (particularly cakes). The meals are huge, and having less than two helpings is strictly forbidden. It stems from looking after the boys who are out working on the farm all day (my Anglesey family are almost all farmers, and are built like a rugby team), but isn't ideal for the lazier girl. I find myself disappearing on walks just so I don't have to eat anything else for a few hours...

I've only a few days left here now before I head back down south. I've promised myself I'll start applying for jobs, instead of just spending hours looking at them. I'll leave you with one last photo though. This is the church at Church Bay. It looks out over the coast, and it's where a lot of family events have happened, including my parent's wedding and my sister's christening.

The Graduate(s)

WOOOO I GRADUATED!!!

After three long years, countless all-nighters (some of them for essays...) and an awful lot of reading it's finally over. I'd like to thank coffee, tequila and sparknotes...

Our graduation ceremonies were hosted on the rather lovely London Road campus, which is probably the best part of Reading. It's the oldest part of the campus, and as such looks like a real old-fashioned university, perfect for Pimms and strawberries on the lawn after a nerve-wracking ceremony (no one tripped on the stairs or lost their hat - I call that a victory).

 This is not my family. This is my lovely ex-housemate (sniff) Eleanor's, but I am awfully fond of them. We could only get two tickets for the ceremony, so I spent most of the day with my dad.

 My Dad is wonderful (even if he does tend to get a bit emotional at these kind of events - there is often a tear or two shed. Sorry Dad...) and he generously provided my dress. It's Karen Millen, in House of Fraser, and it's now on sale (isn't that always the way?). My brother and sister also turned up later for a photo or two, and a celebratory meal at Jamie's on the riverside. I love Jamie's. It's so simple, and so delicious, and the staff are always fantastic. And their Earl Grey Martini? Spectacular. I may have a stab at making it and post the recipe. It's the perfect summer cocktail.

 The day was filled with lots of sunshine, photos and emotional hugging of people we're not sure how we'll live without, like these folks.

Emotional hugs all round...

 That and feeling a bit smug...

 I arrived at uni unsure if it was what I wanted to do. I had the alternative option of running away to Zanzibar (I spent some of my gap year out there and made friends with some people who were setting up their own NGO, and was more than tempted to join them), and whilst I knew university was probably the better life choice, I definitely didn't want to come. This was a feeling that resurfaced a lot in my first and second years, and there were times when I was genuinely about to leave.  Let's face it, who wouldn't rather be here than Reading...

Pure heaven. In the end though I stuck it out, and I'm so glad I did. I have some of the most amazing friends, and have had the best time (despite the lack of beach bars - although I did work at Lola Lo for a while, that's essentially the same isn't it?). I have also, shockingly, learnt a lot. I really enjoyed my course, and had some fantastic lecturers. If it's something you're unsure about, I would bear this in mind; it's only 3 years. There's plenty of time afterwards to do everything else, and it's really worth going when you're young and will really get the whole experience (largely drinking...).

So what now? I still want to travel the world. I'd like to get a job in advertising or PR. I'd like a car, and a house, and a dog that can pull off a bow tie. Maybe not the car if I end up in London like I want to. I'd like a lot of things from the future.

But first, I'd like to sit around reminiscing just a little while longer...

The Louvre

I almost included this yesterday, and then decided that the Louvre is deserving of its own post. I could write an essay on just the small part I saw, but I'll try and trim it down to just a few favourite bits. They had a Michelangelo Pistoletto exhibition on, hence the triple loops everywhere which had a few interesting pieces but to be honest, I didn't really get. I was more interested in the Greek sculpture, particularly this one...

I did an English Literature degree, and dabbled with Classics in my first year, so I have a bit of a thing for Greek mythology. This is 'Psyche revived by Cupid's Kiss' by Antonio Canova. 

Of course Venus had to be in here. I just loved these too...

We had a wonder around some of the Renaissance art too, and there were some incredible paintings (obviously, it's the Louvre...), but these were my favourites. The light in them was just incredible. My rubbish camera could not do them justice, but here they are anyway.

This one I just really liked. Little minx...

I could have spent days in here (with some more comfortable shoes...) and taken hundreds more photos. Alas, coffees and crepes were calling, so we slowly headed out, getting very distracted and bumping into the crowds as we craned our necks at the ceilings...

Obviously I had to get this photo, though it was hard to get one without twenty other cameras in it...

As we strolled past the famous pyramid I also managed to spot this guy...

Charles Perrault, of fairy tale fame, and one of the main focuses of my recent dissertation. It was the kind of thing no one else cared about but really excited me. 

What a hunk. 

Paris

Last weekend I went to Paris, unbelievably for the first time, and I loved it. I kind of get what all the fuss is about. It rained most of the first day (as a massive Audrey Hepburn fan I was secretly quite pleased about this), but we weren't going to be put off getting our (slightly frizzy) tourist shots!

The Standard Eiffel |Tower Shot!

I thought there was a specific bridge that people did this on, but it turns out they're everywhere. It's still really sweet though. Some people had put so much effort into theirs!

I think Paris may be one of my new favourite places. Most of the cities I've been to feel like the same place over and over again in different languages, but the architecture really set it apart. All except the Eiffel Tower, which I was honestly a bit let down by, so I consoled myself with cocktails and macaroons...I would put a hipster food photo in here but they didn't last long enough to take one.