Berlin -Part 1

Berlin is a gentle giant with a dark past. It is remarkably quiet (i.e. in decibels) compared to the likes of London or Paris and vast - very vast. It is edgy yet mature and I was amazed by how polite Berliners were (even if one of them tried to con me!).

My introduction to Berlin was slightly surreal. I was on a girls weekend but the rest of the group were flying in from London  whereas I flew in to Tegel from Edinburgh. As I'd booked us in at the restaurant in the Reichstag (an excellent way to get in without queueing for hours) at a specific time, I opted for a taxi to our hotel. The very friendly driver tried to con me by charging Euro 68 (instead of Euro 20ish max).When I challenged him about this he very swiftly sped off (with his car boot wide open) and shouting that he did not need any money. I kept thinking he must have pinched something off me but I don't know for sure!

The dome at Reichstag is one of my favourite Berlin sites. It was designed by Norman Foster (and symbolises the reunification of Germany) and works incredibly well against the older Baroque-esque structure.

The Reichstag is also a great lace to start your exploration of the city - it is close to the Brandenburg Gate, The Holocaust Memorial and Tiergarten.

After a lovely tea, wine and cake break, we walked around the Reichstag before making our way to the other places mentioned nearby.

It was getting late and our final stop of the afternoon was The Holocaust Memorial - a solemn reminder of the millions of lives lost during the period. Annoyingly, there were many 'tourists' who thought it was perfectly appropriate to be taking ridiculous selfies or monkeying around the area.

Berlin is quite flat and so you can see landmarks from a fair distance. The Alexanderplatz TV tower looked arty against the pinkish-blue evening sky.

More on Berlin soon. Hope you are all having a lovely week. Ann x

Wearing Isabel Marant jumper, Gap skinny jeans, Tom Ford shades and Nike spotty trainers.

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Holy Island of Lindisfarne

We've been hoping to visit Lindisfarne (of Lindisfarne Gospels fame and an important place for Celtic Christianity) for a long while but the weather, tides and our diaries just didn't seem to work in sync. The glorious weather (by Northern standards anyway) over the Easter bank holiday weekend gave us the perfect opportunity to explore the Holy Island. We studied the tide tables which provided us with a good window to explore the island - this is very important unless you don't mind being stranded for hours.

Lindisfarne is about an hour and half's drive from Edinburgh and is easily accessible by road (just a few miles off the A1) and slightly less so via train (Berwick Upon Tweed and then bus). Our drive (all the way up to the parking lot at Lindisfarne) was uneventful although it did get busier once we got to the causeway. We first explored the ruins of the ancient priory before going on a walk around the island.

Lindisfarne priory was built circa 634AD by Irish monks (led by St.Aidan) who travelled from Iona to establish a christian settlement in Northumbria. The patron saint of the North, St.Cuthbert was part of this monastic family and was originally buried here before being moved to Durham Cathedral.

It was a beautiful (alabeit slight chilly) day and we  decided (after a coffee and brunch stop in a local pub) to hike up to Lindisfarne Castle. The island is beautiful and on this sunny day the waters and the skies complimented each other in the most beautiful shades of blue.

Modern day Lindisfarne castle is a Lutyens designed building using parts that of the old Tudor fort that once stood here. It was built for Edward Hudson who was the founder and editor of Country Life. 

We explored the castle for a little while before slowly making our way back to the car - stopping very so often to take in the beautiful views.

Hope you are having a lovely week. Ann x

Wearing Bimba Y Lola Coat, Topshop hat, Bella Freud Lion jumper, old levis and New Balance trainers.

To get in touch and see the latest on all my adventures, follow me on Bloglovin, Twitter,Instagram or Facebook.