THE TOP 3 BRUNCH SPOTS IN SW LONDON

South West London was the first area of London I lived in and got to know when I first moved to the city, so it will always hold a special place in my heart, and in my brunch list.

If one city knows how to do brunch, that is London - regardless of what area of the city you find yourself in, you can be sure there will be a good spot to enjoy a a classic avocado toast or Eggs Benedict nearby. But, today, we will be focusing on my 3 favourite brunch places in South West London.

#1 - NAC

Not sure if this classifies as SW but it is close enough so we will let it slide. NAC is a small, yet very beautiful, cafe on a street just off Oxford Street. From the outside, it doesn't look like much, but the inside is beautifully decorated with marble tables and gold details. However, as much as I like good aesthetics, I prefer good food and that's exactly what hey have.

I have never tried anything savoury here, but their three sweet staples are too good not to order: dulce de leech banana pancakes, raspberry and pistachio brioche French toast and crushed cookies with corn flake soft serve. Yes, they are sugar overload and yes, the sugar crash will be real, but 100% worth it. If you fancy a sweet brunch, I would say they are one of the best, if not the best, in London (that I've tried).

# 2 - RAW PRESS

If you fancy a big old school traditional brunch, this is definitely not the place to go. However, I love going to Raw Press when I am feeling healthier and want to go somewhere with a chill vibe - it's the perfect place to go after a workout class to get some fuel. Raw Press is a very small cafe in Chelsea, near Sloane Square,  in a very quite side street. It's quite a low-key place and you will definitely not stand out if you turn up in leggings and a sports bra. 

They offer loads of yummy healthy juices as well as a porridge bar with a huge variety of toppings, milks, etc. so you can have your porridge just how you like it. I am not a fan of porridge though, especially when I am eating out, so my go to is always their Blueberry Maple Buckwheat Waffles with Coconut Yoghurt, they are incredibly satisfying, yet light and healthy.

# 3 - THE IVY CHELSEA GARDEN

A classic. Who hasn't been to The Ivy? But in all honesty, I don't quite love their food for lunch or dinner - it's alright but there are definitely better restaurants in London. However,  I do really like their brunch. And I also really appreciate that they serve it until 4PM (there's nothing worse than restaurants that stop serving it at noon so you have to wake up "early" to have some avocado). 

Two dishes worth highlighting are the  Lobster Benedict and Eggs and the The Ivy Full English - 10/10 for both. 

A WEEKEND IN ICELAND | TRAVEL GUIDE

Iceland had always been on of these placed I had dreamed of going, kind of like Australia but, as it often happens with the places you want to go the most, you never find a good time to go. Even though most of my friends had been dying to go too, we kept always pushing it back. To be honest, it most likely was because we knew it wasn't one of those holidays where you booked flights and a hotel and you're ready to go - you had to do research, hire a car, plan your itinerary, etc. 

Last Christmas, I was surprised with flights to the most magical place I have ever been to - Iceland. For a weekend, we swapped grey rainy London for bright and snowy Iceland. 

Day 1 - Reykjavik and Blue Lagoon

I have never been as confused as when I woke up one Saturday morning at around 8-9AM and it was pitch black outside. At first, I thought my phone was wrong or that, maybe, it was very cloudy. Then I checked my weather app and realised that the sun was not going to rise until 11AM. Bizarre. 

Anyway, we quickly got out of bed and, after picking up the car rental, drove into Reykjavik. We stayed in a cute little town called Sandgerdi - which was about 40min away from the capital. 

Reykjavik surprised me - it felt more like a big town than a city, a really beautiful one though.  The streets felt very Christmassy, with. many small shops, cafes and christmas lights. The snow also helped to give it that festive vibe. The Tjörnin lake near the city centre was completely frozen - to the point were you could walk over it, jump even if you were feeling brave, and it wouldn't crack. Walking across the lake felt both super cool and terrifying at the same time - I'm just glad it didn't break.

After grabbing some nice lunch - can't go wrong with some fish and seafood, we walked around the town for a bit and then we drove to Perlan, which is just outside the city. We did not only get some stunning 360˚ views of Reykjavik, but you also get to walk around an underground ice cave and learn about the Northern Lights - which I found so interesting. 

At around 4PM we started heading to the well known and famous, Blue Lagoon. There's probably not much that you haven't already seen on Instagram. It is as magical, relaxing and beautiful as the photos   make it look - it is probably one of the best places I have ever been to and definitely worth going. My only tip is to definitely  put your hair up in a bun - the silica in the water, whilst it's very good for your skin, it's incredibly drying to your hair. My hair was damaged for days after and it had never felt that dry in my life. So, do yourself a favour, and don't soak it in that water for two hours like I did. Despite that, it was the perfect way to end the day.

Day 2 - The Great Geysir and Gullfoss Falls

We started day 2 by grabbing the biggest breakfast of my life in Reykjavik, at a cafe called The Laundromat Cafe -  a really cute and Christmassy cafe with huge portions. 

Once our stomachs were filled, we quickly stopped at the Hallgrimskirkja, the largest church in Iceland - it was indeed very large, specially compared to the relatively low buildings in the capital. We also managed to get some beautiful lighting. After all the mandatory photos - we got on the car and got ready for our very long long drive to the Great Geysir and the Gullfoss waterfalls.

The drive there was, by far, the most beautiful drive of my life. It was so quiet, tranquil and relaxing (specially because I wasn't the one driving). Because we went to Iceland in early December, the sun rised very late in the morning and set quite early in the afternoon. This meant that the 4-5 hours of sun were constant sunset... essentials a 4 hour golden hour. The golden light reflected on the snow and the frozen lakes and made everything looked straight out of a Christmas movie. Halfway through the the Great Geysir we stopped on the side road to admire the scenery right by the Thingvallavatn lake in the Thingvellir National Park.

A few hours later, we made it to the waterfalls which were pretty much completely frozen. It was definitely something unlike anything I had ever seen before.

After taking the mandatory photos for the gram, we made our way to the Great Geysir. I found the geyser really fun, mostly because you never really knew when it was going to explode, so it was a fun guessing game. It also meant my hands got completely frozen when trying to get a slow-mo video of it exploding,  but #content. We stayed for a good 15-20mins just watching explode over and over again.

Eventually, we decided it was time to leave if we wanted to make our evening flight. On the way back, we stopped at the farm/hotel/restaurant Efstidalur II to have lunch. We had the most delicious burgers and ice cream, all with ingredients they grow right there!

With a full stomach, we got back into the car and drove to the airport to make our way back to London.

It was by far one of my favourite trips, it was so different to anything I had ever seen before as I usually more for a city break kind of holiday so I would definitely recommend it, as I can't wait to go back! 

3 DAYS IN AMSTERDAM | TRAVEL GUIDE

For such a famous city, that is only 60 mins away from London - it has taken me quite a while to visit it. 

Yes, I'm talking about Amsterdam. 

My family recently decided to spend a long weekend in the land of weed tulips. And, despite the far from ideal weather, I ended up enjoying the city much more than I thought I did. From walking around the canals, to finding the cutest independent stores to eating five hundreds types of cheese in 15 minutes. It was an unexpected but amazing break from London. 

DAY 1 - JORDAAN & MOCO MUSEUM

We started off our trip by doing what we do best: eat. We headed to Winkel 43 to try their famous apple pie - it was soft, buttery, sweet, moist and warm. Simple put: perfect.  Definitley not a light breakfast, but would do it all over again. We managed to find a table outside but expect the cafe to be incredibly packed and to have to queue for around 15-20mins. 

Once our stomachs were content, we wandered around the district of Jordaan, which is where most of the canals are. It's such a nice area to walk around, and get lost in the little side streets. It is, however, quite a touristy area so expect souvenir shops, a lot  of bakeries selling everything from stroopwaffles to cheese and quite a few tulip shops too. 

We also ran into a flower market right next to one of the main canals - I don't think I had ever seen so many different types of tulips and cheeses.

For lunch, we decided to go the Foodhallen on Tollensstraat, which was a great indoor food market (similar to the TimeOut Market in Lisbon!) - it had all sorts of cuisines. Mexican, Chinese, South American, Italian, Mediterranean, etc. - you name it. I had some sort of healthy burrito bowl, which was really good - almost as good as Chipotle's. And that's saying a lot.

Around the Foodhallen, there were so many little art galleries and stores - definitely worth a walk around to digest your food! 

To end our day, we spent our afternoon at the Coco Museum. a modern and contemporary art museum which was, in all honesty, one of the best museums I have ever been to. And I have been to many. For once, I actually had fun looking at art. And every piece was different from the other. I would definitely recommend it to everyone that visits Amsterdam! 

DAY 2 - RIKJSMUSEUM, DAMRAK & RED LIGHT DISTRICT

After a healthy and delicious breakfast at Le Pain Quotidian (very local, I know), we spent our morning at the Rikjsmuseum. It is meant to be one of the best museums in Europe but, in all honesty, I thought it was just alright. Now, I don't know much about art so I am sure someone who had more knowledge than me would enjoy it much much more than I did. But if you're just the average human then I don't think it's any better than the museums in Paris, London or Italy. 

The afternoon was spend walking around the city centre: the main square, Damrak and all the way to the train station. We also enjoyed some warm, freshly made stroopwaffles (i.e. one of my favourite foods), some ice cream as well as fresh waffles. So a lot of food was consumed that day, as you can see. 

We also wandered around the famous Red Light District which was not  what I was expecting at all. I personally didn't really like it and thought it was too touristy and just not a nice area to explore. But to each their own I guess.

DAY 3 - BRUNCH, BEGIJNHOF & MORE FOOD

Our last day consisted of mostly... wait for it.... food. Shock. 

We started off the day by having brunch at the CT Coffee & Coconuts, a lovely and popular cafe in De Pijp which, from what I gathered, seemed to be the Soho/Shoreditch of Amsterdam. The food was really great, and not too expensive (taking into account that Amsterdam is quite expensive in general).

Then, we headed to Begijnhof - a lovely neighbourhood in the city centre which was nice to walk around and explore. 

Nearby, we stumbled upon one of the best cookie places in the Netherlands: Van Stapele Koekmakerij. They were incredibly gooey chocolate filled buttery cookies, simply amazing. And 5 minutes, later we found another place that prepared fresh stroopwaffles drizzled with warm chocolated - so, of course, I had to try them. They were as good as they sound. The place was called Bakkerij Egstorf, so definitely give it a visit if you're around.

To finish off our time in Amsterdam, we wanted to try Dutch mini pancakes - which were probably the best thing I had during my time in Amsterdam. We had them at a very random place in a park nearby our hotel, it was called Pannenkotken Restaurant De Vier Pilaren  - they were superb. Definitely recommend going. It was located by a canal and they had some lovely outdoor seating. However, it was so packed we only managed to find a table inside. 

3 DAYS IN NEW YORK | TRAVEL GUIDE

"Spotted at Grand Central, bags in hand: Serena van der Woodsen"

That's the one line that started my love for New York. It was 2012, and I have been dying to walk around the Upper East Side since. 7 years later, I finally got the chance to go to the city that never sleeps and oh my god did it leave up to the expectations.

We were there for only three short days sadly, but it was more than enough to 1) make fall in love with the city (cliché) 2) make me want to go back ASAP 3) make me spend all the money that I don't have. 

Here's a run down of what we got up to in the Big Apple.

DAY 1 - UPPER EAST SIDE

We started off our first day by consuming a ginormous bagel with cream cheese (because you must when in New York). It was honestly shocking to see the variety of bagel and cream cheeses they have. 

After eating a bagel as big as my head in Bryant Park, we headed to Grand Central Station - where a big old photoshoot was due. And I low key expected to bump into Chuck Bass, sadly it didn't happen. The station was exactly what I was expecting and what I had seen on numerous films throughout my life. And I feel like that was a recurring sensation in New York - everything I saw, I felt like I had already seen it before. Because I had. But never in person. 

We then made our way to Central Park going via the Rockefeller Centre. It was a very warm and sunny day so we decided to spend a good few hours walking around the lower side of Central Park, sitting on the rocks to try and get some sort of tan for a bit.  We walked up Central Park up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we had a much needed photoshoot on the steps (please notice all the Gossip Girl references). 

After walking around the Upper East Side for a bit we ventured back into Central Park making our way down whilst eating a surprisingly food New York hot dog. 

It is honestly mind   how big the park is - you could very easily spend the entire day exploring. But we had tickets to go up the Top of the Rock during sunset so we quickly walked back to our hotel to freshen up a bit.

Top of the Rock was the only skyscraper we went up, as everyone told us it was the best one to do. If I remember correctly, the ticket was a good $45 (they charge you extra if you want to go during sunset) but it was so worth it. The views were spectacular, specially at that time of the day. The only annoying thing was how busy it was but I guess that's inevitable. 

We quickly grabbed some dinner at Chick-fil-A (classy, I know) before taking an Uber to SoHo. After all, it was Saturday night and we were in the city that never sleeps. We found a decent bar with a terrace where we got some drinks (I can't remember the name of it for the life of me) and then we ended the night at 1 Oak, because where else would you go during your first trip to New York. 

DAY 2 - BROOKLYN 

We started our day quite late on Sunday, by eating yet again another big bagel and a huge (and much needed) coffee in our hotel room to recover from the night before. 

Once we felt human again, we got on the metro and made our way towards the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. If you go to New York and go to the bridge, my tip is to walk all the way across it and only turn around to admire the views when you're at the very end. They're breathtaking. 

Only about 10 mins away is the very famous street in DUMBO: Washington Street. It was surprisingly hard to get a good photo though as the street was packed - but we still tried of course. 

After sitting (and trying not to get heat stroke) in Brooklyn Bridge Park admiring the views, we decided to walk around Brooklyn and we stumbled upon a great vintage flea market where I got a really cool (in my opinion) t-shirt from the VMAs for just under $10. 

After doing enough damage, we got the metro back to Manhattan and walked along the High Line - one of my favourite spots in New York, where I had (randomly) the most delicious cinnamon ice cream sandwich.

We were meeting a friend for dinner, so we headed to Murray Hill to have a drink on her building's rooftop before dinner. That's the one thing I wish London had more of: rooftops. It was so nice to sit there as the sun set having a beer and chatting, with the New York traffic and the sirens as our background noise.

We ended our Sunday with a very delicious dinner at a random Italian restaurant in her neighbourhood. 

DAY 3 - 9/11 Memorial AND SoHo

We started our final day in the Big Apple by having a big and delicious American breakfast at a diner called Brooklyn Diner, just off Broadway. Since breakfast is the most important meal of the day,  I decided to start off strong by having a huge plate of buttermilk pancakes and a fat slice of cheesecake on the side - and a skinny cappuccino because #health.

As if that breakfast wasn't enough - I decided to stop by the famous Levain Bakery in the Upper West Side to try one of their giant cookies. It did not disappoint - easily the best cookie I have ever had. On my way from the diner to the bakery I spotted the Empire Hotel (I essentially went to New York to live my Gossip Girl dream) which got me very excited. 

With a very full stomach and basically unable to walk, I got on an Uber and made my way towards lower Manhattan to see the 9/11 Memorial - which was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. 

I then walked towards Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange which was also one of my favourite things I did. Not exactly why because I am not really into finance or stocks but I found it very cool. 

The last half of our final day was, obviously, dedicated to shopping. We headed back to SoHo to explore all the stores I had been dying to go to (i.e. Aritzia, Reformation and Glossier). I am very glad I don't live in New York, because I would be beyond broke if I did. SoHo ended up being my favourite neighbourhood I visited, it was such a nice vibe and it kind of reminded me of the Covent Garden area in London. 

To finish off our trip strong we had our final dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner, where all the waiters are Broadway singers and they randomly break into songs whilst serving your food. 

It was such a happy and incredible way to end such a wonderful trip! 

WHERE WE STAYED

We stayed at The Martinique Hotel on Broadway The hotel itself was really nice, with a big spacious room and all the staff were beyond friendly! But the best thing about the hotel was its location, a 5 min walk from the Empire State, right next to a metro station and 20min walk to Central Park. 

It was honestly ideal, and we could have not asked for a better hotel!