Aegean Cruise - Day 6

On the Saturday of our holiday we were in Kusadasi in Turkey. We had talked about getting off the boat and going to Ephesus, because my mum and stepdad and I would have liked to see the Biblical stuff, but my stepdad's friend told him it's not very mobility friendly so we decided against it. Maybe in the future we'll get there, but we decided it wasn't a priority. So we stayed on the ship. My stepdad was feeling a lot better. 

We didn't do much all day! I think we had sandwiches again for lunch, and I had a banana daiquiri at about 1pm which was only okay. My stepdad was taking lots of photos from Deck 10 because there were good views all round the ship, but I hadn't actually been up there! Lee and I went inside to the coffee shop about 4pm again to get ourselves out of the sun, I'm really glad we did that a few times because it was nice! I had a macaron, too, and took some back for my mum and stepdad. They weren't free but they were only about a pound each so it was fine!

My mum and I had prosecco with raspberry liqueur in it which was delicious! Then we went back to the cabins to get showered and dressed for tea. Each previous night we had heard the bing bong of the ship announcement but hadn't heard the actual announcement because it was just outside in the corridors. But on this night, the captain broadcast into everyone's cabins. We were due to be in Santorini on Sunday - which the four of us were looking forward to - but the weather was stormy there apparently and the captain to decided to take us to Patmos instead! How do you even do that?? Do you just ring up Patmos?? We hadn't even heard of it, either, it was not on our Greek island radar at all! But we could go to Santorini at another point. It really didn't matter that much!

For tea, we went to Gallery 47, which was a free restaurant but you had to be dressed up for it. The literature kept saying that it was best to go there between 6 and 6.30 because they didn't do reservations and it got busy quickly. We felt that that was too early to eat, though, so we decided to go about 7pm and chance it, and if we couldn't get in we would go to the buffet restaurant. Lee and I got there just before 7pm and went straight in, there was no problem at all! My mum and stepdad were only a little bit behind us. 

There was plenty of choice and even quite a few vegetarian choices so I was happy. I went for caprese salad, aubergine parmigana, and a trio of tiramisu. It was all so yummy! We shared a bottle of wine which was lovely. Afterwards we went outside to look at the water and the moon for a little bit, and we had a couple of drinks outside too. It was warm, but dark. 

Finally we went inside to the atrium bar and I think I had another bellini before bed. It was a nice and relaxing day. In the evening I was wearing my dotted dress from Yours, it's a lovely dress for holidays and means I don't have to wear tights or anything underneath!

Sign from the ship

Banana daiquiri, which I thought was only okay so didn't have another one. My stepdad liked them, though, he had a few

Another day, more sunbathing and sitting in the shade

Looking down into the atrium again at 4pm. I really liked this area of the boat but I was glad our cabins were well away from it because it was loud and busy!

From the other side of the atrium

Another iced decaf latte which was really needed in the heat!

And a macaron

Prosecco with raspberry liqueur in - they didn't have blackcurrant liqueuer so this was a good stand in!

Caprese salad later on

Aubergine parmigiana which I took a chance on, but I really liked it

Trio of tiramisu - the original was the best one though

One of the ship photographers took this of Lee and I in Gallery 47 and we liked it so we bought a copy

Moon on the water, and an island or other that we were going past

Me against the railing outside, so you can see my dress better here

And finally, a bellini

Lunch with a Friend and Cinema with Lee

On the 19th of April I had a busy day. I first of all went to the White Rose Centre to meet up with my friend Charlotte and her baby. Actually our mums are friends and it's forever since we hung out, but it was Charlotte's grandma's funeral I had been to the week before and as Charlotte is currently on maternity leave I thought she might appreciate meeting up with someone during the week. I know a lot of my friends have been lonely during maternity leave and as I usually have some free time in the week I can meet up. So I messaged Charlotte and she readily agreed to meet up which was lovely! Her baby was about fourteen weeks old and absolutely precious - such a squidge!

I went to the White Rose a bit early and on my way there the car flipped over to 27,000 miles so I stopped to take a picture of it since it's the first major milestone in the few weeks we've had it. It hasn't done many miles for its age which is good! Maybe it was a lockdown casualty and just didn't get driven very much. I parked at the White Rose and went in, and got a chai latte from a little stall in the food area. I had my book with me so I sat reading that for a bit. I then waited for Charlotte but she was running a bit late so I popped downstairs to The Works to have a nose around. I ended up buying two books and a craft kit, so it was well spent! When I went back up Charlotte arrived not soon after.

Most of the restaurants in the White Rose are ones I like and which I know have decent veggie options, so I let Charlotte choose. She suggested the Lounge, which was fine by me. They're a chain and we have one in Barnsley and I like their vegetarian choices. We went in and got seated - they were really good with the pram and accessibility which was good. I usually get the big veggie breakfast when I go to the Lounge but I wasn't too hungry, so I decided to have the Miami brunch instead. 

It was like a mole of kidney beans and corn in a spicy sauce, with poached eggs, avocado salsa, sweetcorn fritters, and feta and coriander sprinkled over. It was delicious! I'm really glad I got it. 

I also had a pink lemonade. We sat for a bit longer and ordered pudding - I had warm chocolate brownie with ice cream. Charlotte's arrived just as the baby was eating, so I ate mine and once he was finished I took the baby and he fell asleep because he was full of milk! He was very happy in my arms and he is extremely cute; I was really glad to see them both! 

We said goodbye about 3pm and I drove home and got changed into my pyjamas for a bit and did some crafting before getting dressed again and heading out with Lee. He wanted to see the new Ghostbusters film, so we had decided to go to the new Cineworld in Barnsley. It hasn't been open very long. We went into Nando's first so that Lee could have some food, and I had a glass of wine. We headed over to the cinema and into our screen. I really enjoyed the film, but I liked the last one in this too, I like the kids and I like Paul Rudd. It is a lot of fun!

It finished about 10pm so we just drove home and got into bed! I was wearing this really bright dress from Yours again that I got from Debz. I like the oversized look to it - it ends up really comfy on me and I love the bright colour, too 

Showing the car had gone over to 27,000 miles

Pink lemonade - I have had this before and it's really nice

Miami brunch. This is something I would definitely eat again!

Brownie and ice cream

My dress and cardigan when we got home

And here's what we saw!

Spa and Stay near Skipton

For my birthday in January Lee bought me an overnight stay at Coniston Hotel near Skipton, including breakfast and spa access for us both. He had booked it for the beginning of April which was fine by me. It was the first day off Lee had had since Christmas, except for the Easter bank holidays, and he had been working so hard so he really needed it. So we were both really looking forward to it!

We left our house just after 10am and drove to Scrap in Leeds first of all. I've heard of it loads as a lot of my friends have been, but I've never been myself. It's all repurposed art and craft supplies and I really wanted to go and I ended up loving it and I'll definitely go again! I spent eighteen pounds which wasn't bad at all. There's lots of bits I would have liked to pick up but I did restrain myself a little! Apparently there are other shops and restaurants in the same complex but we didn't see them as we wanted to get to Skipton. So we just set off.

We got there about 1pm and parked the car, and then went into a cafe to get some lunch. In fact it was the second cafe we tried because the first was incredibly rude, but there we are. Lee had a jacket potato and I had Greek salad, and we both had delicious hot chocolate with cream and a flake. Then we went into a few shops - I bought some books in charity shops, like I do - and looked at the market, where we bought a fitted sheet and a Johnny Cash t shirt that we will probably end up sharing. We went into the little shopping arcade where we went last time we went to Skipton (in summer 2022, I think) and looked in the shops there, and then went into The Cake'Ole for coffee and cake. Lee had a ridiculous Oreo milkshake and I had a coffee and we shared a piece of chocolate cake. 

By this time it was getting on towards 3pm which is what time we could check in so we drove up to the hotel. We checked in and had to walk miles to our room, but it was a suite so it was really nice. It had a balcony which was also lovely. We had a spa booking at 3.30 though so we got changed into our swimming stuff and walked up to the spa at about 3.40. 

It is an absolutely beautiful spa and I would definitely go again just for that. There's a lovely pool inside, three different saunas, a steam room, a jacuzzi, a bar, and outside there are two infinity pools with bubbles too. We headed out there and the water was so warm! It wasn't a warm day really but there was a nice breeze which kept us from overheating in the pool. We got some drinks from the bar and sipped them while in the pool which felt so fancy and decadent! 

We did move around and I tried two of the saunas and the steam room. The jacuzzi inside was really hot so we didn't spend long in there. We left around 5.40pm, as we got two hours in our booking. 

We went back to the room where I had a bath! I never have a bath because ours is tiny, but this one was big enough for me. If I had known there would be a bath I would have taken a bath bomb, but I didn't really think about it. But I used some of the stuff the hotel provided, which was lovely. Then I got in the shower to wash my hair, and finally I got ready. Lee had a shower after me. 

We headed down to the dining room for 7.15. I was wearing my red leopard print dress from Yours, which is nice but not too fancy. The restaurant does feel really upmarket but not everyone was dressed up so it was fine. I had already checked the menu to make sure there was stuff we would both eat, because if not we would have gone elsewhere. But there were a few vegetarian options. In fact I think mine were both vegan. I had mushrooms on toast, which were delicious, and Lee had mushroom soup which was really good too. Then he had a margherita pizza and I had roasted cauliflower with spring vegetables and a herb puree, and fries. It was nice food, a bit fancy but delicious. 

After we had eaten we went into the bar for another drink. We went back to the room at about 9pm and watched some TV before bed. I've been having problems sleeping so wanted to get a good night; I've had some Nytol and it has helped. The bed was huge and very comfy. 

We got up early, at 8am, because we had breakfast included and then we had another visit to the spa, so we had to eat before that! There were a few choices from the hot menu, so Lee went for eggs florentine and I had a vegetarian breakfast. There was a buffet too, so Lee had some coco pops and I had a pain au chocolat which was lovely. We had plenty of decaf coffee, too. 

We went back to the room, got changed quickly, and headed back to the spa for about 9am. It was much emptier than it had been on the Friday, so it was really lovely! We swam for a bit first, then I tried the other sauna and then we went outside again. It was so, so lovely and relaxing. We left at 11am and we had been given a late check out which was great, so we went back to the room where I had a quick shower and got dressed before we checked out. That meant I didn't have to worry for the rest of the day! We got home about 1pm. It was a lovely present and so nice for us to spend some time together.

Here's like a zillion photos... sorry!

Outside Scrap. It's upstairs in a mill but there is a lift. Chloe and I will have to go one time, she loves it

Look at all the stuff to be discovered! They do refills of soap/conditioner/etc too, and they have little kits of craft things which would be really nice gifts

I was tempted to buy some rolls of film to use in journals but I didn't

Here's Lee in Coffee and Clay 

And my ridiculous hot chocolate

Here's me. I don't love this photo but there we go

Here's my salad which was delicious

This was the fridge in The Cake'Ole, isn't it cute?

Here's the cake we shared

And Lee with his milkshake

This was the view from our hotel balcony!

And our bathroom, it was huge

Here's one of the outside pool, isn't it lovely? I tried to avoid taking photos of strangers, hence the slightly weird cropping here. The other was just off to the other side

Looking from the spa towards the hotel 

Here I am in the infinity pool with our drinks. Proper fancy bitch life!

This is the outside of the spa as we were walking back to the hotel

The pornstar martini I had with my tea

Mushrooms on toast 

Roasted cauliflower

These are the books I bought

And here's what I bought in Scrap

Red leopard print dress and grey footless Snag tights

The view from the balcony when it got dark

The view from the restaurant in the morning while we were eating breakfast - it was beautiful and it would be lovely to sit on the terrace in the summer

My breakfast - it was really nice

And a delicious pain au chocolat

Looking outside at the terrace while we were sitting by the pool

Me in the infra red sauna. My costume was from Crazy Clearance recently and it's actually a blouson tankini top and some ruched bottoms. It's really nice. I know you can't see it fully but that's the info on it anyway

This was just before we got out of the spa, we had this pool to ourselves at this point

Look at the beautiful terrace. It was less sunny on this morning but still not too cold

This was the jacuzzi inside, I cropped this oddly so I didn't take photos of people in the sauna here

Lee took this

And he took this of the pool - it was so much quieter on the Saturday morning

Finally, looking back at the hotel just before we left...