Lagos // Barbosa Bar & Kitchen

So if you read my last post you'll know that I have recently returned from a super sunny holiday in Portugal. It was the dream, and I'm still suffering from the holidays blues (even as I have a Christmas countdown on my phone). Lagos is a great little place, with some gorgeous eateries, which is where we stumbled across the beauty of Barbosa Bar.

Okay, I lied. I actually found this pre-Portugal, after looking through tags on Instagram, but it paints more of an exciting picture if it was an accidental find doesn't it? + we did have to track down the exact location, so there was a small hint of stumbling.

 After a few confusing moments of trying to get in when they weren't officially open, (their windows said 10am, Facebook said 11am & the staff said 12pm) we were finally allowed through the doors, and I headed straight to the courtyard. It was everything I was hoping it would be and more. Tiled walls, pallet benches, big plants- the whole interior was right up my street and oh so Instagram.

Obvs we didn't just come here to stare at the decor {I could have easily done} so we found a comfy spot and ordered some brunch. To drink we both opted for a refreshing lemonade- but these had a twist. I went for the pineapple and basil, and Jay went for the lime and mint, and my goodness I neeeeed to recreate this, it was incredible. For food, I originally opted for the yogurt w/ granola and berries, but the yogurt was yet to be delivered, so instead I went for the croissant with homemade jam, and it was delicious. Jay went for a fancy panini, which came out looking super yummy and was gone in a flash, which was his way of saying it was good.

I could have happily pitched up for the whole day, but that wouldn't have been fair for other like-minded Instagrammers, and I had less than 24 hours to top up my tan, so every second counted. If you're off to Lagos anytime soon, I'd definitely add this spot to your to-do list.

Lagos

It feels like a lifetime ago that I was prancing around in bikinis and swooning over the gorgeous beaches. It's only been just under two weeks, but if I could, I'd be hopping on the next plane out there. This was my third visit to Portugal, and Jay's second, but it was our first time in Lagos, so it was super exciting for the both of us.

Our home for the ten days was Apartmentos Turisticos Marsol, a quaint little complex equipped with plenty of cacti and a twelve-hole mini golf course just north of the main-centre. We knew the moment we drove through the town that we were going to have a jolly good holiday, and when the owners of the apartments have a giant smile on their face at your arrival, you know you've chosen a gooden.

The first evening was spent mooching round the gigantic Intermarche, where naturally I bought too many bars of Milka and not enough OJ. But with a fridge full of food, we headed off into town for some dinner. Our route took us down a steep old hill, which was never too fun on the way up, but when there's gorgeous cobbled streets, tiled walls and bustling souvenir shops, you can't really complain.

For the rest of our holiday we managed to split our days between relaxing by the pool and snorkelling in the sea. I'm a sucker for the big, blue ocean and when you pair that with the Algarve's gorgeous coastlines, you have a hard time dragging me away. We also managed to choose the hottest day of the whole holiday to explore the town by light, thank goodness for the rows of ice-cream shops & the gorgeous little place that we stopped by for some brunch- keep your eyes peeled for the next post.

In the evenings we managed to spend half of our nights cooking in the kitchen, and the other half trying out some gorgeous eateries. The favourite probably has to be O Camilo, a terraced restaurant that overlooked the beach. I was definitely not prepared for my sea-bass to still have the head on, I managed to play it cool though and keep my shit together. {Secretly I was dying inside!} After eating we'd normally wander round the town, stand and watch the buskers, grab a ice-cream and head back to play cards. One great place I deffo recommend for an evening is Pro Putting Garden. Think of a golf course, think of a putting green, then merge them together. It's great fun, and guarantees lots of laughs! I could keep rambling on forever about what we got up to, but I don't want to bore you. There's stills some exciting holiday blog posts to come. before the Autumn weather sets in- although I think it might already have!

Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival

I never need an excuse to escape to the countryside, but if was to have one then a super, popular scarecrow festival would fit the bill perfectly. On the edges of the Yorkshire Dales lies the rural village of Kettlewell which puts on an almighty display of straw filled figures every summer. When I lived at home we used to head to a nearby town to wander round their Scarecrow festival on an evening so really it was the ideal continuation of tradition. 

In true Beth-Jason fashion we didn't take into consideration that the heavens had opened the day before, so sandals and boat shoes weren't the most sensible of footwear choices. Luckily for me, I had some wellies in the boot but no socks. Even luckier for me, there was a walking shop so I now have some £12-worth woolly grey socks that make my feet feel like they have their own radiator. Unluckily for Jason he had to stick to his boat shoes, but we did pretty well in avoiding the mud. 

With a trail sheet in our hands, we set off on a self-guided tour with 50% of our time spent admiring the scarecrows. The other 50% of our time was spent peering into people's homes, looking up cottages that were for sale and deciding what our scarecrow entry would be. It's safe to say when it comes to villages, Kettlewell is the place of dreams or as some would say #futuregoals.

{I also learnt to skim stones here, so if that isn't a good enough reason, what is?}

Scarbados

Something University taught me was that spontaneous plans are always the best ones, and when you combine that with exploring new places then they are even better. So, when we woke up to sunshine and scorching temperatures (I've learnt 20 degrees is considered that up North) a few weekends ago we made the impromptu decision to spend the day at Scarborough, the closest thing we could get to Barbados. 

Obviously my touch-and-go stomach decided that it would be a good day to flare up, but after a delayed start we were tooting along. As usual we had a bit of a mare when it came to finding somewhere to park after missing pretty much all of the turns to parking, but after what seemed like forever, we were eventually parked and on our way to the beach (beach, let's go get a wave).  

The last time I went to Scarborough was when I was about thirteen so I can't remember much other than a few penguins at the Sea Life centre, so it was all pretty much new territory to me. I, of course, got way too excited when I saw donkeys on the beach (they had little hats on), and rainbow-coloured beach huts. Once I'd gotten over my excited-ness we found a sunny spot and settled down with some fish 'n' chips- they always taste soooo much better when you're surrounded by the salty sea air. 

In true English style the sun didn't stay shiny for long, so we took a wander over the clifftop and in true Beth style my tummy didn't stay happy for long- this was our cue to leave. Unfortunately this meant we didn't get to relive our Barcelona rowing experience or waste countless 2p's in the arcades, but that just gives us a good reason to go back!

BFG Dream Jars

When it comes to planning a day out in London it tends to naturally spark a Google search along the lines of 'super cool fun things to do in London this weekend that everyone will be really jealous of' with little to no search results. However, upon my weekly research for whats happening in the exciting part of the digital world, I came across the latest London goings on which got me a bit giddy. 

To celebrate The BFG movie release and Roald Dahl's 100th birthday, Visit London, and some other people, have placed giant dream jars across London, with "splendiferous" sculptures based on celebrities dream stories. If you weren't a BFG lover then this will mean diddly squat to you, however to someone who loved Roald Dahl's work as a young girl, this was super exciting. It also gave us something to do inbetween the most magical theatre performance you'll ever see.  

Granted we only managed to see three, as not all of them are up and running just yet and we didn't quite have enough time to complete the trails- there's three different trails you can follow. Yes, I downloaded and printed them off. Yes, I'm really that cool. If you're planning a trip to the big smoke any time soon I'd thoroughly recommend having a look to see if there's any nearby your destination, they're super special, although they're not always the easiest things to spot! 

{Just to add: Covent Garden have some pretty cool things going on too for #CGAfterHours including this Swing of Dreams that I need in my future garden}