A day in Matlock Bath and Bakewell

For my husbands birthday this year we took a trip to Matlock Bath followed by Bakewell with our best friends.

It’s been quite a few years since we last visited Matlock Bath and my husband thought it would be nice to take a trip there with our friends to celebrate him making it another year round the sun. On the way there our friends asked if we could also visit Bakewell whilst we were out that way, as we’d never been and they were telling us how nice it is, we thought why not.

On the way there we drove though some beautiful areas of Derbyshire and I eyed up plenty of pretty dream houses. We arrived in Matlock Bath which was pretty busy and with a few travellers setup in the car park it wasn’t easy to find somewhere to park up. We got a spot and walked into the main shop area on the hunt for some lunch. Obviously that had to be fish and chips so we stopped in at the lakeside fish and chip shop and got a nice spot outside.

After lunch we were very stuffed and took a walk back through Matlock Bath, stopping in at the sweet shop and wanting it all. We then took the short drive to Bakewell.

We got a spot in the centre of Bakewell and walked over to the river and bridge, which is covered in lovers padlocks. We then walked round the shop area and over to a little garden which was full of beautiful flowers.

Bakewell is a beautiful little country village, with a lovely riverside and cute little shops and food places. Unfortunately I was still getting through my fish and chip food baby so couldn’t sample any of the lovely places we saw. However, I’m planning another trip back soon so I can eat in the little cafe that does vegan food and get a proper Bakewell pie, which I’m told is good with cream or ice cream.

Back at the Gym

You may see this post a few times on the this blog, but we’ve started back at the gym recently and after 4 visits I’m feeling good and excited for our new routine.

We’re starting with 3 days a week, Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. Eventually we want to increase this but don’t want to make it too much to start with.

I think every time we’ve joined a gym we’ve said we will go early before work. Has this ever happened? No.

However, we made it to the gym on Wednesday and I felt amazing for it. We even made it into work slightly earlier than usual. I felt a sense of accomplishment that I’d been and worked out already. It really set me up for the day and somehow I was full of energy, until I got cosy on the sofa when I got home that is.

I think before I’ve always worried I won’t be able to get ready, I’ll look a mess or I’ll be rushed, but that wasn’t the case at all. We went at the weekend before and tried out getting ready and wondered what all my fuss had been about, it was perfectly fine and I think I look decent and not like a hot mess.

I’m going to put in my best and continue with my gym journey.

Hen Weekend in Albufeira

At the start of July I headed off to Albufeira for my best friends hen weekend. This was the first hen weekend or girls holiday I’d been on, so I was both excited and nervous.

As you can read in my last post, it didn’t start too well with my flying issues but once we got to the villa I put that behind me and got onto enjoying the weekend.

We had a lovely bright red villa for 3 nights which was not far out of the Albufeira strip, but far enough away that it was very peaceful during the day. The villa had plenty of rooms, bathrooms and a nice pool area which was great for the 9 of us. I shared a downstairs room with my other best friend.

When we got in the majority of ladies headed to the local supermarket for supplies and 3 of us stayed behind to decorate. One of the hens had ordered balloons, decor and some pool inflatables, so we had lots of work blowing up all of those up before the rest got back.

After some pizzas and drinks we got ready with our mini mouse ears and headed out for our first night on the strip. The owner of the villa picked us up and dropped us at his recommended bar at the end of the strip called Albufeira 66. If you’re heading to the strip I’d recommend a visit, it was a good bar with nice bar staff decent music and you can dance on the end of the bar, which is obviously one of the first things we did. Later on we moved next door for more drinks and a few of the hens tried out their mechanical bull, which was pretty hilarious.

By the end of the night we’d visited a few other bars, purchased flip flops and were carrying our heels and ended the night with a visit to the kebab shop before hailing a taxi back. This night ended hilariously with the hen being so drunk she face planted the seat in the taxi, was giggling so much and then passed out half way down the stairs, meaning we had to carry her back up. I’ll forever remind her of that night and my favourite picture of the weekend is her passed out at the top of the stairs.

The next day we chilled out by the pool and after the late night people were up surprisingly early, although with a sore head. By lunch time we took a walk into the strip for food and to check out the England game. The atmosphere in the bars was pretty awesome, even though I’m not into football it was a great experience, especially since we won.

Saturday evening was another trip into the strip, which started with dinner in a nice restaurant at the more quiet end of the strip. We then moved onto some bars where the hen got to make a cocktail and we got to pick the playlist, we put on the most cheesy pop songs to start our night. We eventually ended up back at Albufeira 66 and spent the rest of the night dancing away in there. We somehow ended up with an England flag which made a good limbo stick replacement and got plenty of random people joining in. We ended the night with a ride back to the villa in a tuk tuk.

Sunday day time was much the same as Saturday, we chilled by the pool and a few of us headed out for some lunch. We decided to have a more chilled Sunday evening and headed into the Old Town, which seemed lovely and I wouldn’t mind heading back there some day. We had dinner in a lovely restaurant on the beach front, which consisted of a pitcher of sangria, calamari and veggie fajitas. I was stuffed and in a very happy food coma. We had a look at some shops on the way back and I some how managed to fit the most amazing mint chocolate gelato into my already full belly. We ended the night with drinks around the pool, some hen games such as Mr & Mrs and advice for the bride.

It was such a shame to head back on the Monday, although I was so excited to see my husband, the cats and my own bed.

After this weekend I would be excited to go on more girly weekends. Being quite awkward around new people I have to admit I was quite anxious but I had an amazing weekend that I will always remember.

Anxiety – My Problems With Flying

At the start of the July I went to Portugal for one of my best friends hen do. It’s been a few years since I last got on a plane and I know it’s never been a great experience.

It wasn’t until I got on the plane that I realised that flying makes me extremely anxious. I spent the whole flight out there feeling nauseous with my head on the tray table and eyes shut. I was working through calming meditation techniques and attempting to sleep to get through the experience. I somehow managed to make it through the 2 and a half hours including the landing without throwing up but it took quite a while to get back to my usual self.

The experience got me thinking about what causes my issues with planes. I’m still not fully clear and I think there are a few different reasons.

Motion Sickness – ever since I was little I’ve suffered with travel & motion sickness. It wasn’t the best being the one with the bucket on the bus during any school outings, and I feel like I can’t handle many rides. Which also means I’ve not plucked up the courage to try out any big rollercoasters.

The fear of something going wrong – I think this is quite common but being in a big metal tube flying through the air feels a bit wrong. If something goes wrong then it could be very bad and the different noises and feelings throughout the flight are rather worrying.

Claustrophobia – I hadn’t realised that I suffered with this until I started BJJ, but I think I have a small amount of claustrophobia. As soon as I get on the plane the thought of being stuck and not being able to get off and being surround by loads of people in the small space gives me a bit of panic. Which could explain why it gets worse the longer I’ve been on the plane.

All of these along with my phobia of sick and being sick causes me a lot of anxiety. It’s something I’m now able to admit and accept, and now try to work through them. I’ve spent a long time trying to make out it didn’t bother me so I didn’t seem like the strange one, as everyone else is fine flying.

We’re planning on a trip next year for our 30th birthdays so I’ll try again and see if I can find a way to make this experience better.

Book Club – Gone Girl Review

After reading and loving Dark Places I decided to read the highly reviewed Gone Girl, also by Gillian Flynn.

I was gripped at the start and loved the way the story was written going between the 2 main characters each chapter. Flynn has a great way of pulling the reader in and keeping them in suspense and wanting to know more.

I was struggling to put the book down and I NEEDED to know what happened. However after I discovered the truth my interest sort of waned and I struggled to read to the end.

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with how the book ended. As it took me so long to finish I’m not sure if it was because of the length of time between me reading the end sections but I felt a small bit let down after all the build up.

I’d say this is a good read but I feel the ending could have been better for me.