Berlin: Part 2

Welcome to the next installment of my trip to Berlin! If you missed the first one click here cause you know what? It was pretty sweet.

Day 3
So, day three started with a teeny lye in because of the previous evenings cocktails and rocking out in the underground rock bar. After some breakfast we got up and strolled to the Reichstag, which was about a 15min way away.

 My feet seem to disappear in this picture...magic shoes!



 It's so hard to take a photo of yourself with a historical building in view. Also, we are so like Chandler from Friends - goons!

After that we walked the two mins over the road to Brandenburg Gate, which was also amazing to see as it's where so many historical speeches from Hitler and his party were and of course the hotel where MJ hung his baby out the window is near it!

We then wandered in a straight line because that takes you to Museum Island which is (you guessed it) a roundabout with lots of museums off it - genius!

 There university is a little posher than Bournemouth's!

One of the many memorials

We went to the German History Museum, which we both really enjoyed. It's a great museum to learn about German history as a whole and not just the war related aspects, both very important obviously.

This guy's name was Keith, which cracked me up.

After wandering round the museum we went for a terrible lunch at some place called Andy's Diner (I think). If you are in Berlin, avoid. After feeling slightly unsatisfied we hopped back on the underground and went back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before another evening of eating and drinks!

We went for an Indian in the Kreuzberg area, thankfully the food was much nicer and we got free tequila shots - bonus. We didn't go out clubbing, but this is a huge area for clubs if you ever go to Berlin. Just a quick note though, almost all the clubs are in old warehouse type buildings, off the main streets and underground so do expect to be surrounded by people coming out of the station and then nobody.

After our Indian we paid 2 euros for a photo booth snap (they are dotted along various streets, so you just hop in), which you have to do in Berlin - cheeeeeese!

Day 4
On day 4 we went to a very pretty part of Berlin called Pretzlauerberg, that is suppose to resemble Barcelona in the summer months. It was still very pretty in the snow, just less beers and more coffees on the go.

I had their version of a cuppa and a cheese and ham croissant. Seeing the colour of tea through a glass does make it less appetizing and a little hot to handle, but it tasted like tea so I'm not complaining.

We then went to see some of the Berlin wall, which is right outside one of the tube stations. There's a fairly large section of the wall with information about the wall and how it was used in the war. It's a bit like an outdoor mini exhibition! Watch yourself when you have photos taken though, as there is a lot of chewing gum stuck to the wall... hair + gum = nightmare. I kept my distance and hoped for no sudden gusts of wind!

After this we went to the Topography of Terrors, which was so good. If you are going to Berlin and you want to learn about the war in as much detail as possible (who doesn't) then this is the place. Let me put it this way, if you don't know much you will leave here knowing all the minute details that got Hitler into power and how he continued to stay there. The museum shows you all the buildings the Gestapo operated in and takes you right up to the present day (pretty much) and shows how the Nazi party operated and the aftermath of Hitler's reign.

Our next stop was Checkpoint Charlie...

 

 

 

After all of this, it was getting pretty late and of course we were getting hungry (we love food way too much), so we consulted our Lonely Planet guide and decided to head for a delicious sounding Thai restaurant called 'Good Time' - great name - in Hausvogteiplatz

First off, thank you Lonely Planet! Good Time was literally good times, the food tasted so good we didn't want it to end! They had really nice candles for mood lighting, so all my pictures were way too dark and did not do the food justice, but we had:

The best prawn crackers in the world, ever. 

One gigantic prawn cracker, loads of normal ones and then these little wafer thin ones, plus a truly magical satay sauce
Duck with spring onions and plum sauce in pancakes

We then shared...
A pork penang curry & a beef dish with chilli and peppers
Jasmin Rice (came with the meals)

All washed down with singha beer and coca cola

 

The restaurant had an open kitchen, so you could see all of the food being cooked and there was a very welcoming and authentic atmosphere. We paid a total of 40ish Euro's for the above and would recommend. 

Feeling full and happy, we headed back to the hotel to relax before going out for a few more drinks (of course!)

 

Hope you enjoyed this post, bit of a long one! Stay tuned for Part 3 coming soon. Have I tempted you to visit Berlin or made you reminisce from a previous trip yet? 

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It's OK...

Did Jesus really say this or is it a song? (shaky fact alert) image source here

Thought I'd mix it up a little and keep you on your toes with a new style post. Not actually that creative because these types of things are everywhere, but they always make me smile.

It's OK...
To be a 'beauty blogger', yet on many occasions only paint the toenails on the toes that can be seen through your high heels
To consider reading a few chapters of a book as having read the whole book "Oh yeah I read the first Harry Potter"
To wear underwear that doesn't match because nobody really has their life that much together
To believe that eating a salad at lunchtime makes eating an entire Easter egg when you get in from work completely acceptable
To use face wipes all the time because you know what life is too sort for the use of mini cotton wall pads all over your face
To have no idea what most the #trends on Twitter actually mean and then have to Google them
To get a new camera, leave it on the 'smart-does-everything-for-you' setting and then add 'photographer' to the wide range of skills you have on your CV (like Joey from Friends)
To still show your mum what recent purchases you made and keep convincing her that £80 for THAT much stuff is a bargain
To start waving goodbye so you don't have to hug someone, thus creating a 'wave wall'
To introduce a 'shaky fact' into a conversation and then when people question you, insist that you read it somewhere in a book because that means its obviously true...

There you go, some things that I think are OK. Add yours onto the comments and leave your blog links, so I can make sure I'm not on my own with these (awkward).

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March beauty favorites

As my brother just put it "It's like we've just gone straight from Winter to Summer and skipped spring" HELLO SUNSHINE! As the sun made an appearance, I took the opportunity to use my new camera (still practicing) and catch some rays - let's jump into it...

There have been quite a few beauty favorites I have been loving in March, so I will keep them as short and sweet as possible:

Lady Million Perfume by Paco Rabanne
It just smells so good. It's like the right mix of girly and edgy and it lasts really well. I mentioned before that two of my friends from uni Jess & Fran used to wear this all the time, so it reminds me of them and good times at University which makes me instantly happy. Does anyone else have fragrances that you go back to because of their nostalgic qualities? or just me creepily smelling my friends...

Max Factor Smooth Effect Foundation - Buff Beige
Always in my make up bag as its great for when I don't have much of a tan and need something a little more subtle. It has quite a matte finish I think, so it's good if you have oily or combo skin types. Only downside, its pretty small so I get through it quite quickly as it's not a very heavy coverage. It's only £7 ish though and if you shop in Boots every week like me you get money off and vouchers all the time anyways.

Benefit Erase Paste - No 1 Fair
I've only had six hours sleep can you tell? oh no you can't my friend. Still loving this, click here for more deets as I have over talked it already!

Topshop Ooh La La LipstickI mentioned this here and here as it's a recent purchase. It's so summery and just the right shade of coral that isn't too in your face - perfect for daytime and nights out!

MeMeMe Fat Cat Mascara
I got this mascara in a Glossybox a while ago, but only just needed to use it and I have to say I was really impressed. I was coming to the end of my mascara and thought it would be good to take a new one with me to Berlin. I was worried that I would regret taking a mascara I haven't used before in case I was disappointed, but I have to say this mascara made my lashes look super long and it didn't need a thousand coats to do so. It also managed to withstand the snow in Berlin sticking to my lashes without running a single bit - thumbs up.

The Body Shop Almond Hand & Nail Cream
Purchased a while back now and still going strong. Really love this cream as it dries really quick and hydrates my skin so well. I have hands like a lizard from being in Berlin at the moment so this is getting even more use than normal.

Real Techniques Stippling brush
Made it into the March favs as well as February's. No need to explain this to my fellow bloggers, but it's a great brush. Sturdy, no loose hairs, compact and leaves your foundation flawless - totes recommend.

The Body Shop Eye Shadow Blending Brush
A #TreatTuesday treat, this brush blends your eye shadow incredibly well. The bristles are super soft and it's a really good size. I use this all the time, especially when my smoky eye has gone a bit smoky face and I need to blend it all together.

Lee Stafford Hair Treatment
If you read my blog already or follow me on Twitter then you will know that I long for long locks. I bought this on one of my many #TreatTuesday 's and have been using it as much as possible to keep my blonde hair looking as fresh as possible. I definitely think it's helped with the ends of my hair especially and it also smells really good. I don't think I will be tripping over my hair anytime soon, but I am glad I chose to try this out.

Schwarzkopf Gliss Hair Repair
More of a life long fav this one as I have used it for a long time now. I really rate this stuff because my hair is so knotty and has the ability to break hairbrushes if it's in a real tangle. My Grandma actually told me about this a while back and I have to say my hairbrush glides through every time I use it AND it's only £1.99 from Superdrug or Savers.

Phew! Those are my March Favorites, leave me links for yours as I will need to explore some new stuff this month of course :)

 My cat was pretty interested in what I was doing...

 

Until she realised you couldn't eat it. Catching some rays was a better plan!

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Berlin: Part 1

Guten Tag! Apologies for my recent disappearance from the blogging world, but I jetted (makes flying Ryanair sound much more sophisticated) off to Berlin during the very early hours of Good Friday morning with my boyfriend for a bit of an Easter break and I thought I would give myself a break from computers for a while too (obvs, jumped onto Twitter and Bloglovin as soon as I was home, but the break was good).

I thought I would do a series of my travels in Berlin and share some snaps from the six days with you all in case you are thinking of going or just want a peek! I will spread these posts out, so I don't bore you with the Berlin hype too much, but here's a few bits and pieces from the first few days:

We arrived to snow falling and caught a bus to where we needed to go to reach our hotel...kinda. We didn't realize for some reason that the underground was right next to the airport and blissfully unaware of this we hopped on this random bus that took us on a pretty scenic route to the centre (we also only paid 1.40 Euro by accident because we think we were suppose to get off a lot sooner and not at the last stop - oops).

Eventually, we made it to the hotel which was the Adina Apartment Hotel near Hauptbahnhof station which we were both really happy with! The hotel is like a mini apartment/suite with a bedroom, bathroom and lounge/kitchen and diner and it's all really modern and the staff were very helpful etc. We decided to get an apartment so we could save some money on breakfast and so we didn't have to wake up for it too. It's still like a hotel though, so it's like having a flat with a cleaner who cleans everyday - something I could get used to!

The rest of the first day was a bit of a boring one I guess, we got our bearings, stocked up on food, ate a lot of our food and watched the film 'Savages' before getting some sleep ready for a big day of sightseeing or 'getting our Berlin on' as I kept saying for some reason....

Day 2

Feeling fresher, relaxed and in holiday mode we went to the city zoo (there are two, this one is in zoolischer garten) because wherever there are cool animals, Alex has to go and see them. The zoo had pretty much every animal you can think of, which was amazing to see, especially so up close.

"I don't think y'all ready for this jelly" 

However, we both felt like the animals were a bit cramped and not in the best enclosures, which wasn't so amazing. Everything was in German at the zoo pretty much, so it was hard to tell whether they were on any breeding programmes etc or if they were there forever. We weren't fans to be honest, but would love to know what you thought if you have been? This guy pretty much summed it up! (I have censored his modesty. Not that he cares as he was just letting it all hang low...)

After the zoo we went to The Hard Rock Cafe, which I just love. I've been to quite a few now and started collecting the cocktail glasses a little while ago, so added to my collection a little further after indulging on a HUGE burger and fries.

We then wandered around some shops where we went in this crazy 'it's always Christmas shop' which was pretty cool and then sauntered back to the hotel for a cuppa and some Toffifee which I had never had before - pretty amazing hazelnutty goodness.

In the eve we headed out for some more cocktails, which was a bit of an ordeal at the beginning because we went the wrong way for a while and ended up in the freezing snow alongside the Berlin Wall in the pitch black. It was like we were trying to re-enact a scene from the war as there was nobody else to be seen as we hurriedly walked by the wall wondering how we ended up in such a sketchy place with prison like buildings.

After that experience though we did make it to where we thought we were headed before which was full of life (thank gawd) and cheap strong cocktails. A few Long island ice teas later, we went to some underground indie rock bar (loads of the bars are underground) which was really chilled and full of cool people (and me and Alex). We stumbled back in the early hours, made a chip butty and hit the sack.

Those were my first two days in Berlin! I will continue with the rest over the coming weekend/week, so keep an eye out if you are interested.

Something I know a lot of you are interested in is my blog giveaway winner, so without further a due, drum roll.....golden envelope....dramatic pause (plus other cliché award moments), the winner is the beautiful Hannah over at Which Way To Wonderland? Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who entered, major chuffed with the response to the giveaway.

On a final note, it's my birthday next Thurs (11th) so please send all gifts to Emma...kidding (sort of). I will be doing some b day related posts and beauty stuff though, so keep an eye out for those too!

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NOTD: Blue Moon & Freak Out! Review

I bought this Barry M 'Blue Moon' nail varnish the other day as I thought it was just the perfect colour for Spring, if Spring fancies making an appearance that is! It's a really pretty pale blue that goes on almost translucent with a hint of colour on the first coat, so you definitely need two coats (I just typed cats and then coasts instead of coats...nightmare). I got it on offer in Boots, which I think was £1 off and for such a bargain it's a great nail polish.

Although I liked the colour on its own, I am so bad at painting nails it's like a crime or something. I just don't have the patience to get it done neatly and then I always touch it when it's not dry, which is probably why I don't post many NOTD posts. If like me your talents lye elsewhere then you need Models Own 'Freak Out!' in your collection. It has big and small flakes of glitter in it meaning you can hide any mistakes pretty easily and the clear part acts as a pretty decent top coat. They have loads of different colours too, so you can pick one with glitter pieces to match the majority of your collection (or all of them, I won't judge you).

Hope ya'll enjoyed this post, have you used these polishes before?

Ps. I have a giveaway running at the mo, so click here to enter! Just make sure follow the rules and get yourself the most entries as possible.

 

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Giveaway! Homemade Beauty Box

It's here, my first ever giveaway! I think I have come up with something pretty good, but let me know what you all think (I've basically ripped off GlossyBox)

My giveaway includes some of my favourite things and some of the products I have mentioned on my blog including:

- Malteaser Bunnies - worth it for these alone, they are amazing!
- Collection 2000 Lashes - these lashes are some of my favourites and I always re-purchase them
- Rimmel Stay Matte Powder (Transparent) - the BEST powder ever
- Soap & Glory Hand Food - another fav of mine, this hand cream dries super quick which I love
- Soap & Glory Flake Away Scrub - love this stuff, smells amazing and does the job
- BarryM Gelly Nail Paint in Grapefruit - never tried these nail polishes,but heard great things and this particular colour grabbed me!

Guess I should do a disclaimer: All of these products are brand new and I bought them with my own money today from Boots & Superdrug! I will post them to whoever wins via standard mail (international peeps can enter too, that is cool) and i promise not to eat the Malteaser bunnies before I send them.

The giveaway starts at 12.00am on the 20th March and ends 2 weeks later, so the 3rd April at 12.00am. To enter you must follow my blog on Bloglovin & GFC and leave a comment below with your email address. Use the following form and follow the instructions to get more entries (this is an international giveaway):

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks again for following my blog, pretty crazy there are people that do! So, yeah big thanks and good luck!

The 100 Club

So, I reached 100 followers! Whoo-hoo, yessss, get in!
WAIT.
Why?!
They are getting rid of Google friend connect and you only have 30ish followes on Bloglovin because you forgot to add the button to your blog, you idiot.
Oh gawd dayummm.

So, yeah I did reach 100 followers on the day they decided to scrap Google reader and potensh Google friend connect. With that in mind, I will start this post by saying please follow me on Bloglovin just in case here and leave me your links too. If you are reading this and thinking 'I've actually decided I don't like this kids blog, so nah' I would just say ' But, we've come so far, don't leave now Google friend' and if you do SHAME ON YOU.

Now that is all out the way I will indeed be doing a pretty epic giveaway, which I'll be sorting out over the next few days. I can't do it just yet because I have been majorly busy sorting a charity event for this eve (still don't wanna follow huh? I help charities, what more do you want?!).

Also, I took a few snaps of my new Topshop makeup I mention here for ya'll (the photos aren't amazing, I am asking for a camera for my birthday next month. Trust me these items are so worth getting!!). I'm wearing the amazing Vans top I bought and mentioned in the same post too, so you can see that.

Nice Armpit

 

 

Topshop 'Head over heels' cream blusher



Topshop 'Ohh La La' Lipstick

 



What do you all think about the latest Google news then?