I HEART Columbia Road, London

I'm terrible at writing about places I actually live.

For some odd reason, I don't view it as 'travelling' as I am a resident rather than a tourist, but I still seek out new cool places, so it would be silly not to tell others about my amazing experience!

My Grandma is visiting for a few weeks, and is an avid gardener. I'd been dying to go to the Columbia Road Flower markets for some time now, so it seemed more appropriate than ever, despite the rain!

My intrepid Grandma!

We were both impressed with the markets - the sheer volume and beauty of the flowers made us forget about the rain. Despite the wet weather, my 79 year old Grandma commented while we were there that it was totally worth it! The men with their deep bellowing voices, '3 bunches for a fiver!!' made the experience even more interesting. Pictures speak louder than words... so here are a few shots...

And finally, one with my lovely Grandma...

Check out the huge bunch of flowers in my hand in both photos... believe it or not, this HUGE bunch only set me back £5!!! I was recommended by a friend to go first thing in the morning to avoid the crowds, but because it was raining it wasn't super busy and the guys on the stall were trying to get rid of flowers at about 2.30pm-ish, which I how I scored my bargain! Now I need to go and buy several vases to enjoy them!

Columbia Road Markets are open every Sunday, I think it's a fab idea to go there with a girlfriend, Mum or Grandma.

And don't worry if you aren't overly fussed about flowers, there are plenty of other things to see and do. Mostly galleries with trendy art and prints and cutsie little independent shops and cafes. My favourite cafe was Campania, a delicious Italian bustling busy cafe with tasty cured hams and cheeses to die for.

Nom nom nom

Again, letting pictures speak for themselves, here was our tasty lunch...

And to top the day off, I took Grandma to Primrose Bakery, one of my favourite places in London. There's no better place for coffee and gorgeous tasty cupcakes...

All in all, a fabulous way to spend a day in London, and what a treat to spend it with my Grandma!

Mrs D X

I'm now obsessed with Italy... thanks to the Cinque Terre

So my latest trip, was the weekend just gone. We took an extra day's annual leave, and as it was the May Bank holiday weekend, we had 4 days in the amazing CINQUE TERRE in Italy.

Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy. It's beautiful huh!?

I was constantly posting on Facebook and tweeting about it while I was there - I couldn't believe how beautiful this place was. It was also the perfect short break.. with plenty of exploring to be done over a few days, and lots of yummy food and places to relax and soak up the sun, you could chill out or be as active as you wanted to!

Cinque Terre means 5 lands (or so I've been told!) and is a National Park and territory protected by UNESCO. It comprises of 5 fishing villages along the coast, with the shortest distance between two being a 1km walk, and the longest being a 4km walk. There is a walking path between all villages, or alternative methods of transport are the ferry, or the train, which are both short trips. I didn't do the boat, but the train is uber cheap, at 1.80 euro or something for a trip between towns.

To get to the Cinque Terre is much easier than it seems. Fly into Pisa or Genoa, get the train to La Spezia (circa 1.5hrs) then change at this station to get a train to one of the 5 villages (between 5-15mins). The times I have written aren't neccessarily accurate as when I am on holiday I don't clock watch, but it's not exactly an long journey, and is totally bearable to do it both ways, even if you are only flying in for a 3 day weekend. We flew into Pisa, and I was pleasently surprised by it, as previously I'd been told the only decent thing there is the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but there were lots of lovely shops and cafes. I'd at least recommend spending a morning wandering the streets, sitting down for a coffee/gelato, and checking out the tower before heading to the Cinque Terre.

Pisa - more than just a Tower

We stayed in the 2nd most northern town called Vernazza. Each town has it's charms, but this was my favourite, which was recommended to me by a friend. It's hard to explain why, but I think it's beauty, access to swim in the sea, and cute little food places made it the winner. However, most other towns have those exact same quality! Everyone I have ever spoken to has either recommended staying in Vernazza or Monterosso. Monterrosso has a large beach with deck chairs all along, where Vernazza doesn't have as much sunbathing space, but is more visually stunning in terms of how the buildings are all piled on top of one another. Depends if you want to lay on the beach all day I guess, as to which one you'd pick, but the whole time I was in Vernazza I couldn't help but smile at the visual feast in front of me.

The walks all differ in difficulty. Vernazza to Monterosso is the most difficult, and is a pretty similiar experience in both directions (3kms one way). There are quite a few stairs, especially at the beginning and end. If you have moderate fitness you'll be fine. Even if you don't, it'll just take you a while and you'll be huffing and puffing, but I think that it'll be worth the pain if that is the case! Vernazza to Cornigila is longer at 4kms, but not as difficult. Due to track closures the only other one we did was Manarola to Riomaggiore, which was VERY easy - it was a pathed concrete flat 1km walk.

Typical scenery on the walk along the coast between villages

Definitely add this trip to your travel bucket list. It's totally worth it as a short break and is the perfect couples holiday for the lady that likes the sun and the man that hates sitting around sunbathing! (i.e. there is plenty to do while still working on that tan!) To be honest, I think it's a great trip for anyone. Happy to help with your planning if you have any questions. On that note, I'll leave you with my fav pic from the trip in Monterosso.

Ciao xx

P.S. Top tip - the food is to die for here. For a start, basil pesto was invented in Cinque Terre which pretty much says it all. Go to the supermarket or little store, buy a cheap bottle of red for 4 euros and a block of cheese and crackers and sit on the rocks as the day turns to evening. To give an even better indication of how good the food is... the scales showed me at 2kg heavier after only 4 days away, oops! All worth it though xx