Annual Christmas shopping trip

For the last ten years or so, my uni friends and I have organised a Christmas shopping get-together just before Christmas. We usually meet in late November or early December, but we met a little earlier this year due to my impending trip to New York.

Our first few meet ups took place in Cribbs Causeway, and we've also met in Cardiff a few times. However, in recent years, we've met in Bristol city centre as that's the most convenient meeting point for the majority of the group.

Our trip was scheduled in for last Sunday and I decided to catch the Megabus to Bristol. It only cost £10 for a return ticket and it was certainly a lot more relaxing than trying to drive my way around Bristol. I took a photo of City Hall from the bus just before I left Cardiff, purely because of the unexpected rainbow!

It was raining when I left Cardiff, but I was met with brilliant sunshine and blue skies when I arrived in Bristol. I wandered around a couple of shops and made some standard purchases from Lush before making my way to our meeting point on Park Street. I got trapped in the massive Remembrance Day crowd while I walked to Park Street, so I stopped for a while to watch some of the ceremony and to pay my respects by observing the two minute silence.

We all met just before 12 and decided to go straight for lunch. These days, there's a lot more focus on eating and talking than there is on actual shopping during our meet ups. Our go-to restaurant is Pizza Express as there's always something on the menu to suit everyone, so we made our way there immediately.

I ordered a pink gin cocktail and the ragu romana pizza. I don't think my pizza was quite as good as last year's festive beauty, but it was still pretty excellent. To be fair, I don't think I've ever been disappointed by a meal in Pizza Express.

After a long lunch with lots of catching up, we looked around a few of the pretty shops on Park Street. Although I didn't buy much as I've nearly finished my Christmas shopping, I always love looking around the beautiful independent shops and soaking in the Christmassy atmosphere.

I needed to get back to the Megabus stop by 4:30pm, so we finished off the day with a caramelised orange hot chocolate in Costa. Let's be honest, no Christmas shopping trip is complete without a Christmas hot chocolate with all the trimmings. I did accidentally ask for a caramelised onion hot chocolate which was pretty embarrassing, but let's gloss over that part.

I was completely exhausted by the time I got on the bus. I even managed to have a little nap on the journey back to Cardiff which is unheard of for me. I loved catching up with everyone and sampling Bristol's Christmassy atmosphere, and it feels pretty exciting that one of my pre-Christmas staples has already taken place. 39 days to go until the big day!

An ode to my festive pizza

I never thought I'd write a blog post about a pizza... this one really was that good.

I went to Bristol at the end of November to meet up with a few of my university friends. We did some Christmas shopping then went for lunch as soon as it was socially acceptable to do so. Food is one of our common interests as a group! 

We decided to go to Pizza Express as Amy had a few 2 for 1 vouchers, and we all love a bargain nearly as much as we love food. As soon as I glanced at the menu, the festive 'Maple-Glazed Gammon' Romana pizza caught my eye. 'How amazing does this pizza sound?' I exclaimed. I then realised that my excitement could only be shared with one member of the group as the other three are vegetarians and definitely wouldn't have fancied a maple-glazed gammon pizza. Fee and I didn't bother to look at the rest of the menu; the maple-glazed gammon pizza had to be ours! 

LOOK AT IT. 

Honestly, this is one of the best pizzas I've ever had. The big chunks of maple-glazed gammon were really tasty with just the right level of crispiness, and the goat's cheese (the only ingredient I was unsure about) was a great addition. However, the lumps of spiced apricot chutney were the best thing about this pizza. The sweet yet spicy flavour provided the perfect balance for the saltiness of the gammon and goat's cheese, and I only wish there'd been more of it! The garlic oil and Gran Milano cheese finished it off beautifully, and I was genuinely gutted when I eventually finished eating. I love Pizza Express which means I always have high expectations, but they've really outdone themselves with this beauty. 

Although this pizza was quite expensive at £14.60, it was massive and well worth every penny. If only it wasn't classed as 'festive' so that I could order it all year round! 

So there you have it... an ode to my festive pizza. Will you be rushing to Pizza Express as soon as you can to try it out? 

Idyllic Images #28

Sunset on the Megabus... that's the Severn Bridge in the background!

A day out in Bristol

Before last October, I'd never been to Bristol city centre. I've been to Cribbs Causeway several times, but I'd never set foot in the actual centre of Bristol.

After venturing to Bristol for the first time and having a lovely day there with Amy last October, we decided to meet there again last week for a catch up and some shopping (and eating, obviously). Liz travelled from London to meet us for the day so it was a bit of a grand reunion! I decided to travel on the Megabus to avoid the stress of driving and parking in a new place... the bus journey cost £7.50. When you consider that the Severn bridge alone would have cost me £6.40 if I'd have driven, this was a total bargain. I even managed to have a seat to myself until we stopped in Newport!

The Megabus took an hour or so to get to Bristol and dropped me off at Colston Hall. Such a lovely building! I did get a bit lost when I attempted to find my way to Debenhams, but a very kind charity worker gave me detailed directions which put me back on track. I didn't donate any money to her charity though... I felt mildly guilty about this.

Once we'd all found each other, we decided to go straight for food. I'm glad all my friends love food as much as I do! We headed to Cabot Circus and decided to eat in Frankie and Benny's as it has good lunch deals and also has something for everyone due to its range of cuisines. I decided to be vaguely healthy and went for the penne meatballs rather than choosing something that came with chips. However, believe it or not, my decision was made in vain as the meatballs were actually served with chips. Well, I was offered a choice between chips and salad... who on earth would choose a salad when faced with those two options? Chips and pasta on the same plate isn't something I've ever experienced before, but I won't complain too much. As I've frequently mentioned on my blog, I love carbs more than any normal person should. The meatballs were really good, and the pasta, sauce and chips weren't bad either. We decided to go for dessert too as the deal was just too tempting (it would have been rude not to), so I went for the apple and cinnamon crumble with ice cream. Delicious!

After finishing our food and having a good catch up, we did some shopping. I'm busy saving for my wedding and honeymoon so I didn't buy much, but I was very pleased with the two honeymoon purchases I did decide to make. I've actually worn the earrings already as they're so beautiful, elegant and versatile, but I think the shoes will definitely be saved for our honeymoon. I don't usually wear heels but I can walk in these with no problems as they've got a strap and they're not too high. Result.

After shopping for a few hours and doing rather a lot of walking around various corners of the city centre, we simply had to stop for a drink in Costa. It was essential that I had my obligatory hot chocolate to replenish my energy levels!

As we wound down in Costa, we were already talking about the next time we'll all be together... my hen weekend in July! However, I think we'll be planning more days out in Bristol in the not too distant future. It really is a great city with lots of contrasting areas and a vast array of shops, restaurants and interesting places to wander around. It's also easy to get to and is quite a central place for us all to travel to once in a while.

Here are some photos of Bristol... might as well slot them in to back up my compliments!

I love the architecture of Cabot Circus 

Fountains!

The road leading up to Cabot Circus

Yet another area in the city centre, near where I got lost!

My bus back to Cardiff wasn't until 7pm so I had a lovely long day in Bristol. My return bus was a double decker... I've never been on a Megabus double decker before! I get excited about such simple things. I had a seat to myself for the whole journey back, and it only took about 50 minutes as we didn't stop in Newport. Great end to a great day.

Have you been to Bristol recently? What did you think? Let me know if there are any other areas of Bristol you think I should visit!