Nordic adventures - Bergen in winter

“Walking in a Winterwonderland...”

...Bing Crosby's festive winter tune came to mind when imagining Bergen, Norway in December. Hours upon hours of Pinterest stalking and day dreaming were undertaken before this unforgettable nordic adventure, unfortunately (unlike the Pinterest pictures) there was no snow in the city.

Fortunately what Bergen lacked in blankets of snow, it made up for in its quirky and festive personality. Basically, I absolutely fell in love at first sight with this city! Ever wondered what there is to do and see in Bergen, keep reading this post from my Christmas getaway to find out more! 

The main attractions:

• Taking the Fløibanen funicular up to Mount Fløyen for breathtaking views
• A fjord cruise from Bergen to Mostraumen which transports you to another world
• A (quick and smelly) visit to the Bergen Fish Market to feel like a local just casually doing their grocery shop for the week, does anyone else do this?
• An educational trip to the city’s museums to fill that cultural need
• Last but definitely not least...spending hours strolling through the quaint streets of Bryggen.

A pure highlight of the trip was experiencing and fawning over how much effort all the different shops put into their festive displays (a special shoutout to Illums Bolighus – who had a stunning Nordic Christmas fairytale dining scene)... Also, everywhere you’d turn there would be paper stars hanging from the ceiling in a variety of colours and sizes, the attention to detail was so lovely I genuinely felt my insides warm.

Tips & recommendations:

• TAKE PLENTY OF NORWEGIAN “KRONE”! (Only downfall... is that it is preeeetty pricey there. e.g, you’re looking at an average of 85-95 NOK Kr (£8-£9.50) for a PINT of local beer “Hansa” – however it is a good pint, so go for it! You just might think twice about having a "proper session")

• Visit BIT in the Galleriet shopping centre for a deeeeelicious selection of cakes and sweet treats *insert intense drooling in public*

• Dine at the Pingvinen Bar & Restaurant for traditional Norwegian food – the meetballs are everything you’d hope for... and more!

• Visit the 3 floor Christmas shop Julehuset – for all the Christmassy feels!

• Heads up - WRAP UP FOR A FJORD BOAT TOUR - it is Freeeeezing cold!

• Just take your time strolling the streets and absorb all the wonderful Bergen’ness of this city – it truly is LUSH!

(All images taken by us)

Thanks for reading, 

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Turner Turner

 xoxo

Christmas in London

***11 days until Christmas***

The colourful madness of Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park

"The best light decorations in London" did not disappoint! 

Cake goals at Harrods!

Mulled wine with a view!

The flying visit to London started at 5am from Cardiff bus station, ridiculously early but we arrived in time for the shops to open! Our first stop was Harrods, ignoring the fact that we're students that cannot afford the majority of the store, we settled with buying a delicious salted caramel brownie (which as you can imagine - it was divine) On our way to Harrods we strolled past the rows of beautiful, white houses in knightsbridge, which always make us feel like we could bump into Mark Francis and the rest of the M.I.C gang at any moment... It has to be said, these streets rival the likes of the dreamy rues de la Paris! 

After the brownie was demolished (and the sadness of finishing the chocolatey piece of heaven had gone) we made our way over to Hyde Park, which is somewhere we had never been before but felt like it needed to be ticked off the London tourist bucket list! We visited the magical spectacle that is Winter Wonderland which was so, so, so Christmassy!       (highly recommend a visit if you're in the festive mood.)

Once we felt we had consumed enough christmassy'ness, we decided to be stereotypical London tourists, so with camera's in hand we strutted down the mall to see the Queen, hoping to share a mulled wine and a cheeky mince pie with her majesty! In reality we stood outside the gates doing our very best to look as cool as Mary Kate and Ashley in the noughties classic winning London (of course). 

It's safe to say a lot of walking and mileage was covered on this day out - 9 hours to be exact! During this marathon of a day we popped to Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, China Town, Regent Street, Carnaby Street and the Embankment! A tiring day, but completely worth it! Christmas in London certainly gives you the festive feels! 

(All pictures our own) 

Stay tuned for yet another post tomorrow as part of our #12daysofchristmas challenge!


Thanks for reading! xo

London in a day

                              

We wanted to see and do as much as possible in the 10 hours we were able to explore London and oh boy did we give that a good go. We started the day with a visit to the 'Shoes - pleasure and pain' and 'What is Luxury?' exhibitions at the V&A which were definitely worth a visit. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures so you'll have to take our word for it. 

Shortly after, we visited the National History Museum which was nothing short of incredible. You don't have to be a palaeontologist, Ross from Friends or a Jurassic Park fanatic to enjoy seeing the Dinosaurs, not to mention the museum's architecture is pretty incredible alone. If you're a lover of David Attenborough documentaries like we are, you'll probably love this museum just as much as we did. 

The rest of the day was spent strolling around various areas including Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Westminster and South Bank. As we had so much on our agenda's we decided to go with flat shoes for practicality, paired with dresses which just so happened to both be striped. Just to clarify we're not twins, just sisters that sometimes accidentally dress similarly. Check out our previous blog post 'London Wonderground' for more from our day.

Thanks for reading!

TurnerTurner xo 

                                                                   (all photographs are ours: TurnerTurner)

London Wonder-ground

It's not often that you just accidentally stumble upon a fairground while sight seeing, however we were more than happy that we did. The London Wonderground, situated beside the Jubilee Gardens, is open and free to enter until the end of September and we fully recommend a trip to this fairground even if you're just in passing. Colourful paper lanterns and an abundance of lights are hanging in the trees as you walk in, the atmosphere is instantly inviting. Music is playing from the many bars and food stands inside from hot dogs to candy stands there's a real sense of the fairground around you. If the London eye doesn't appeal to you, then maybe seeing London from the sky at the ride emporium is for you instead. The main area is filled with picnic benches and deck chairs which offer great spots to have a drink, grab a bite and relax after a busy day of walking around London.

We continued to stroll along the South Bank and on our way to Waterloo Underground Station we walked through the kaleidoscopic experience which was created by #sparkyourcity. Jungle prints and Mirrors adorn the tunnel in a completely fresh and exciting way, we couldn't help but stop and take pictures as our eyes were mystified by the concept of it all. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our day in London and have many more pictures and thoughts to share with you over the next few posts. 

Thanks for reading - Turner Turner xo

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From the park to the perk

Another day out in Chester called for ice cream beside the river followed by a stroll through the park. We tucked into irresistibly good pork rolls, did a spot of retail therapy and felt just like Monica and Rachel (our alter ego's) as we took time out to relax in the central perk cafe. 

Thanks for reading! If anyone has any 'places to go and see in Chester' recommendations for us then please share it so we can go explore some more!  

TurnerTurner xo

Come fly with us!

So as you may or may not already know from following us on Instagram and twitter we went on a family holiday to Gran Canaria a few weeks ago and it was absolutely blooming lovely! Instead of just posting a load of pictures from our trip, we decided to do something a little different! The video below is a series of clips from our lovely little getaway to the Canary Islands. We wanted to encompass the overall chilled vibe of our holiday and so you'll notice that this video is really relaxed because relaxing really was the main aim of the trip! Enough rambling from us! We should let the video do the talking now, so give it a click and let us take you away for sun, sea and sand! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBJx-VA_URw

If you're going on holiday soon we hope this made you that little bit extra excited for it! If you're not going abroad this year (at least we've had a bit of a heatwave in the UK) but we hope you enjoyed watching this little insight into our trip away! 

TurnerTurner xo