Afternoon tea at Crook Hall.

Visiting Crook Hall Gardens, Durham.

After a day of getting my bearings and a night of drinking games (this girl never learns), we decided to go for a slightly more laid back approach to Sunday; you know, the whole resting thing you're meant to do. I asked if you guys had any Durham recommendations for me on Twitter, and Kelly replied saying that Crook Hall, along with a few other places, was worth a look in. As it didn't look like we were about to get pretty wet 'n' wild up in there, we meandered along the river to give it a go.

Of course, anti-histamines miiiight have been a good idea had I actually accepted that I had hayfever at this point. But, sniffles aside, Crook Hall gardens are some of the most beautiful out there. Clarity was on a bee-hunt (not all that hard, they'd definitely come out to play), and there were more peonies than a blogger could shake her Olympus Pen at. The gardens were split into different sections: from the surprisingly tricky maze that's right in front of you as you enter, to the Shakespeare garden (feat. bust of the big man himself), to the Cathedral garden with stained glass window shaped flower beds overlooking the Real Deal on the horizon, there's plenty to do here on a sunny day.

After a while, our poor little kinda hungover selves head over to Crook Hall itself where you were able to pick up a cream tea with unlimited (!!) tea for £3.60 - giving the South a great big finger, where this would cost at least twice the amount, for sure.

It wasn't long before I had to haul my bag and myself up that massive bloody hill to get the train home to Manchester, where Crook Hall seemed a lifetime away (because it was raining. Again. Of course.). Have you ever visited Durham before, or live there? I'm sure I'll end up there again before long, if not off to Newcastle, and will mentally make bookmarks of your recommendations if you've got any you'd like to share! brb, dreaming of those scones...

WHAT I WORE.

H+M striped top: £7. Fat Face denim dungarees (c/o). Adidas Superstars: £55 (I think, they're kids ones, anyway). Topshop fedora hat: £7.

WHERE WE WENT.

WHAT'S ON INSTA.

Hats off to the weekend 🕵🏻 #durham #boomerang #video #ootd #tb

A video posted by Rebecca (@rebeccacohen_) on Jul 8, 2016 at 10:34am PDT

Promise I wasn't falling asleep, that's my plan for the train ride. 💤 #durham #crookhall #potd #picoftheday #ootd #zara #topshop #selfie #style #wiw #wiwt #fbloggers #fblogger #fbloggersuk

A photo posted by Rebecca (@rebeccacohen_) on Jun 19, 2016 at 10:15am PDT

Give me five mins, and I'll find you a blogger cliché. #durham #thisjoyfulmoment #thehappynow #theeverydayproject #lovelysquares #peony #peonies

A photo posted by Rebecca (@rebeccacohen_) on Jun 19, 2016 at 8:28am PDT

Always got time for a full English. Maybe not so much for the black pudding though... #durham #breakfast #brunch

A photo posted by Rebecca (@rebeccacohen_) on Jun 19, 2016 at 3:38am PDT

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Playing it cool on the set of Harry Potter.

Zara coat. & Other Stories top. Oasis jeans. Topshop hat. Tatty Devine speech bubble necklace. Adidas Superstar trainers.

Visiting Durham

Do you ever get it in your head that you're going to love a place, despite never having visited? Well, I did. I've been internally bigging up Durham for a long ol' time, and when I got wind of my pal Clarity moving there, it was only a matter of time before I'd booked myself some train tickets and was on my way up. I'm not even sure why I'd wanted to go for so long, as it's not like it's been repeatedly talked about online (yeah, you guys have massively killed any want to head to Brighton again, can you stop now?), and barely gets any mentions by my friends. I'm just going to assume that it's down to how much I like York, and just thinking it's an even further North version of that.

Thankfully, Durham lived up to my expectations, and then some.

Okay, okay, the weather's just as bad as it is in Manchester, but as my hair is now in a permanent state of frizzy, I was more than happy to wander from the train station down into town and head straight out for lunch. Clarity recommended a place called Leonard's Coffee House, and boy do they do a decent toasted sandwich. I mean, nothing will come between me and my love for Northern Soul's grilled cheese sandwiches (nothing, I swear), but this sarnie is moving its way up on my List of Sandwiches I Need to Master.

We then headed onwards and upwards to the Cathedral. Even if half of it is currently covered in scaffolding - damn you unphotogenic renovations - it's still pretty impressive, dominating the Durham skyline. Of course, I lost my shit when I recognised bits from the Harry Potter films, so got myself a cheesy lil snap "on set". Don't even try to pretend you wouldn't too.

I've got another post coming up on my second day of visiting Durham too (been storing these up for a while), so keep an eye out if you're a fan of cream teas and peonies like every single blogger out there. Hardly surprising I've been a bit absent from the internet when I've had to deal with such cliché delights, is it?

Where we went

What's on Insta

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Glastonbury festival 2015.

Well, what do you know, my resolution to use disposable cameras more this year has resulted in this one getting developed - baby steps. Normally a bit of a mish mash, this disposable camera photos post has a bit of a theme and, in case you hadn't noticed, it's what Lionel Richie calls "GLASTONBERRY" (sic).

From the "lasstonbury" whatsapp group to the £20 Argos tent (IT SURVIVED), you could say our preparation was somewhat minimal. Turning up to Greenwich coach park to see others with six bags of camping gear rather than our own six bags of cereal bars and cloudy lemonade was a half "maybe we should've planned this" half "we just don't want to carry much/we're going back to basics/we've totally got this" moment, but it didn't half make the journey back easier. Fast forward a few hours (wish I could've), we were wristbanded and pitching camp in one of the quieter areas before heading into the arena to explore a little. I know people say this every time and I scoffed right back at them every time (feel free to reply "...nah", I understand), but Glastonbury festival is huge. That first evening was spent entirely trying to work out where the hell Avalon was, and we were still discovering new areas right up until Sunday.

I won't bore you with a play-by-play rendition of every act I saw (that's for the NME to make up), but let's just say Patti Smith is queen, the Who are top blokes, Josh Modestep has my heart, La Roux is the Ziggy to my Stardust, Kanye's a bit of a knob, and Lionel Richie is really, really smiley. Heading back to the land of liquid soap was equal parts hallelujah and take me back, because no matter how many times you can use your hot cloth cleanser there's nothing quite like standing in the middle of an english field with thousands of other people raising a toast for the scumbags.

Of course, the million dollar question: would I go again? It wasn't all 23° and perfect conditions 24/7 making for some miserable poncho moments, but given the opportunity, how could I not? When you're sat on top of the world in the Park, there's really nothing more magical.

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I've got another dream lover.

Luella blouse: ebay. H+M palm print trousers: £15 (can't find them online, I'm afraid, but only bought them this month so should still be in-store!). Bally boots: £8, charity shop. Cheap Monday sunglasses. Rotary watch. Topshop Really Ruby lipstick.

It may not be blue sea and SPF 50, but I considered my trip to Cardiff to be a little holiday, so when better to whack out the palm prints? H+M is a store that I never seem to find anything in (being over a size 6 woes, etc.), but a meander through from Topshop to the gym ended up with me making a little purchase I don't regret in the slightest. In lesson two of Don't Rely On Boys To Take Your Photos, I've paired them with my favourite white shirt, but Luke has inspired me to wear them on Mondays weekends with a slouchy sweatshirt.

Saturday was much sunnier, so we headed into town for a wander round the shops. Cardiff is full of tiny, twisting Victorian arcades, and Gemma recommended I head into Spillers Records (she had me at oldest record shop in the world) before I resisted a whole lot of denim-skirt-shaped temptation in Urban Outfitters. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm back, but do let me know if there any any places in the UK you'd recommend for a long weekend away - I'm fully intending to rinse my YP railcard for all it's worth before it expires.

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Torchwood.

Zara coat (old): £30. Vintage shirt: £2, charity shop. Warehouse denim skirt: £2, sample sale. Marks and Spencer bowling bag (old): £43. Bally chelsea boots: £8, charity shop. Rotary watch. Rimmel Kate Moss 08 lipstick.

Guess who was naïve? I headed over to Cardiff a couple of weeks back to watch the general election. I gave up around 4am (stellar effort, I maintain), yet the others made a night of it and didn't take all too kindly to me shoving a camera in their hands the next day, when the only thing they wanted to concentrate on was a pillow. Still, who could resist a backdrop like this? On a grey May afternoon Cardiff Bay was looking pretty spectacular, even if some of us weren't too keen to capture it.

On a more chronological note, I headed straight to Paddington from work and was in my friend's flat before everything kicked off, glass of Cava in hand, bottle of vodka in kitchen. You probably know what happened next, so we cheered things up the next morning by heading to Bill's on the way to the Doctor Who Experience. I found the latter pretty amusing, the ones on less sleep found it harrowing, but my fifteen year old whovian came to the fore and loved every bloody minute of it. That evening I headed into town while people recovered, and I met up with my main welsh babe Gem to explore what the capital had to offer. We headed off to a street food market for a catch up over meat, and would definitely recommend popping by for their words of wisdom.

Part two coming your way soon and, in the meantime, here's to making the most of the Bank Holiday!

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