FDA TRIP OF A LIFETIME

Şubat 2022 - Şubat 2023
Putting reality on pause with a little trip around Europaaaaa! 😁 Okumaya devam et
  • 46ayak izleri
  • 13ülkeler
  • 355günler
  • 492fotoğraflar
  • 2videolar
  • 61,5kkilometre
  • 50,6kkilometre
  • Gün 103

    Mallorca

    29 Mayıs 2022, Ispanya ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Mallorca was absolute paradise! We loved it!

    Well, we loved everything other than the 7 hour overnight ferry from Barcelona with 100 screaming kids on school camp 🙀 let’s just say we didn’t get much sleep given that and our ‘lobby bar floor space’ tickets!

    We had 5 nights to start in a lovely spa resort in a random spot north east of the island. Lots of Germans, lots of naked Germans, lots of German sausages in the sauna. 🤣

    There are the most amazing blue water cove beaches along the coast, our favourite was Cala Mitjana, a hidden oasis amongst a massive estate. A hike to get there but well worth it as we watched the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and tripped on every rock going!

    Elliot & Jess joined us from London for a weekend of fun. We had lunch at Cala Deià where the Night Manager was filmed (amazing!), rented a boat from Port de Soller which was a must do (thanks JoJo!), pulled up at Cova de Sa Sal, watched the boys struggle to anchor (thanks for the drop off) and had lunch on the cliff top at Sa Foradada - the best view, paella and sangria. What a day!👌🏼

    Port de Pollença was our next highlight. Cute little beach front town with endless cafes and restaurants. The headland north of there was also amazing, we followed the windy road for as long as we could to get the most epic views. Platja de Formentor for chills. Cala Figuera for walks and views from the top.

    8 days just wasn’t enough! So many places and recommendations we didn’t have time to get to, so we’ll definitely be back.
    Okumaya devam et

  • Gün 112

    Rioja Region, Spain

    7 Haziran 2022, Ispanya ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Luckily a more successful ferry back to Barca, but a less successful accomodation choice… hilariously Dan booked a ‘love’ hotel which he claims was an accident! Many a giggle and we were out of the creepy mirror covered room pronto and on the road north to the Rioja region.

    A quaint little guest house perched amongst the most magical nature awaited us. Not an English speaking person in sight so luckily our Spanish has progressed…a little. Local cuisine consisted of pork pâté (ew) and fried goats cheese salad (yum) with lashings of delicious €1 Rioja of course.

    A few winery stops (with fancy automated wine tasting ooolala) as we headed north to Bilbao to meet Ollie & John for another weekend of fun! 🤩
    Okumaya devam et

  • Gün 115

    Getxo & Bilbao, Spain

    10 Haziran 2022, Ispanya ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    A wonderful weekend with Ollie & John filled with exploding kittens (it’s a game don’t worry!), pintxos, cervezas, salsa, kebabs and endless broken Spanish and giggles!

    We stayed in Getxo, a random little seaside town half an hour from Bilbao. Turns out it’s where all the old, rich peeps live so we brought the average age down by 50 years! It was a win for us as no tourists = cheap fun. We felt like locals in no time as we frequented our local cafe 3 times a day which was always pumping (with all the oldies of course), crossed the terrifyingly high Puente Vizcaya (the bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel) and got involved with the local medieval festival that was on in Portugalete to celebrate 700 years of the Basque Country (we think, can’t be sure!). 🇪🇸

    A big Saturday night pintxos crawl through Bilbao with many sangrias, cervezas, shots, games of fingers, local salsa clubbing and kebabs left us rather broken, so we hit the nearby beach of Sopelana for a Sunday surf, swim and lunch on the cliff top.👌🏼

    We said goodbye to the boys and went to our first museum of the trip… the Guggenheim. The car exhibition made it well worth every penny!

    A few coastal stops at Mundaka to check out the surf, and the famous Game of Thrones filming location, San Juan De Gaztelugatxe, which was pretty epic (last few photos), and we were bound for the highly anticipated San Sebastián.
    Okumaya devam et

  • Gün 118

    San Sebastián, Spain

    13 Haziran 2022, Ispanya ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    San Seb was 10/10!

    I’ve always wanted to go and Dan had been before but didn’t have the best time, so we were going in with mixed emotions! 🤣 It was a rocky start as turns out parking near our apartment was going to mean we starved...it was a tense few hours as Dan did laps of the main town on search of a free spot, whilst I soaked up the sea view from our balcony 🙃…he ended up a 50 min walk away, not a happy chappy!

    Despite the initial hiccup, it certainly delivered and after a few days exploring, surfing and eating more pintxos and local seafood, 🦑 we were dying to stay longer. 3 days is never enough, particularly when Dan reckons he spent half that time trying to park. 🤣🙄
    Okumaya devam et

  • Gün 121

    Andorra

    16 Haziran 2022, Andorra ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Goodness me time is flying! 😬 So quickly that it’s time for us to leave the EU and head for Andorra. Partly because we have to (bloody Brexit). Partly because the mountain biking is epic.

    We had 8 days here which is the longest we have stayed anywhere so far… it was a very welcomed long stay and detox.

    We stayed just outside La Massana, a ski resort by winter, a mountain bike haven by summer. Everything was at least a 20 min walk UP hill! We eagerly picked up our bikes and headed up the gondola 🚠 for an epic 2 days on the mountain. I tried to keep up with Dan for 6+ hours each day, topped off by the longest downhill of 100 turns to the bottom (x2) which left us both completely broken and in need of a rest day by the pool!

    Dan rented a road bike for the next 3 days to test out a couple of the Tour de France sections which are basically ALL uphill. Climb after climb after climb. I couldn’t rent bike shoes so had to give it a miss… shame! Lots of amazing trail runs and hikes kept me occupied instead. Sooooo much to do, we barely scratched the surface.

    On our last day, we rented a scooter 🛵 so Dan could show me all the amazing Cols he had climbed. The views were absolutely incredible!

    What a magical place. We’d always wanted to mountain bike a ski mountain in summer. Another bucket list item ticked off. ✅
    Okumaya devam et

  • Gün 129

    Toulouse - Biarritz

    24 Haziran 2022, Fransa ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    A little bit of a hiccup with the next stage of our trip. I was meant to be going to see Katie at her parents place while Dan had a boys weekend planned with Rob who flew over from London (from Sydney). Just as I was about to get on the train, Katie rang to say she had covid, so I had to check in to a hotel in Toulouse round the corner from the boys and had 2 nights by myself whilst the they ran riot! Was very strange after almost 6 months of constant company, and would have been better had I liked Toulouse, but wasn’t impressed at all! One photo of the Japanese garden was all it warranted. 😆

    We then set off to explore Pau and surrounds. A cute little room near Tarbes (pictured) was the only highlight of this few days 🤣 and not just because it rained. Not the cute wee French towns we were expecting. We won’t be living in Pau as initially planned!

    Safe to say France wasn’t off to a grrrrreeat start (for me anyway!) buuuut then we found heaven in Biarritz. What a place! 🤩 Amazing surf, coastal paths, beaches, streets, restaurants and vibes. We are going to set up camp there at the end of summer when the pennies run out for sure!

    Back to the wonderful Toulouse now to meet James for our big cycle trip to Bordeaux!
    Okumaya devam et

  • Gün 134

    Cycle Toulouse - Bordeaux

    29 Haziran 2022, Fransa ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Another big item on our Euro bucket list - an A-B cycle across France with nothing but 2 panniers. ✅ I was a little nervous as had taken on the time of route and accom planner and had gone a little off piste…

    Day 1: Toulouse > Moissac (75km)

    After a LOT of planning and logistics, we had our rented bikes and were on the road for day 1 - 75km along the famous Garonne canal out of Toulouse. It was cloudy, a little chilly and a little monotonous, but we were just so excited to be on our adventure. The bikes were heavy, so we were grateful for the flat start to ease us in. A gorgeous lunch in Moissac awaited us, a quick train to Marmande (we had limited days so decided to skip a bit of the canal to have more time in the wine countryside), and a lovely, if not basic local farm stay at the end where we all bunked up! Wine. Pasta. Sleep. Reset.

    Day 2: Marmande > Sainte Foy La Grande (48km)

    The sunshine was back and this was the most gorgeous ride through the French countryside. Quaint little towns, winding country roads through vineyard after vineyard and fields of sunflowers. 🌻 Dreamy. A quick wine tasting, a few wrong turns (sorry James) and a spot of off roading and we were in the lovely town of Sainte Foy La Grande munching on steak and sipping wine by the river at Brasserie Du Boucher. A cracking find! The accom this night was the best of the trip - La Carreterie - Maison de Famille - a gorgeous guest house in the fields with a pool, massive garden, beautiful French style rooms and amazing breakfast. Heaven. We chilled by the pool, cycled back into town for a local dinner, then joined the local party with 4 bottles of wine in hand. 🥴

    Day 3: Sainte Foy La Grande > Saint Emilion > Château La France (76km)

    Another beautiful ride, this time through the amazing Bordeaux chateau wineries to the gorgeous wine town of Saint Emilion. It certainly lived up to the hype with winding cobbled streets, great cafes and restaurants and wine shops on every corner. A long boozy lunch here made for a very tough 20km to our accom in 30 degree heat! 🥵 This was the toughest part of the 4 days for sure, but the wonderful Chateau La France awaited us…well the guesthouse of the Chateau did. 🤫

    Day 4: Chateau La France > Bordeaux (26km)

    The final day and we hit the road early to get to Bordeaux in time for lunch. A short one to finish, well it could have been shorter, but I was on directions and we all know how that ends… in the back of a national park hiking our bikes up hill apparently!! You can only imagine James’s disgust. 🙈 We absolutely loved Bordeaux. Full of culture and amazing architecture, it was buzzing. A quick bike tour and we finished with a huge seafood lunch, because why not! 🦀

    James was off back to Toulouse on the train and Dan and I had a lovely night in Bordeaux.

    THE MOST AMAZING ADVENTURE!! 🇫🇷🚲
    Okumaya devam et

  • Gün 139

    South of France Part 1

    4 Temmuz 2022, Fransa ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We dumped the bikes back in Toulouse then off we went to Cazelles for a night with the Katie, Jan and Big Dave! A gorgeous dinner and eve in their amazing houses x 2, both converted from shed by Big D himself. Impressive!

    We then set off in search of the Provence lavender. A quick stop in Avignon and Gordes (thanks for the reco Ollie), and a few snaps in the beautiful lavender fields and we were headed for infamous SOF Med! I’d never been and have listened to Dan harp on about it since we got to Europe! It didn’t disappoint. We had a perfect wee pad in Cavalleire Sur Mer where we had some much needed chill time. Fun little beaches to explore and lots of sport to watch so we hid from the heat wave in our air con with Wimbledon on one screen, Tour de France on another. Bliss.

    Emma Mal happened to be at her parents place only an hour north from us at the exact same time which was amazing. We had a very fun yolo night with them in Saint-Tropez (because why not). What a place! What a time we had! 💃🏼

    After a quick stop in with Mal’s parents for a boozy lunch and swim (thanks again Simon & Trudy!) we were off to Saint Raphael to hang with Cam, Trine, Freddie & Immy for a week. We had a great time chilling by their pool, watching the Wimbers final, going for dinners and an epic boat day with a lot of donuting, what a giggle and wow were we sore the next day! You are hearing from the donut queen herself! 👸🏼

    Now for our first flight in a while... A quick lunch stop in Juan Le Pin (Dan’s fav from his boat days) on our way to Nice and another awesome week with friends done! Back to Scotland we go…
    Okumaya devam et

  • Gün 148

    St Andrews - Ullapool - Cotswolds

    13 Temmuz 2022, İskoçya ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We had been lucky enough to get tickets in the ballot for the 150th Open in St Andrews for the Saturday and Sunday. Mum kindly organised accom with Louisa & Mihai (& the pigs, ducks, geese, eels 🤣) and the whole St Andrews crew were back in town so we were set for a cracker of a weekend!

    First, a fab few days in Edinburgh with Fifer, Darcy and Caitlin over from Sydney, including dinner with the whole Strath crew (thanks Fif) and a very stressful French visa appointment. Then on to St A for a fabulous lunch at Steph’s with all the school gals and bubs. Tiger wasn’t going to make the cut so Dan bought a panic ticket for the Friday to ensure he saw him coming up the 18th. What a moment for him!

    The golf weekend was such fun…day 1 with Mum & James, dinner with Guy & VK and Day 2 with Fif & James with a bottle of bubbles whilst walking the course at 11am setting the tone for the day. To witness an Aussie win was something else!

    The three musketeers then hit the road for Ullapool to visit Scoobs, Lawrie, Winnie-May & Moss. So special to all be together. A fun few days filled with seafood shack feeds, walks, puflinks, picnics, zap catting and giggles. ❤️

    Ollie & John met us at Angus & Nicky’s for the weekend ⛳️ 🎾 then kindly drove us down to Mum’s for a week of R&R to prepare for the next adventure…IBIZA BABY!
    Okumaya devam et

  • Gün 164

    IBIZA

    29 Temmuz 2022, Ispanya ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We vaguely planned this during lockdown over a boozey dinner with Andy & Sam and over a year later it was finally time...OH, WE'RE GOING TO IBIZA!

    Tour guide Andy & Shepherd Sam who are seasoned Ibiza goers had planned the entire trip for us, their friends Carl & Miriam & last min additions Noobs & Ads. What a crew! It was non-stop fun round the clock for 4 days! Beach clubs and long lunches by day, into delish dinners and pre-drinks in our pimping pad by night, into party party into the wee hours (4am, 7am, 7am, 2am) we had an absolute BLAST!

    Day 1: Laylah dinner & drinks
    Day 2: Cala Bassa Beach Club - Cafe Del Mar - Club Chinois
    Day 3: Aiyanna - Patchwork - Solomun @ Pacha
    Day 4 - Experimental Beach Club - Bambuddha
    Day 5 - EJECT!

    Safe to say we were broken, so just as well I had booked us a lovely wee hotel for 3 days to recover. Nativo Hotel was perfect, despite the fact Ibiza "Summer flu" got me goooood and I couldn't speak or stop sweating for 5 days! Lots of açai bowls were on the menu...

    We did a day trip to Formentera for Dan's bday on 3rd and boy was it amazing! The bluest water I have ever seen, the beaches were incredible. We grabbed a scooter for the day and stopped at the infamous Chez Gerdi for lunch which was 10/10!

    Final day was chilled by the pool then Amante for dinner to top off the best holiday ever!! Boy did we eat (and drink) well. Time for a detox...

    IBIZA WE LOVE YOOOOU!
    Okumaya devam et