Hey, howdy, hi!! What’s kicking, people? 😁🙋♀️ And no I’m back! And no I’m not crying and running away like the last time 🤭… I’m actually back in spirits! (And NO I didn’t think it’d happen either😂🙆♀️💪) After the last couple of posts I was a tad bit dubious about my schedule but well, here […]
St. Petersburg || Travel Diaries 2#
We loved this post about St. Petersberg, it looks like such a beautiful place to visit. Give it a read and let us know what you think!
Hey Everyone, we are back to work again and its been a busy couple of weeks, alongside this the Covid-19 restrictions have again increased for us so we haven’t had the chance to get out and about as much!
We have been trying to keep following bloggers and do a bit of writing in the evenings, one blog we have really enjoyed lately is Mingwrites.com and we would recommend you check it out. Ming’s latest post talks about writing/blogging challenges and has inspired us to try the Hallotober challenge:
Hallotober Rules
October is special for the both of us as it’s the month we got married, we were lucky to be able to get away for a couple of nights this year to the 5* Lough Erne Resort this year, it was really amazing – if you want to read more you can find it here.
We love Halloween, we used to love dressing up and going out to the bar/club when we were younger, in recent years its been more about decorating our house and house parties. Unfortunately, we can’t do that this year but we still have our spooky decorations!
We aren’t big horror movie watchers and it’s not a movie, but we have really enjoyed The Haunting series on Netflix – Hill House and Bly Manor, we found Hill House especially creepy. I think it became one of our favourite series as the way it is filmed has you always on edge, feeling like somebody was watching you due to all the background characters.
We love a night out but at this time of year we find there is nothing better than sitting in watching TV, the fire lit and a nice hot drink in hand! So, a cosy night it is!
Brianna’s favourite was a Scarecrow, because it was a fun costume to design and do the makeup and it was comfortable for a night out!
Iain’s favourite is a Zombie, because it is easy to change any outfit into a Zombie outfit and again it can be as detailed as you want!
We would definitely pick pin the tail on the witch, we laughed/cringed at thinking how disgusting bobbing for apples really is!
As mentioned previously, we like to spend Halloween in our own home or out at a friend’s!
We recently watched “It”, to be honest we really did not enjoy it considering all the hype we had heard.
We found that the movie just kind of dragged on and did not really feel spooky/scary – as mentioned we aren’t big horror fans and this one didn’t hit the spot for us!
Brianna’s favourite is when they were trick or treating and they went to an older person’s house they were visiting said they had nothing but they would get some bread for them – they all stood at the door in confusion, but too polite to decline when the owner returned with a big bag of sweets for them each. Then it was back to the spooky cave under the stairs that her mum made every year!
Trick or treating was not as big a thing in Iain’s area so sadly he does not really have any favourite memories.
We love the atmosphere and decorations; it is also really nice in normal years to have the sense of community it can bring.
We both love a well-done scary costume, however it can be a lot of effort to do amazing make-up, whereas it can be easy to throw together a silly costume! So, I guess it depends on our mood/motivation!
This year we have been really enjoying Reece’s peanut and they have been making Halloween pumpkin chocolates!
Brianna is a huge Harry Potter fan so this list could be a long one! But one choice is Luna Lovegood. Firstly because she is a Ravenclaw. And she’s a funny, unique character who is independent and intriguing!
Iain’s favourite is Sirius Black, Iain loves his story and how it progresses – up to his untimely demise.
It’s almost the end of the month and you might not have time to participate, but if you would like to complete the challenge and get a mention let us know!
Thanks for joining us, Brianna and Iain.
Hello everyone, since we started blogging, we decided we were going to start trying more experiences we would not have done before. We recently went on our first walking tour with If Buildings Could Talk in Belfast, Northern Ireland, we were not quite sure what to expect with the tour but decided to go ahead and do it.
The tour is run by Barney and we met him opposite Belfast city hall – this was all explained beforehand in the e-mail we received. It was one of those days where you didn’t know if it was going to rain or the sun would split the sky so as always in Ireland you need to bring a raincoat – this time of year the streets can also be a bit slippery with leaves and wet cobles so it is really important to wear the right footwear also.
Both of us grew up and went to school and university in the Belfast area so we went on the tour wondering would it be all new or would it be the same old stories you hear about Belfast growing up. There were two other couples on the tour and Barney started with a quick health and safety talk and providing us with guide/picture books. The tour itself takes about 1 and half to two hours and we found it covered most of the city centre.
As mentioned we both know Belfast well, we found that as the tour progressed although we recognised many of the buildings that Barney brought us to however at each stop he highlighted a history of the buildings and streets that we never knew about.
The tour covered the city centre from the area around City Hall, Castle Court, Cathedral Quarter, and other areas. The tour route is planned well to cover all these areas and we would recommend it to anyone who is first visiting Belfast and wants to get an idea of the city’s different quarters and history.
As a tour guide, we found Barney to be friendly and knowledgeable about the city, he has obviously done his research on the buildings and cities. Throughout the tour he was engaging when moving between the different stops and kept the group entertained, as a first walking tour experience we found it to be a really interesting and engaging experience that we will be recommending to our friends and family.
After the tour we popped into Hadski’s for lunch and a few drinks, Iain had the steak sandwich and Brianna had the Duck Ragu – to finish we had a cocktail. After this experience we will book other tours in Belfast, we have always talked about the Belfast Food Tour after hearing good reviews – we think it will be the next tour!
Until then, stay safe and keep planning the next adventure!
Brianna and Iain
Ireland & Elsewhere 