July was one of those months, with a lot to deal with and not enough time despite feeling like it crawled by. The main thing that happened was that we lost our little Nana, after a battle with Alzheimers. I wrote a brief ‘Forget me not’ post on it, mainly for myself but a huge thank you to all my friends, family, Kieran and family for all your messages and in general just being there.

On to happier times, the first weekend in July we celebrated my friend Lucy’s 30th birthday. She hired a Party Bus, which took us around Newcastle, blasting out old school songs while we struggled not to spill our drinks all over the place. It was hilarious, and such a good idea for an occasion or group of people wanting to do something a bit different. The driver stopped by the Millenium Bridge for us to get some photos, before we went on to Jalou for the rest of the night.

Photo from the birthday girl herself – Lucy Erskine

It was the Newcastle Motor Show as well, and I had a wander amongst all the flash cars on the Saturday, which was heaving and in bright sunshine. Events like this are always good in Newcastle, with a big atmosphere and Metro Radio blasting out the songs. Take a look at some photos from the event up Grey Street and around Monument here.

I must have been getting withdrawal from lack of afternoon tea in my life, because I’ve enjoyed two in the space of a few weeks last month. On a Sunday when Kieran and my dad were working, I booked afternoon tea for myself, my mum, auntie and cousin at the Great British Cupcakery. We had the table for two hours, and got an entire tea stand each. We came away with three boxes of leftovers as there was so much food, but so delicious we couldn’t let any go to waste.

As well as the Great British Cupcakery, I was invited to try the new Asian High Tea at Sohe in Jesmond. While the sweet layer wasn’t quite as good, I really enjoyed other aspects of my visit such as the cocktail making class and the food we could try. The bar is really beautiful, and one you shouldn’t miss along Osborne Road.

I was also invited to the Valley Junction Indian Restaurant in Jesmond, which myself and Kieran went along to. I was completely thrown by the event if I’m honest, it was a full celebration evening for their 20th Anniversary, with a set menu, flowing champagne, speeches and a photographer. We felt very out of place, having never visited before and most of the guest list were longstanding customers who knew each other. The restaurant is pretty cool though, and having been to their other restaurant in Corbridge I knew the food would be good.

We were served fish for starter, which is something I’d never have tried if I’d had to choose off the menu, but it was really lovely. The main was a selection of mid spiced chicken curry, a pelau rice with beef which Kieran was a big fan of, and a lovely cool yoghurt to go with it all. Having been there and seen how popular the restaurant is, with every seat taken by locals who have visited for years, it was clear to see why people keep returning. Everyone couldn’t have been more positive about the owners and staff, and how much they enjoy a meal there was evident.

Photo provided by Valley Junction

Throughout the month of July I’ve been asking everyone to vote for me after I made the final shortlist for the travel category at this years Northern Blog Awards. Apologies if anyone has seen one too many posts or pleas for this, and thank you very much to everyone who has taken the time to vote for me. The rest is now up to the judges and I’ll find out later in the year how I’ve got on.

In terms of the blog, it’s mainly been on our trip to the Lake District at the end of last month, and some more in depth posts on Amsterdam. The Lake District for Kieran’s mums 50th was such a good week, and you can read about our hot tub stay at Keswick Reach here. I also put together a couple of posts specifically on Keswick, one mainly photos of how cute it looked in summer, and this one covering 15 things you can get up to. It’s well worth a trip this summer if you can get across.

Amsterdam has featured pretty heavily as I thought after three trips over there, including one not long ago it was time I put together an in depth itinerary. My itinerary posts for places like Paris and Cologne are some of my most viewed posts ever, so I spent ages putting this 3 day itinerary for Amsterdam together. It’s meant to be suitable for first time and returning visitors, with a mix of tourist and more local things to do. Amsterdam is a beautiful city year round, so make the most of your time there if you go! Trust me it isn’t all dodgy cafes and windows lit up by red (or blue) lights!

As well as an itinerary I’ve also shared details and photos from the Banksy exhibition which is at MOCO Museum in Amsterdam until the end of August. I’m a huge fan of Banksy so it was pretty cool to see some of his stuff in reality, especially the recovered chunks of rock that were found when buildings were knocked down, and of course the ‘There is always hope…’ print of the girl with the red balloon.

My latest Amsterdam post is, shock horror, a collection of ‘doortraits‘, so there’s that too if you’re like me and enjoy seeing pretty doorways.

I don’t think I can write a post on July without mentioning Love Island. I’ve never been addicted to a show so much in my entire life. One morning I was trying to log in to my computer and was wondering why my password wasn’t working – turns out I was typing ‘loveisland’ instead of my actual password. I LOVED Chris and Olivia, and Chris and Kem. So a moments silence for everyone who no longer has their 9pm fix and is feeling the pain.

Have a great August all x