Summiting Snowdon

The first bank holiday weekend of May, Hamish and I road tripped up to North Wales and ticked off an item that was sitting very high on my bucket list - we climbed Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales.  I was not expecting Wales to be quite so beautiful and the routes we travelled certainly highlighted the reason Welsh people are so proud of their country.  We took the long but scenic coastal route up to Caernarfon, the town we would be based in for the weekend. Along the way stopped off for lunch at Aberystwyth.  I won't lie, it is a LONG drive from London and by the time we reached Aberystwyth we were more than a little tired of driving, our stomachs were grumbling and we were just plain grumpy. All up,these factors may have contributed to the fact, but I just wasn’t all that sold on Aberystwyth.

On Sunday morning, despite staying in possibly the noisiest accommodation I have ever stayed in, we woke up fresh and bright eyed (thank you sleeping pills and ear plugs) and made our way to the mountain. We chose to hike the Pyg route which begins at the Pen Y Pass parking lot. I had read online that this parking lot fills fast, but was not expecting it to be full before 8:15am. It was. We were directed to an overflow parking lot about 3miles down the road and then took a local bus back to the original parking destination. Unless you are planning on hiking up at the crack of dawn, I seriously recommend parking at the lower car park from the get go, the bus service was reliable and convenient and I think the parking may have actually been a bit cheaper – win!

The walk itself is just beautiful with views that are guaranteed to make you feel like you are experiencing one of those moments that you just know will become a cherished lifelong memory. The hike up is about 6km in distance with roughly a 1km vertical climb meaning that at parts, it is pretty steep and requires full on hands and knees scrambling. Once we had reached the top we hurried to get out of the cold (it was CHILLY!) and into the little cafe where we spent nearly 2 hours drinking hot chocolate and waiting for the clouds to clear. The clouds were stubborn and not only did they refuse to clear, they also didn’t show any sign of lessening so we admitted defeat and made our way back down.

We started the descent on the same route we climbed, the Pyg, but then turned off about 2km down and took the Miners route the rest of the way. The Pyg is the higher route, so you are treated to some lovely birds eye views of the lakes and scenery while  the Miners is the perfect way to experience those brilliant views and lakes up close. The Miners has a (very) sharp and steep section, before gently easing off and weaving its way through the lakes – the combination of the two routes really is the best of both!  A word of warning, don’t be fooled into thinking once you have made it up, the hard part is over. This is NOT the case. The walk down was slippery and steep (I went down on my bum for a few of the hairier parts) and it would be easy to misplace a step and end up with a twisted ankle or worse – not the best way to end a great day I can imagine. Saying that, it is essential that you wear good ankle boots, we had some new ones we had purchased on our recent holiday to South Africa and they were amazing!

Overall we loved our day climbing Snowdon and exploring a little bit of the Snowdonia National Park and North Wales (more blog posts to follow). We will definitely be returning to the area, especially now that we are the new owners of a nifty little tent and some camping gear which we broke in this past weekend. Wales certainly has not seen the back of us. 

Brazil: Carnival - Rio De Janeiro 2012

In the beginning of 2012 I ticked off a major item on my bucket list - I went to the Carnival in Rio De Janeiro. Ever since watching Rio in 2011 (yes I know, I find travel inspiration in children's movies), the Carnival was on my radar and when some of our friends, who Hamish had known since before moving to London, suggested a two week holiday back to their home country of Brazil, I was in!

We spent four days smack bang in the middle of the Carnival and Rio was literally alive and buzzing with tourists and locals alike. We stayed in Ipanema, which is right next to Copacabana and  I would definitely recommend this location. The beaches were in easy walking distance and the area was full of bars and shops and restaurants.  During the day, the beaches were so busy you could hardly see the sand and at night all those bronzed and sweaty bodies seemed to migrate to the streets of Rio, still dressed in their swim wear, for the street parades of the Carnival. The entire party takes place in the streets - the restaurants and bars are mostly shut and street vendors sell everything from Havaianas to vodka beverages and different street foods.  We could view the parades from the balcony of our apartment and there were certainly some views I won't be forgetting any time soon.

Sorry about the terrible photo quality - these were pre my decent camera days. 

Left to right: Group shot, Ipanema banner, drinks in Brazil - coffee comes in a glass??, dogs like to dress up for Carnival too.

We were lucky enough to be travelling with Brazilian locals and they were our personal (amazing) tour guides and Carnival experts and  even managed to organise some tickets to the Samba Parade in the Sambodromo which is where the "official" Carnival parade that is shown on television takes place. These tickets are apparently hard to come by and you need to get in super early if you want to enjoy that amazing experience.  The parades take place over a few different nights and are a massive Samba Competition between all the different Samba Groups, many of which come from the local favelas. The Samba Parade starts after sunset and goes on throughout the night, ending just before sunrise, so be sure to make sure you are well rested. Having it during the night hours means that the lights and colours are all the more spectacular.

Aside from all the festival shenanigans we also managed to squeeze in some of the famous tourist attractions such as an amazing walk along the beach from Copacabana to Ipanema, getting the train up to the Corcovado (Christ the redeemer statue) and visiting the cafe where the famous song "Girl from Ipanema" was written.  Overall I loved our four days in Rio and would love to return again when the Carnival is not taking place, as I imagine the city will be a completely different (and less exhausting) experience when it isn't one big massive party.

A pint of beer in Brazil costs approximately GBP 1.50 *

* Correct at time of publishing

Easter Fun: Bunny Bait Recipe

Since succumbing to peer pressure and finally joining the Pinterest bandwagon a few weeks ago, I have constantly been seeing Pins of "Bunny Bait". I had never heard of Bunny Bait before, but as it was very clear from all the pictures,  the principle ingredient was popcorn -  this was enough for me, I really didn't need to know more than that to know I just had to make bunny bait.  Added to the popcorn are variations of deee-licious junk food toppers. Since most of the recipes I could find were all US based, I had to be a bit creative and made up my own. I decided to make these to take into work and up to the family Easter gathering next weekend so I wanted them to look presentable, which can be difficult when dealing with popcorn and pretzels.  I ordered some cellophane bags online and made some card labels to seal the bags. I think they turned out pretty well for my first go.

For the labelled cellophane bags, you will need: 

Clear cellophane bags
Blue and Yellow stock card
2 Sheets of Easter themed scrapbook paper (I used pastel blue, and yellow polka dot paper)
Glue
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors

To make the labels I printed off a white piece of paper, with "Bunny Bait" in a large font with even spacing to make it easier to cut out.  You then need to measure your stock card to the cellophane bag and cut out a square/rectangle that will fold in half into the label size you would like.  This is followed by measuring the size of the scrapbook paper you want on your label and cutting that out. Once you have all three, you simply stick them together, stock card first, followed by scrapbook paper, followed by the printed labels and voila, you are good to go!

Bunny Bait Ingredients:

1 Bag Salted Popcorn
1 Cup Mini Eggs (I used Cadburys)
1 Cup Pretzel Sticks broken into smaller bits
1/2 to 1 Cup Candy Melts
3 Pieces White Chocolate
Rainbow Sprinkles

Method:

1. Empty popcorn into a bowl ( I am totally advocating being lazy here and promoting bought ready-popped popcorn to make things quicker).

2. Pour pretzels and mini eggs onto popcorn - do not mix.

3. Melt candy melts and white chocolate as per instructions on packaging.

4. Drizzle  1/2 melted mixture onto popcorn, pretzels and mini eggs and mix. Once mixed, drizzle remaining mixture and mix again - be sure to try and keep some of the mini eggs from falling to the bottom to keep it all even.

5. Sprinkle some rainbow sprinkles over the top and give it all a good shake.

6. Let the final product sit for a few minutes (5-10) so the chocolate and candy melts can harden and then spoon into cellophane bags and seal with the card labels you made earlier.

The bag on the left was filled when the mixture hadn't cooled properly, the one on the right was done correctly and is therefore much neater and the bag is not nearly as messy. 

One word of caution, Bunny Bait is addictive, consumption in moderation is near-impossible. Good luck.