MIA at Sea..... A Baltic Adventure

Just popping in to say hello and farewell to May!.....

For this month I have a legitimate excuse for no blogging as I have spent 17 days of it at Sea travelling through the Baltic's.

Over the 17 days I woke up in 9 different ports, in 8 different countries and have sailed 3,471 miles with Captain Cook on the ship Aurora.

This beautiful cruise liner has been my home for 17 days in May

 This was my first cruise and I was unsure of what to expect, but was blessed with beautiful blue skies and calm seas throughout my cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it.

My cruise took in the following countries & towns:

Gdynia & Gdansk – Poland

Klaipeda – Lithuania

St Petersburg – Russia

Tallinn – Estonia

Riga – Latvia

Travemunde & Lubeck – Germany

Copenhagen – Denmark

Oslo – Norway

Skagen – Denmark

I will over the coming weeks share with you my adventures of life on ship and also the places that we stopped and what were my highlights. I am still wading my way through the unpacking, washing being back to work and photo editing!... 2,000 + photo’s that require sorting ( I promise not to share them all!!)..
here’s a flavour of my trip:

 I completely understand why people fall in love with cruising and choose to travel the world this way. I still have some air & land holidays that I want to do but wouldn’t rule out cruising again, but quite happy to be back on solid ground and looking forward to some new adventures in June.

Hello May....

When it appears that I have my blogging mojo back, I am going to take a small hiatus in May for a much needed holiday and adventure.

For the later half of May I will be having my first 2 week holiday in over 15 years, I am nervously excited all in one feeling as I am going on my first cruise. St Petersburg has been on my bucket-list since I was a small girl when I can remember seeing Anna Karenina with my Nan and falling in love with the mystery of the Russian Tsars and palaces.

My cruise will dock in St Petersburg for 3 days where I will be seeing some of the sights and also attending The Russian Ballet to see Swan Lake.
Some of the other countries and cities that I will stop off in will be Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Denmark - Copenhagen, Oslo - Sweden, and Skagen - Norway. I am busy compiling lots of lists and any 'cruise' tips will be most welcome as I am a complete novice.

Before I go there are a number of events at work that I need to get ready for and the launch of the Summer season - Fenwick are one of the main sponsors of Ascot and will host a number of parties and events for the season, to accompany this they have decorated the store and facade in the most beautiful blooms, which make for some fabulous Instagram moments.

I hope to post a little before I go and then be prepared for a hundred posts when I come back. Wifi is very limited and very expensive on ship, so I don't imagine that I will post much whilst away.
Here's hoping everyone has ana amazing May.

Across the Hudson.....

Earlier this month I started to share my New York adventures from December, here I shared my first experience of staying within the meatpacking district. This area has seen a huge regeneration over the last 15 years and Sex and the City fans will remember it from being the location that Samantha lived. Bordering Greenwich Village is really is quite a fabulous location to be and I will be seeking stays there in future trips.

The area is predominately residential and with cobble lines streets and glorious brownstones, it’s a cool place to just wander and capture the experience of village life within New York. My hotel on the corner of Jane Street and offered views across the Hudson river to New Jersey / Hoboken an area which I had never visited.

When researching and planning for the trip (yes I still plan lots even though I have visited too many times now to count!) a must for me is a trip to Target. Target is a huge supermarket/store similarour Tesco and full of fabulous things. In previous years I have travelled up into East Harlem to do my Target shopping, however this wouldn’t be a straightforward in the location that I was staying. I did find that there was a Target located in the Newport/Hoboken area, practically opposite my hotel (separated only by the Hudson river).

Further research led to me finding that the PATH trainline was a short walk from my hotel which would transport me under the river to the state of Jersey. The Patch train was accessible from Christopher Street 

The station entrance is in its own free-standing building, with a restored marquee displaying the original "Hudson Tunnels" name adorning the entrance way. Passengers descend a narrow stairway with a number of curves before arriving at the southwest end of the narrow center island platform.Biff Elrod's mural "Ascent-Descent" (showing images of users of the PATH trains, ascending or descending the stairs) originally painted on site in August 1986 as a temporary installation for the Public Art Fund, and later purchased by PATH/Port Authority of NY&NJ, was restored in 1999 just before the incidents of 9/11.
I loved this station , with its beautiful murals, a real old glamour of new york, Hard to believe that this little station was used by more than 7,400 people per day post 9/11 as this was the furthest south path train to the world trade centre that still commuted passengers from the Jersey districts. 

Hoboken station is as equally picturesque, and I really did feel like I had fallen into a movie or a bygone era of New York. The station has been used for film shoots, including  Funny Girl and Julia & Julia.The large main waiting room, with its floral and Greek Revival motifs in tiled stained glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany,is generally considered one of the finest in the U.S. aesthetically. The terminal exterior extends to over four stories and has a distinguished copper-clad façade with ornate detailing. The terminal, houses trains and ferry's and even though the day was overcast and drizzly it still was a beautiful building to explore.

On a clear day the views onto Manhattan are glorious, alas on the morning I was there the views were shrouded with mist. As this was the beginning of my visit, I hoped to return just to enjoy the view. Along the river adjacent to the station sits a simple memorial to 9/11 as a large number of Hoboken / Newport  residents lost their life on that day.
After a walk along the river side, I crossed into the residential park space and walked a short walk to a very big Target.

Here I stocked up on lots of holiday candy, home treats and paper goodies. With Star Wars imminent for release there was lots of stockfiller finds go in the trolley. Alas I couldn't take the baileys milkshakes home, but I did try one there which was amazing. Favourite finds were Gingerbrread Santa twix, candy cane oreos, crispy M&M's, Almond, Plain & milk chocolate mini snickers.

Later in the week on my last morning I managed to pop back across the water, and snap some images of the New York skyline against a backdrop of a beautiful blue sky. Hoboken is definitely somewhere that I would like to explore more, and will be adding it to my To Do list for future visits.

Let the NY adventure begin.....

It's no secret that new York holds my heart and with visits now in double figures + I get asked often am I not bored of it?...... so in reply to that question the honest answer is No! I do honestly believe that at the point that I'm tired of New York I really would be tired of life!

I am over the coming few weeks share my Christmas adventure in the city that doesn't sleep.

My trip in 2015 was really planned on a bit of a budget and I struck lucky with a flight and hotel in December for £500. This was a huge bargain and I didn't have huge expectations of anything but was really impressed with hotel & location. With any trip to the states I have learnt to maximise my time there by the flight times, flying outbound I book the earliest flight out of Heathrow and I opt for a late/night flight back (arriving first thing the following day) This takes advantage of the time differences and helps me manage the jet lag!

 So my adventure started with Taylor and I taking a trip in the early morning, zipping through London to Heathrow. As it was the 1^st of December it was the perfect time for some Christmas songs and to enjoy some of the festive sights in the city.

With Taylor dropped off at parking it was time to check-in to Terminal 3 for my flight across the Atlantic, the terminal was festooned in pink with a funky christmas tree.  I off loaded my bag and passed through security quickly, browsed duty free before grabbing a quick breakfast before boarding.

Sitting near the window I captured take-off and the ascent into the clouds, which saw a gloomy damp December morning get brighter the higher we rose into a beautiful cloud filled blue sky, it was like we were flying on puffy clouds of cotton wool. With an uneventful flight across the pond the gloom soon re-appeared as we descended into JFK across Long Island and The Hamptons.

 Having a 'live' esta visa allowed me to fly through immigration and I had collected baggage, cleared customs and was on the Air train within 35 minutes of the plane landing (any of you that travel stateside frequently will know that this is a fantastic time, especially New York in December) Last year was my first Air train adventure and I am now a convert!

This year I had booked to stay down in the Meatpacking District and my hotel was a short walk from the subway, which was ideal for my travels. Although I had explored this area, this was a first for me staying there and was a little apprehensive, however I had nothing to fear as I loved the location and would definitely stay there again.

I stayed at The Jane Hotel on Jane Street and my first impression was it was a cross between Disney's Terror Towers and a hotel from the Grand Budapest Hotel, complete  with bus-boys with  gold trim hats! The hotel was a hive of activity on arrival as they were filming "John Wick 2" with Keanu Reeves in the lounge and  lobby. (this wasn’t my only celebrity spot of the week!) It seemed that my hotel lounge was an 'on-trend' space to hangout. The hotel has an amazing history; Completed in 1908, the American Seaman's Friend Society Sailors' Home and Institute was designed by William A. Boring, the architect renowned for Ellis Island’s immigrant station. 

Originally built as a hotel for sailors with cabin-like rooms, the landmarked hotel was lovingly restored on its centennial in 2008. In 1912, the survivors of the Titanic stayed at the hotel until the end of the American Inquiry into the ship’s sinking.  The surviving crew held a memorial service at the hotel four days after the ship sank. 

The rooms are tiny – very reminiscent of old ships cabins / train sleeper carriages, however they maximise the space with mirrors, good storage and lighting. The room was clean, good quality bed linen and complimentary robe, slippers for the bathroom facilities. If you can deal with shared bathroom (I never queued once for shower / bathroom facilities in the 5 days I was there) and tiny room, this hotel is amazing value for money. Fabulous location, great staff and a very cool eclectic hotel. I rarely stay in the same hotel twice when travelling to New York, but I would definitely come back to The Jane.

Having dumped my bags it was time to explore the neighbourhood!.... pop back later in the week when I share some more of my New York adventures.