Saturday, 31 January 2015

Beautiful doors from around the world

At the moment, I feel like I am obsessed with doors - or maybe this is just an obsession that I have always had? - who knows! But when looking through the photos from my travel adventures, I'll always stumble across a good door picture.

Image via www.ey.com
In all honesty, I think that it's the notion of a door being an insight into someone's culture and way of life - it intrigues me and is something that I always love to learn about - how about you? Am I one big door weirdo or - like me - do you geek out at the idea of a beautiful door?

Anyway, if you do like this kind of thing, then I thought I would share a few of my personal favourites or you can take a peek at my Pinterest board for more door love.

The Sea Door. Taken at the Druidstone a fantastic pub in Wales overlooking the beautiful Welsh coast line on what was a fantastic day.
Wales
Moscow, Russia!!! Bebe'!!! Beautiful colorful jars surround the rustic doors!!!
Moscow

South Door, St.Mary's Church, Meare, Somerset.    These doors are supported by some of the finest medieval door hinges in the country dating from 1323.
Somerset
Mint tea  . . . pomegranate salad . . . a roof top terrace . . . the late afternoon sun . . . Morrocco
Morocco
Portugal is a beautiful country with some very cultural places to visit from Fatima, Cascais  and of course the capital, Lisbon. This brightly colours archway has culture, art and creativity all in one - found in Sintra, another beautiful down on the hills of Portugal #Portugal #Sintra #archway
Portugal
Story through pictures on a door in India. There are also  two sacred cows on the facade above the doors in recognition of entry blessings for those who enter.
India


























Travels Spot: Bougainvilleas at the door in Alonissos, Greece
Greece
#Doors from around the world ideas for your renovation project - Dordogne, France http://www.myrenovationmagazine.com
France

Thursday, 29 January 2015

Let There Be Meat: Reds BBQ Opening Night

In case you guys haven't seen on my Instagram, I recently went to the opening night of Reds True BBQ in Nottingham and I have to say, I think I have found a new favourite place to eat.

Located on Kings Street, just off the main Market Square, Reds has taken the place of the old music store FOPP and embarked on a £1,000,000+ revamp to recreate it's deep south inspired roots.




When entering the restaurant, you are instantly greeted by the smell of smoked wood and mouthwatering meats. The next thing you then notice are the vibrant neon light installments situated through out the place.





Walking through, I couldn't help but stop and gaze at these to see what they were. Then I spotted it, the scary clown - AGH! This freaky guy - the clown, not Gaz hehe - is located outside the tattoo area which is a dedicated area for private hire. You can also stock a huge private fridge with chilled beers and wine.

Stopping by the open plan kitchen on our way to the table, we were informed that Reds imported two 500lb slow meat cookers - which use different woods every week - to cook their meats for over 6 hours at a time. That's 1000lbs worth of meat - sweet baby Jesus.



Located either side of the kitchens were huge wood logs and bags of coal, which the head chef informed us, would be a rich oak wood for the night's meat.

Now to the good stuff...the grub.



We were allocated a seat in the shed and started off browsing through the selection of soft and alcoholic drinks. Here you can pick up a range of American craft beers from around £4 - £7 per pint, whilst soft drinks come in at around £2 - £3.





For our starter, we were given a sample platter of chicken wings, pork burnt ends (which sounds wrong but is amazing) - like a crispy pulled pork. Bacon wrapped in jalapenos and mac and cheese balls - which I wish I could describe how amazing these were. You just need to try them!


Choosing the mains was a little bit more difficult. Reds offer so many meat options, it is insane.You can take a look at their full menu here, but I opted for the Memphis Dry St Louis Ribs with a BBQ corn on the cob. Whilst Gaz went for a Pitt Burger with regular fries.



Served up on simple silver trays with lemon wipes and napkins, when the food arrived we couldn't believe our eyes. The Pitt burger was pure steak that was piled on top of itself, layer after meaty layer, Gaz informed me that this was by far the best he has ever eaten (even if he did have to put it into two halves to eat it). 


Next up were my ribs and all I can really say is...WOW! Soft, tender and smoked meaty goodness - I ordered the half a rack at £14:95 and I couldn't finish it all. But on the plus side, Reds do provide doggy boxes for you to take home.
 

With very full tummies, we made our way back through the winter weather to take a little nap after indulging in some seriously epic meats.

Reds is just another fantastic restaurant that Nottingham can add to their list. If live here or are just visiting, I highly recommend this delightful southern comfort food. 

Saturday, 24 January 2015

Wanderlust Fashion: Country Walk vs. City Stroll

With the chilly winter days upon us, you just can't beat a good walk around the city or countryside.


Maybe this is something that I am learning to appreciate as I get older, but I love taking little mini adventures to places to discover new things.

From a nature reserve to gazing at giant landmarks. This months wanderlust fashion is dedicated to outfits for these occasions.

Country Walk vs. City Stroll

Saturday, 17 January 2015

RUB Smokehouse: American Food

It was a cold winter night - with an abundance of winter movies watched and chocolates eaten - myself and my fiancée decided to head out for some fresh air and different food to turkey.

Luckily, we live in the center of Nottingham and so often hear about all of these amazing restaurants. May I introduce RUB smokehouse and bar.

Specialising in America food and located in the Lace Market area of Nottingham, similar to our much loved Annies Burger Shack, RUB smokehouse and bar has something for everyone.

From milk floats to pull pork to BBQ ribs - the menu is actually pretty good value for money in my option - especially the 'Happytizers'. Check out their full menu here.

But, starting with the all american ales - from Blue Moon to Brooklyn Beers - we opted for the £6:95 taster drinks and chose 3 American ales at random. 


Next up was the food. I opted for a classic New Orleans dish of shrimp PoBoy with fries (£8:95) and a corn dog to share (£2:95). Whilst my fiancé opted for a brisket burger with gravy and fries (£9:95). 


Now, it's very difficult to have a PoBoy as good as you would eat in New Orleans. But if I had to mark this on a scale of 1-10, 10 being just like a New Orleans PoBoy, then I'd have to give it a strong 7.

TripAdvisor


TripAdvisor Traveller Rating
3.5 of 5 stars
Based on 83 traveller reviews

TripAdvisor Ranking #368 of 1156 restaurants in Nottingham

Most Recent Traveller Reviews
  • 24 Jan 2015: “Wanted to try this place since it opened but made the silly mistake of not booking...” more
  • 23 Jan 2015: “I decided to take one of my more laid back business clients to dinner for something...” more
  • 22 Jan 2015: “Visited for lunch as a party of two. The menu was really enticing and I really...” more
  • 22 Jan 2015: “So happy that this place was open! Everywhere on New years day was shut (even Spoons!)...” more

© 2015 TripAdvisor LLC


Overall, the food and service was pretty good. If you're looking for kooky all american food, then RUB smokehouse is your place. You can check out their Trip Advisor reviews above. 

Saturday, 10 January 2015

Hotel Le Rivage in Switzerland

This post has taken me a while to write, so I need to apologise to you all. What with Christmas and wedding planning - I have had this little beauty stored in my drafts since my #ETLRoadTrip. But never mind, I am writing it now...so to my review of Le Rivage hotel in Switzerland. 


Located right on Lake Geneva, this hotel can not be faulted for it's location and you only need to read their Trip Advisor reviews to know what I am talking about. 



We arrived at the hotel reception after a LONG day of driving from Brussels to Switzerland and were greeted by a friendly multilingual receptionist who switched from French to Italian to English whilst we were completing our check in. 

After piling our luggage into the lift, we made our way down the ambient hall way and into our rooms. 



The inside of our room was stunning. With exposed stone and all the mod-cons, this was a room I would have been happy to spend a week in. There was also two large french doors which opened out onto our balcony and the incredible view of the Lake. 

Venturing into the beautiful bathroom, there was a huge rainfall shower for us to use and a supply of wonderful L'OCCITANE products - which I also love to use. 

Image: Booking.com
Once we had freshened up, we made our way down to the restaurant for our evening meal. We started off by sitting outside on the balcony with blankets and beers to celebrate a successful day of driving before making our way inside the restaurant for dinner.  


I'm not going to lie, the food in the restaurant is excellent, but pretty pricey. (You can see the full menu here) I opted for a mouth watering chicken liver pâté to start, followed by escalopes and crayfish for my main - it was mouthwatering food porn to say the least. 

The stay and food in this hotel was simple incredible,. 
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