Disclaimer: This post is VERY overdue, as lots of things have been getting in the way since the holidays: workshop planning, moving flats, doggy training, etc., etc. I finally just decided to make time, sit down, & post. This is the second time I have tried to blog (the first was yearsss ago & I wrote about 2 entries & called it quits) & I am determined to keep this one going. Partly as a catalog for myself of the trips that we take, partly as an evolving photo album to share with the people I miss at home, & partly because I would like a hobby that I actually keep up with & I desperately miss writing!

I am aware that the title of this post sounds like a Hallmark Christmas movie, & honestly our Christmas cottage up north could’ve been used as the setting of one. I also may have been drawing inspiration from all of the cheesy, holiday movies that we watched WAY too many of during December (that I am not-so-secretly missing).

Since it was our first Christmas as “The Kirkes”, we felt it would be nice to spend it just the three of us & start some of our own traditions as a family. We drove about 2.5 hours north to Argyll – Kilmichael Glassary, by Lochgilphead & rented a 2-bedroom cottage via Airbnb (we’re clearly BIG FANS). Here’s the listing if you’re ever looking for a sick place to stay in the area.

Soaked to the bone!

Matching Christmas PJs of course!

Jude must have been quite a good boy!

Post-brunch naps.

For dinner: the aforementioned pierogi in all of their glory!

I see what you did there, Ramore!

Like normal, we visited the lovely town of Portrush. My in-laws recently purchased a holiday flat with amazing harbour views (photo above), so this time we got to check it out from the top. Definitely the best views of the water in the area. Once spring arrives, my father-in-law’s boat is also docked in Portrush Harbour, which is insanely convenient for everyone. Looking forward to spending lazy weekends here in the summer with an ice cream, a blanket & a book.

When we visit NI we also always spend time in Coleraine & this time we got to bring our pup along. The four of us took Jude to Castle Rock Beach for a big, family walk on New Year’s Eve & he had so much fun. He was running, eating, & playing in the sand – Rob even taught him how to play tag with him. Jude’s a city pup who got to run around outside without a leash, or a care, & just absolutely loved it. We all loved watching him frolic about nearly as much.

The best family pic we could possibly muster. #puppypouting

Bonjour! Freshly back from a quick trip to The City of Light… with a totally new perspective. I’ll be honest, I never desired to visit Paris. I’ve constantly been reminded of the stereotype that all Parisians are rude, by many people (& even Parisians themselves!). When Rob & I went to Belgium a couple years back, we did have a bit of trouble with the French-speaking citizens, as they seemed to dislike him for no apparent reason? Needless to say, I was a little weary.

A few weeks back, Nikki & some friends booked cheap flights from NYC to Paris, & I decided to meet them as a birthday treat to myself. While I can’t speak for all Parisians, the people we did encounter were your standard amount of friendly for city-dwellers. Being a former New Yorker, I know that we can also be rude at times (i.e. clipping someone’s shoulder on the street…) & each encounter needs to be taken on a case-by-case basis. Basically, this stereotype should not ever deter you from visiting!

The stereotype I can fully agree with, however, is that the food & wine were truly INCREDIBLE. Pretty much all we did was eat, drink wine & chat – literally the dream, girls’ trip. While I don’t properly know French, I did take 2 years of honours level in high school – big shoutout to Ms. Brennan for sticking with me on that. This weekend, I totally surprised myself with the ability to read some things! Thank G for Google Translate & iTranslate though, which I used for sentence creation & pronunciation help. DEFINITELY worth the download so you don’t embarrass yourself trying.

Friday night, we had dinner at Boutary Restaurant which was fancy, French & FABULOUS. Just the way us classy women wanted to spend our hard-earned Euros. To start, we shared Boutary’s own, specialty caviar served on a bed of creamy potatoes. I never thought I’d be into caviar, but, woah, now I get the hype. I then had the created-just-for-moi veggie main – chanterelle mushroom ravioli & we shared every dessert on the menu, along with lots of red wine. It was all so incredible that I forgot to take any photos, so you’ll have to take my word for the presentation value as well. Added bonus: The refreshing political, educational & feminist conversation that was flowing was just as captivating!

After dinner, we made our way to la tour Eiffel, as good tourists do! To be honest, it wasn’t really as impressive as I had imagined & people always remark about. (Disclaimer:  left my glasses at home by accident & it was raining, so who really knows…). It was a pretty, glittering monument & we got some lovely pictures of it. Obviously worth seeing, but I appreciated the general architecture of the city just as much – hello, creepy gargoyles of Notre Dame!

Our Airbnb was very centrally located, right by Porte Saint-Martin & in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, which had a very local feel. Traditional boulangeries & pâtisseries (like the one pictured just below) literally filled the air with sweet scents in the morning, & the attendants did not speak very much English. It was cool to get a feel for where Yo Pros like us might live if we were Parisians & every corner cafe looked inviting. The metro system there was pretty easy to manoeuvre, though walking was by far my favourite way to get around (as it is in any city), so not to miss anything.

Saturday morning, we headed to the 4th arrondissement to catch a glimpse of the Notre Dame, which was recently cleaned & looking gorg. It was grand & definitely brought forth Disney-movie memories! Across the Seine there was a cute, little, Christmas market where I got a glass of mulled wine, which was of course delicious & we browsed for souvenirs.

The Notre Dame – all scrubbed up!

The best travel buddies!

We took a walk to the 6th arrondissement of Paris to see Jardin du Luxembourg. The palace was certainly majestic, though I have been told it’s best to visit in the Spring/Summer when all the flowers have bloomed & the lawns are covered in people eating, drinking & lounging. I imagine you could spend a whole lot of time doing all of the above, especially in Paris in the sun!

We headed to Montmartre to begin a 3.5 hour Secret Food Tour – which was just as awesome as it sounds! With a small group of 9, it was super-intimate. Our guide was young, fun & knew the neighbourhood & its merchants extremely well. Montmartre is the area where a young & poor Picasso spent most of his early days in the studio – painting, drinking & conversing with other artists. Apparently, it was a pretty sketchy area until around 20 years ago, when the city set to clean it up & it became a haven for the arts, food, shopping & nightlife. It also became home to the Wall of Love (which was erected in 2000).

The Wall of Love – “I love you” is written 311 times in 250 languages.

The food tour was very secretive – hence the name – & we weren’t sure of the format we’d be following. Basically, our guide explained that her goal was to teach us to shop like Parisians, so we could take the provided knowledge & never have to step foot in a supermarket there. We stopped by a fromagerie, boucher, boulangerie, chocolat & macaron shop, pâtisserie & crêperie. We sampled items from each locale & our guide grabbed loads more to take with us.

We followed her to a “secret location” which ended up being a beautifully set, wooden table, down spiral stairs, within the arched, brick, basement of a tiny storefront – very cool, cozy & unexpected (sorry for the adjective overload!). She took us through multiple courses of cheeses, meats, different types of baguettes paired with specially chosen wines & produce…we were in heaven! There were so many different tastes, types, scents, etc. etc. we were all SUPER stuffed after about 3 rounds + all the tasting we’d done along the way. Then came more & more & the pastries & a special, raspberry cake for Mel’s birthday – which we all somehow found some more room for. It really was THAT good.

Brillat aux truffle aka HEAVEN ON EARTH.

We all stumbled out of there filled to the brim with amazing food, wine & fuzzy feelings. I’d totally recommend this tour to anyone thinking of visiting & will definitely be checking out one of their other neighbourhood food tours when me & Rob visit in the future.

Since Montemarte was really quirky, Christmas-y & cozy, we decided to spend the rest of the evening bar-hopping & revisiting some of the shops we’d stopped at on the tour for edible souvenirs.

Santé!

After some shopping, more wine, & exploring, we climbed the hill to catch a view of the Eiffel Tour once more, as we heard it was a good one. The picture above doesn’t do it justice, as I was only working with my iPhone at the time. This trip actually inspired me to purchase a mirrorless camera: the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III to be exact. Stay tuned for MUCH better photos from here on out!

We decided we needed some more wine of course (when in Paris…) – so we settled on Restaurant Chez Eugene. I mean, look at those lights! There was live music playing in English & French & we got a cozy corner up on the top floor under the confetti-covered ceiling. We consumed a couple of bottles while sharing dog photos & work stories. It was all great fun & a fab way to round out our quick trip!

For me, the big lesson of this trip was to take country stereotypes with a grain of salt & definitely, definitely go to Paris… if only for the wine, cheese, bread & architecture. It’s 100% worth a side-eyed-look or two.

Au revoir!

xJess

Just back from a flying visit (both literally & figuratively) to New York. Though we’re back from our honeymoon less than a month, we couldn’t miss our bestie Nikki’s 30th birthday. It’s extremely difficult to balance which occasions we head across the ocean for, especially when so many important things happen within the span of a year.

Around a year ago, we heard that Norwegian Airlines was to launch cheap, direct flights to & from New York’s Stewart Airport. Stewart is in Newburgh, NY, about a 1.5 hour drive from NYC, & NYC is where a bunch of my friends live & a quick train away from my family. We paid about £250 ($330) each for round trip flights between Edinburgh & New York. Seemed a bit too good to be true, so we were leery of testing it out. SO WORTH IT!

They have a bus that takes you directly from the airport to NYC’s Port Authority for £15 ($20) if you’re looking to get into the city. For all my NY/NJ peeps, they also have these same cheap, direct flights going between Stewart & Dublin, Belfast & London…if you wanted to come visit me with a pit stop somewhere between! (Just sayin’.)

The plane seats didn’t have TVs (which we were aware of beforehand), but you can just download movies before you go & bring them with! The flight attendant mentioned they were in the process of switching over the planes to ones with personal TVs – so stay tuned for that as well. Because of the reduced price, you also don’t get a checked bag, to pick your seat, or an in-flight meal – all things you can add-on, or prep for beforehand, so they’re barely noticeable. They always run out of vegetarian meals anyways!

We had a whole day to kill since we arrived on Thursday evening, so we took an Uber to Newburgh’s town centre. We honestly felt like we traveled back in time when we got to the bowling alley. Not only were the prices stuck in the ’80s, so were the ads, lanes, shoes, vending machines, arcade games, etc. etc. It was AWESOME. V Stranger Things-esque (minus The Upside Down, thankfully!). Five games, four shoes & 2 pitchers of beer later, we were only out about £38 ($50) – CRAZY!

Nikki rented a cabin up in Woodstock, which was a short drive from Newburgh, & her friend Andrew was kind enough to pick us up on the way. We quickly realised that Radio Woodstock (100.1 WDST) was probably one of the best stations we’d ever listened to. Not shocking, considering the vibe of the area, but what was amazing was that we didn’t notice one commercial. Definitely unplug your phones from the aux if you’re driving through, & you’ll likely stumble onto your new, favourite tune. Alternatively, you can check it out online, streaming live here. You’re welcome!

Fall foliage inside & out.

…the 3 best friends that anyone could have!

Upstate New York is pretty much made for an autumn rendezvous, so it was the perfect time of year to check it out. The fall foliage was gorgeous, the woods extremely peaceful & quiet – almost like the beginning scenes from a horror film (to my creepy delight!).  Our house had a fire pit, hot tub & plenty of space for the whole group to enjoy lots of food, laughs, drinks & themed nights.

Woodstock itself was the quaintest, coolest town I’d ever been to & pretty much what I was hoping for. Of course you can’t hear the name Woodstock without thinking of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair of 1969. Fun fact: Woodstock Festival actually happened in Bethel, NY – about 60 miles away. It was originally meant to be held in Woodstock, but they couldn’t secure a location there, hence the name that’s gone down in history.

The town itself is every bit as vintage & stylish as one might imagine. Rob & I are both massive fans of ’60s/’70s rock & roll, so we were excited to check out the record stores for sure. I’m also a huge sucker for vintage clothing, so I was very eager to do some shopping. Because we each only had a small carry-on, we were spatially limited, but definitely accepted the challenge.

I found a serious, hidden gem in the amazing Rock City Vintage…a burnt orange suede jacket for under £30 ($40)! Definitely check that shop out, as well as CandleStock, which houses literally any type of candle you can imagine & then some. It has a drip mound of candle wax that began in 1969 & is completely amazing, mesmerising & glow-in-the-dark!

Candle tower…dripping since 1969.

Take a walk down Tinker Street & you’ll pass loads of shops set inside of old homes & so much you’d like to take with you that you’ll wish you’d splurged for those extra carry-on bags at the airport. I’m not joking, this town centre looks like the set of every “quaint” town in a TV show/movie. TOO. CUTE.

Shindig has awesome brunch options for vegetarians & meat lovers alike + a Fentimans cocktail that was both delicious & hefty. We spent most of Sunday evening chilling in what’s sure to be the sweetest spot in the area, Station Bar & Curio – grOovy tunes, great, local beers on tap, lovely bartender named Lily! THE place to waste a day away while waiting for a flight (Grilled cheese, Pac Man, pool table – need I say more?).

Rob trapped inside a pint!

We had the best weekend celebrating Nikki, breathing that fresh mountain air & milling about in a town we instantly felt deeply connected to. Woodstock, I’m 100% certain it won’t be the last time we meet – until next time, for reals!

xJess

Hi all! Now that we’ve been back-to-reality for 2 weeks, I thought I’d share some of the pics from me & Rob’s honeymoon in Cuba (+ a few from the extra day we spent in New Orleans post-wedding).

Our 2 families combined for a bOozy brunch = the BEST way to end wedding festivities!

Rob was VERY excited about the bacon happy hour at Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar & Bistro.

We greatly appreciated the roses they sent to our table since it was our honeymoon!

Next stop… Cuba!

A cheeky snap to start off!

Fusterlandia

For the first half of our trip, we stayed 30mins outside of Havana in Jaimanitas. Our host was named Maria, & she was like our Cuban Godmother, always watching out for us & reading those we interacted with. Her back patio had steps right into the ocean & we spent every morning out there eating her homemade breakfasts. We also just so happened to be right around the corner from a well-known art project called Fusterlandia.

It’s an ongoing project (more than 20 years in the making!), dreamt up & brought to life by Cuban artist, José Rodriguez Fuster. The centre of it all is his house & studio, where he still lives/works. People like us are allowed to roam around it all day to view the sculptures & structures covered in mosaic & his gallery of paintings.

This project doesn’t stop at his property though, more than 80 residencies/benches/signs/walls, etc. have his artistic touch, making this an amazing & psychedelic area to stay. Highly recommend!

Eye see you.

Viva Cuba!

This guy had poor timing.

Found a kiln!

The Fuster piece right outside our Airbnb.

Vintage car tour!

Did you know they had vintage cars in Cuba?! Of course you did. Like the tourists we were, we had a dapper chap pick us up in a 1965 convertible & drive us around to see the sights & sounds of the big city for a few hours.

Our driver didn’t speak any English, so while we didn’t get much background on the places passing by, we had a blast in that amazing car with the wind in our hair & reggaeton bumping. The language barrier was actually far more of a problem than we imagined, so if you’re thinking of visiting – learn some Spanish first…or at the very least, download a translator app offline (you can’t do it while there), it is necessary!

We did somehow manage to communicate that we wanted to stop for top cigars & rum of course! And he delivered. All-in-all – a FAB experience that one can only really get properly (& affordably) in Cuba.

Havana days, Havana nights!

The nightlife in Havana was fun, but not as we expected! We probably weren’t going to the right places (or were following too many stereotypes), but we didn’t see people salsa dancing everywhere like we’d hoped. We took salsa lessons early on in the trip (at La Casa del Son) & our instructors were super-fun & very beautiful. We didn’t leave with quite the moves they had, but we did learn the basics & hoped to debut them that night. Sadly, that didn’t happen, but we heard a ton of great, live music, drank loads of rum & ate a lot of tasty food.

As a mostly-vegetarian-sometimes-pescetarian, I was worried since I’d heard Cuba wasn’t very veggie-friendly. Lucky for me, the only kind of fish I like is shellfish, & they had a ton of it for cheap. I’ve never had so much lobster in my life! Honestly, one place we went, I was served 3 lobster tails on my plate… & for only 20CUC (about £15). I was in shellfish heaven!

Mid-week, we relocated to Old Havana & our Airbnb was on the busiest pedestrian street in the area. A total shift change! Much time (& many cuba libres) were consumed on the corner balcony of our suite. Downstairs, a Cuban band & a cart selling freshly made churros really rounded out the sights & sounds for us. Our lovely Airbnb host Anita made us breakfast each morning featuring fresh juices, omelettes & fruit. Cuban coffee is the bomb.com & we enjoyed every pot we drank. Highly recommend this spot for anyone looking to stay in the middle of it all!

Many Cuba Libres were harmed in the making of this timer-pic.

The Fábrica de Arte Cubano was a HUGE arts space (think design, galleries, music, food).

Day trip to Viñales

Once-in-a-lifetime experiences were had in Viñales! We drove nearly 3 hours west of Havana & rode horses through a massive tobacco farm & its surrounding forests. We stopped along the way to learn (try & buy!) how to roll cigars from the family that creates some of the best. Picked guava fruit from trees & ate it while riding to secret caves where we tightly squeezed through cavern passageways & out the other side to a waterfall.

We stopped midway & tasted the rum, coffee & honey made onsite – this honey was UNREAL. We purchased some coffee & that bomb honey, had a fresh, fruit juice cocktail & galloped on our way. After another leg of travel, we stopped at a roadside hut & had a few cervezas to chill out.

On the way back into town, a massive thunderstorm broke out, so we quickly galloped through the trees, splashing mud everywhere & getting absolutely soaked. None of it was touristy or super-regulated (sorry, Mom!), but our guide & his family were awesome & it’s a day we’ll not soon forget!

We finished up the day trip with a very late lunch at an amazing little place in the village, while the rain poured down next to us. It cost only 15CUC (around £11.50) for an immense amount of plates & sides…my favourite meal of the trip for sure. I am not exaggerating when I say it took all of 5 minutes in the car for us to pass out for the entirety of the journey back. Having that much fun was clearly hard work!

King Kong Cavern

Definitely tested my anxiety in this cave – the walls were about 2ft wide!

Storm clouds loomin’

Our amazing guides!

It’s crazy to imagine how much time it took to pick out all of this crab meat! (WORTH IT.)

Ernest Hemingway-inspired bar crawl!

Good ole Hemingway loved a drink (or 10)…he also loved Cuba & lived there for 20 years. We’re both Hemingway fans & we decided to check out two of his old haunts, while getting very, very drunk at a few other places along the way. All in his honour of course!

The first stop was probably the most famous, El Floridita, which happened to be just a couple of blocks from where we were staying in Old Havana. This spot claims to make the best daiquiri in the world, so we knew our poison before we entered. It was air conditioned & the daiquiris were frozen & STRONG. A place worth checking out, but not spending much time in as it’s quite touristy.

Next we moved on to Sloppy Joe’s where we got some croquetas & some pricey glasses of rum, neat. For some reason we were shocked when they looked, smelled & tasted like nice whisky! Popped in here to wait out the rain, but stayed for two because the photos lining the walls were cool.

Up third was a bar we’d heard about from locals called Bar Monserrate which is very near Parque Central – it was very “classically Cuban”. We LOVED it. Live, Cuban music (they played The Beatles for us!), open-air feel, cervezas on tap, friendly bar man. We just had a great time here.

Last stop of the day was at Bodeguita del Medio, who claim to have invented the mojito (has obviously been disputed, but hey!). In there hung a paper signed by E.Hem himself, reading: “My mojito in the Bodeguita del Medio and my daiquiri in the Floridita.” Mojitos it was! This was our favourite place on the crawl. We met a lovely couple, listened to great music, & sat at the bar by the entrance which was great for people watching. Definitely a must-do.

Indulging in daiquiris at El Floridita like good tourists!

At Sloppy Joe’s with photos from their golden era in the background.

Too. many. mojitos.

10 takeaways from the trip!

1. Don’t take the yellow, motorcycle taxis. Do take the bicycle taxis, but haggle the price before you get in. Taxis were the most expensive thing we encountered.
2. Do exchange your money before you get there & try not to use dollars when converting as you lose up to 13% to taxes.
3. Do use ATMs as long as you don’t have a US bank account, the fee is minimal & it’s way handier than having loads of cash on you all the time.
4. Do download offline versions of Google maps & translation apps, because you can’t do it once there! Learn to live without the internet. Get a paper map.
5. Do bring toilet paper with you EVERYWHERE! They don’t provide it in most places.
6. Don’t flaunt your wealth. It seemed the less fancy we dressed, the better we were received.
7. Do take a day trip out of Havana. Cuba is much more than one city!
8. Don’t take unmarked taxis…just don’t. Trust me.
9. Do tip the live musicians playing for you, they are SUPER talented & will take requests.
10. Don’t be disrespectful of Cuba or its people. Not everyone in the country is ready for the tourism boom that’s happening, but those who are will be very friendly to you (especially if you attempt conversing in Spanish).

Our ride for the whole trip (outside of the classic car tour) – not too shabby!

Our fabulous personal driver, Miguel! He didn’t know a lick of English, but we bonded anyways.

…until next time Cuba!

xJess

Hi all! I’m in the midst of weaning off of Facebook, so I thought I’d start a photoblog. As much as I appreciate the ease of sharing & reading on one platform, I feel like I’ve been leaning on the app WAY too much for over a decade (yes, back when you still needed a .edu email address to sign-up) & needed a social-cleanse.

I mostly just used it for sharing my Insta posts & for the admin account for my shop anyway. Once I realised you can’t update a business page without having a personal profile, I decided to just stop posting & reading as an alternative to deactivation. Honestly, how many “actual footage of…” memes & fake news articles can one person look at in a day!? The answer: the limit does not exist.

Because I live across the Atlantic, I thought these random updates were the only way to keep up with my family (Hi Mom!) & old friends. But alas, this information is incorrect: let’s WhatsApp, let’s iMessage, let’s FaceTime, let’s email, let’s write letters, let’s even use Facebook MESSENGER!

Realising I’m not nearly interesting enough to warrant a proper, lengthy blog (nor do I cook, keep fit, have great fashion/makeup tips, have children, travel the world for a living, etc., etc.), a photoblog it is! Instagram is great and all, but sometimes a girl wants to post more than 10 pics at once & wants to include blurbs alongside each image to describe what’s being seen.

I’ll be updating this semi-frequently with pictures from trips I’ve taken in the past (and never posted), as well as things happening in the now. The world is incredible & beautiful & I’d like to share mine with you here! 🙂

xJess