Friends, hello! Happy Sunday! I hope this post finds you enjoying the loveliest of mornings, coffee in hand, comfy socks on, and perhaps in the mood for a light spot of armchair travelling. I’m here to, hopefully, add to the aforementioned loveliness by sharing my latest travel offering: A Quick Guide to Rimini, Italy. Believe it or not, some iteration of this post has actually been sitting half formed in my drafts since 2022, which is when we’d first hoped to visit the city! WELL, it might’ve taken us four years longer than initially planned, but we finally made it to Rimini back at the end of February!

If you haven’t heard of it before, allow me: Rimini is a small city dotted along the Adriatic Coast in our favourite Italian region, Emilia-Romagna. Mostly known for a thriving nightlife scene and ample beachside attractions — neither of which Husband or I would be very interested in —, I wasn’t exactly sure Rimini would be the place for us. Truthfully, our visit to Rimini only transpired because it’s the easiest city to get to San Marino from, but we ended up being very surprised by what the city had to offer; we really enjoyed our time there!

Everything we know and love about Rimini is listed below, divided into the following categories: getting there, where we stayed, where we had coffee & pastries, where we ate, where we drank, where we tourist-ed, and where we shopped. It ended up being a tad longer than expected, but I just couldn’t bear to leave anything out.

PS: in case you missed it, this is my third post about this trip! You can read the two previous posts here: One Week in Italy & San Marino | Our Itinerary for Baby’s First Trip and The Bologna Diaries, Vol. 05.

Enjoy!

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getting there

Getting from Bologna to Rimini was surprisingly straightforward. Here’s how we made the journey:

• we took a direct ‘Intercity’ train from Bologna Centrale to Rimini Centrale, with a journey time of around 1-hour and 15-minutes. Because the two cities are so close, there are a bunch of different train options to chose from; the ‘Intercity’ one we opted for was neither the fastest nor the slowest, but we felt it was a good medium length without costing too much.

• we purchased our tickets online in advance of our journey, and because we booked a certain amount of time out, we were able to avail of TrenItalia’s ‘Me&You’ offer: a discounted fare of up to 50% off for couples travelling together. More money for pastries 😉

• our tickets included assigned seating, which meant we didn’t have to worry about finding seats together, and because they were booked for a certain day and time, we also didn’t have to worry about validating our ticket. The less things I have to worry about as a new parent travelling for the first time, the better! For more info about train fares and routes, visit the TrenItalia website here.

• from Rimini Centrale, we strolled a very flat and straightforward 11-minutes to our apartment, below.

where we stayed

Corso51 Suite Apartments // a wonderfully located apartment in the centre of the old town, this was easy walking distance to everywhere we wanted to visit. We booked into the ‘Augusto - junior suite’ apartment and it was perfect: spacious, with a well-stocked kitchenette area, dining table and chairs, extra roomy couch + bed, very well equipped en suite with rainfall shower, and a washer/dryer. Natalia, the lovely manager, also supplied us with a travel cot for Bean, and left out a few baby-friendly toys, towels, bathing products etc., which was such a thoughtful surprise. Would warmly recommend. Address: Corso d'Augusto, 51, 47921 Rimini RN

where we had coffee & pastries

Bar Pasticceria Vecchi // the pasticceria we stopped at every single morning! Okay, technically we only stopped here on our first morning — but we became so obsessed with the pastries we devoured that Husband went back every morning for takeout while I fed Bean. They were called castagnole al pezzo, and they were a sheer delight: bite-sized, deep-fried, light-as-air, doughnut-adjacent balls filled with crema or cioccolato, rolled in a crunchy sweet cinnamon sugar mixture. Ungh, is anyone else drooling reading that? So addictively good. A must-visit. Address: Viale Tiberio, 7, 47922 Rimini RN

Cesari Pasticceria // a little outside town, but another solid pastry spot. They had a huge array of delicious looking pastries on display, but I went for their pistacchio croissant because I’m a basic b, and Husband went for their sfoglia frutta di bosco. My pastry was probably one of the best I had on the whole trip — the pistachio filling was especially delicious, and layers were perfection —, but Husband thinks he may have ordered wrong. Still: would recommend. Address: Viale XXIII Settembre 1845, 34, 47921 Rimini RN

where we ate

dined in

Osteria io e Simone // such a lovely little restaurant! We stopped by for an early lunch one afternoon and loved everything about this place: the vibe, the mismatching furniture, our lovely waitress — not to mention the food! We devoured a basket of fresh bread with olive oil before ordering, along with a glass of wine each: Sangiovese for Husband, Vernaccia for me. From the menu, I ordered their cappelletti pasta with capon and beef broth, Husband went for their meatballs in tomato sauce, and we shared a side of patate al forno; everything was fantastic. If we’d had another night in town, we 100% would’ve eaten here again! A must-visit. Address: Piazzetta Teatini, 3, 47921 Rimini RN

took out

Berberè Pizzeria // a solid sourdough pizza spot. Husband ventured out here to collect dinner one evening while I was feeding Bean and secured one classic margherita pizza + one fennel sausage with parmesan white pizza. We enjoyed them with a glass or two of vino rosso that Husband also secured, and I rather enjoyed them! The bases had that great signature sourdough chew, and I always love getting a non-traditional white pizza. Would recommend. Address: Via Tempio Malatestiano, 30, 47921 Rimini RN

gelato

Gelateria La Romana dal 1947 // a truly fantastic gelateria! We only stopped in here once because it was cold when we visited, but it was some the the very best gelato we had on our trip! I went for my usual, nocciola e pistacchio, and Husband went for solo nocciola topped with a dollop of whipped cream — both were excellent. Both flavours had flecks of roasted nuts speckled throughout and were gloriously creamy, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! A must-visit. Address: Piazza Luigi Ferrari, 5, 47921 Rimini RN

where we drank

Caffè Cavour // a lovely spot for an aperitivo! We stopped in for a spritz after a particularly long day of tourist-ing and it was just what the doctor ordered: a cosy seat outside under a heated lamp, a giant oversized goblet amount of spritz, and a salty packet of crisps on the side! Bean stayed wrapped up in her buggy the whole time beside us, people watching to her heart’s content. Address: Piazza Cavour, 12, 47921 Rimini RN

where we tourist-ed

Arco di Augusto // the oldest surviving Roman arch in the whole world! Dating back to 27 BC — a very casual 2,052 years ago!! — this gorgeous arch was created by order of the Roman Senate to welcome those who made the long journey from Rome to Rimini along the Via Flaminia. We could actually see the arch from the front door of our apartment, and it was never not mind-blowing. A must-visit. Address: Corso d'Augusto, 47923 Rimini RN

Ponte di Tiberio e di Augusto // a beautiful Roman-built bridge that’s more than 2,000(!) years old. Construction on the bridge apparently began in 14 AD, during Augustus’s rule, and finished seven years later in 21 AD, during Tiberius’s rule; hence the two names the bridge carries. Isn’t it amazing that something built so long ago can still be standing strong and completely operational?! A must-visit. Address: Ponte di Tiberio, 47921 Rimini RN.

Borgo San Giuliano // previously the old fisherman’s quarters, this is the cutest little neighbourhood! Comprised of many a narrow cobblestoned street, the area is filled with colourfully painted houses, most of which are adorned with murals showcasing the story of the city and its people. Apparently loads of the houses have been converted into bars / restaurants / galleries and the like, but nothing was open when we visited early one morning. Still, a pretty cute area for a stroll! Would recommend. Address: Via Marecchia, 45, 47921 Rimini RN

Federico Fellini’s Birthplace // widely recognised as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, we obvz had to come here. Fellini lived at 10 Dardanelli until he was 3-years old — although, technically, the building there today isn’t the one he was born in as that was destroyed during WWII, but still! According to local legend, on the very night Fellini was born, a thunderstorm hit the city and a bolt of lightning stuck his house; fun! For film nerds, would recommend. Address: Viale Dardanelli 10, 47921 Rimini

Grand Hotel Rimini // after visiting Fellini’s birthplace, we decided to complete the tour of his Rimini life by visiting the Grand Hotel, where he worked as a caricaturist during his teenage years. Now, I haven’t actually seen any Fellini films, but Husband tells me they have a sort of dreamlike quality to them — which couldn’t be more fitting with the crazy fog that descended as we approached the hotel! It was the weirdest thing, but it really added to the magical-ness of the place. Address: Parco Federico Fellini, 1, 47921 Rimini RN

Rimini Beach // the Grand Hotel is just across the road from the beach, so naturally we had planned to take a waterside stroll while we were there… only to instead be greeted with the aforementioned fog. I ventured part of the way down a boardwalk toward the water, but the fog was so dense that I gave myself the heebie-jeebies and turned back before reaching the water. It was surreal being able to hear people nearby but literally not being able to see further than an arm’s length away. We’re not really big beach people anyways, so we almost liked it better this way? Would recommend. Address: Lungomare Augusto Murri, 47921 Rimini RN

Piazza Tre Martiri // said to be the very square that Julius Caesar stopped in after crossing the Rubicon(!), this spot is basically the centre of the old town. We walked through the square every day on our various journeys around town, and enjoyed the piazza’s highlights: the gorgeous clock tower looming over the square, ancient roman pavement, and the commemorative Julius Caesar statue. Address: Piazza Tre Martiri, 43, 47921 Rimini RN

Daytrip to San Marino // as the closest Italian city to the micro-state of San Marino, this is a very popular thing to do while in Rimini! I have a whole separate post about San Marino coming atcha next month, but it is such an easy and fun way to spend a day — would definitely recommend.

where we shopped

CONAD CITY // literally a 1-minute stroll around the corner from our apartment, we stopped in here often. Surprisingly large and well-stocked, our dining-in game really excelled here: delicious focaccias, great meat selection — fennel salami, prosciutto, salsiccia from the butcher —, fresh parmesan, burrata + stracciatella cheeses, gramigna pasta etc., and a good wine & beer selection. Truly very handy! Address: Via Alessandro Serpieri, 12, 47921 Rimini RN

And there we have it, friends: A Quick Guide to Rimini, Italy! What did you think? Have you visited this little coastal city? We honestly had no idea what to expect, but both found it to be rather charming! Hit me up with any thoughts, comments, or questions using the comment box below.

Ciao,

Vicki xo

related posts

The Bologna Diaries, Vol. 05
One Day in San Marino (coming soon!)
One Week in Italy & San Marino | Our Itinerary for Baby’s First Trip

Hello, lovely people — happy Monday! I hope this post finds you happy, healthy, and kicking butt after a restful and enjoyable weekend. I am dropping into your inboxes on this beautiful sunny day to share my latest travel offering with you: The Bologna Diaries, Vol. 05. In case you missed it, Husband, Bean, and I went on our inaugural family trip back at the end of February and it went so well! We spent one week gallivanting around the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and had the very best time. Our trip started in Bologna, the capital of the region, and from there we moved onwards to Rimini and also to San Marino.

Before we dive in, just a quick PSA: my first piece from this trip — One Week in Italy & San Marino | Our Itinerary for Baby’s First Trip — hit the blog last month! A recap of our trip, examined entirely through the lens of a new parent: how we travelled around without a car, the baby friendliness of our accommodations, a note of eating out, etc. I know I wrote it, but I think it’s pretty darn helpful!

Now — our Bologna guide is listed below, jammed to the absolute brim. For ease, I’ve divided everything into the following categories: getting there / where we stayed / where we had coffee & pastries / where we ate / where we had spritzes / where we shopped. Naturally, the where we ate section is further divided into dined in / took out / gelato. I just love a good sub-category!

Happy reading!

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getting there

Thankfully, the journey from Dublin to Bologna isn’t too taxing. Here’s how we approached it:

• we flew direct from Dublin to Bologna with Ryanair. The flight took a delightfully speedy 2-hours, during which time Bean sat buckled onto my lap, chilling out.

• from Bologna airport, we opted to take a taxi into the city centre. The taxi rank is outside the main doors of the airport on the right hand side and is well sign-posted. Seeing as it was rush hour, the journey — normally only 15/20-minutes long — took 35-minutes, which was unfortunate. I kept Bean on my lap for the duration of the ride.

• taxi fares are capped for rides between the airport and city centre, so even though it felt like it took us an age to finally get there, it didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

• if you’d rather get public transport into the city, there’s a monorail that gets into Bologna Centrale in just 7-minutes. For more information about the monorail, click here.

where we stayed

The way the logistics of our trip worked out, we ended up with 3-nights in the city at the start of the trip, and 1-night at the end. As a result, I have two different spots to share with you, one apartment and one hotel:

Cuore di Bologna Suites // home for our first 3-nights in Bologna, we were very pleased with this apartment! Located a stone’s throw from the heart of the quadrilatero district, our spacious ‘superior studio’ had everything we needed: a little kitchenette, a dining table + chairs, large luxurious bed, travel cot for Bean, and a fully equipped en suite. The building also had a friendly doorman, an elevator, and a helpful manager named Paolo. We will be back! Would recommend. Address: Via degli Artieri, 2, 40125 Bologna BO

Hotel Cavour // again, we were pleasantly surprised by this accommodation! We spent our last night in the city here for ease, and our ‘deluxe double room’ was perfect: very spacious, huge bed, table & chairs area, en suite, travel cot, etc. The hotel also had an elevator, 24-hour reception, and free breakfast — which was very handy before heading to the airport! Would recommend. Address: Via Goito, 4, 40126 Bologna BO

where we had coffee & pastries

Caffè Zanarini // without fail, one of our first ports of call in the city! It is amazing every single time, and I love how reliable that fact is. We always have our coffee + pastries at the bar, al banco, and honestly, I feel a trip to Bologna would be incomplete without us stopping here. My favourite pastry is their crema croissant, followed by their pain au chocolat — but I feel you’d be hard pressed to find something you didn’t like. A must-visit. Address: P.zza Galvani, 1, 40124 Bologna BO

Coffee Patiserie Gamberini // a Bologna institution of sorts, we were the only non-locals here! I went for a pistachio croissant + cappuccino, Husband went for a frutti di bosco croissant + americano, and we devoured everything al banco while Bean made friends with two Italian gentlemen. Would recommend. Address: Via Ugo Bassi, 12, 40123 Bologna BO

Allegra // a spot I read about on Instagram, we stopped by here with the intention of getting a couple pastries and maybe sitting in. When we saw the prices, we settled on one pain suisse to share and promptly hit the road; the too-loud music and overtly trendy vibe didn’t really mesh with us/our peacefully dozing baby. That said, the pain suisse was delicious: flaky, buttery, and heavily laden with custard + chocolate chips. Address: Via Galliera, 11c, 40121 Bologna BO

where we ate

dined in

Trattoria Anna Maria // a wonderful new-to-us spot! We stopped in on a Sunday and loved the chaotic atmosphere: loud tables filled with multi-generational locals, vintage signed photographs lining every wall, people chatting across tables, waiters weaving between it all, and the smell of ragù in the air. Between us, we devoured a local meats antipasto, mains of ragù and lasagna, and a 1/2 litre of house red; everything was great. The portions were huge, the homemade pasta was superb, and everything tasted authentically nonna-made. Is it the best food we’ve ever had in Bologna? No, but the ambiance and traditional feel of the place outweighed that. The staff were also lovely — our waiter, who quacked at Bean every time he came over and she LOVED it, gifted us slices of crostata di marmellata for dessert — and even though we had to queue for about 20-mins to get a table, we both felt it was worth it. Would recommend. Address: Via delle Belle Arti, 17/a, 40126 Bologna BO

Trattoria Serghei // one of our old favourite restaurants, we simply had to visit this time time round with Bean. We ordered three pasta dishes to share — gramigna alla salsiccia, ragù, tortellini en brodo — and had a glass of Sangiovese each; everything was as reliably delicious as ever. I’m a sucker for their gramigna, but I feel the tortellini was a very close second? The broth was so flavoursome! Would recommend. Address: Via Piella, 12, 40126 Bologna BO

Trattoria Valerio // the sweetest little new-to-us find! We stopped by for lunch one afternoon and were blown away by the quality of the food and the romantic ambience of the space. I went for their lasagne al forno, Husband went for their gramigna alla salsiccia, and we shared a 1/2 litre of house red; everything was delicious. My lasagna was of the local verde variety — spinach infused green pasta, multi-layered to the max, crispy in all the right places —, and Husband’s gramigna was a thing of beauty: creamy, saucy, sausage-y perfection. It was fantastic! And the fact that Bean slept beside us in her buggy for the whole meal was just an added bonus😉A must-visit. Address: Via Avesella, 10, 40121 Bologna BO

Tamburini // our first time ever sitting-in to eat here, even though we buy from the deli every time we’re in town! We needed somewhere to eat an early lunch before taking the train to Rimini, and this was one of the only places we could find that started lunch at 11:30am. Along with a glass of Sangiovese each, we ordered ragù, gramigna alla salsiccia, patate al forno, and a plate of mixed veg to share; all of which was nice, but none of which was anything special. It was exactly what we needed — something hot, quick, and cheap — but I don’t foresee us eating here again. Buying luxury deli items to-go: yes, eating in: no. Address: Via Caprarie, 1, 40124 Bologna BO

took out

Regina Sofia Ristorante Pizzeria Napoletana & Locanda // a very reliable pizza place in the heart of the quadrilatero district. Husband picked up one margarita and one 'nduja pizza on our first night in town as Bean & I settled into our apartment, and it was the perfect ‘welcome back’ meal. We enjoyed it with a nice bottle of wine Husband also secured, and it hit every note: great crust, delightfully saucy, and fresh + spicy ‘nduja. Would recommend. Address: Via Clavature, 1/C, Via de' Musei, 9, 40124 Bologna BO

MÒ! MORTADELLA LAB // Bologna’s very own viral sandwich shop! We stopped by one evening and ordered three sandwiches to take home for dinner — no.3 (mortadella, stracciatella cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil), no.18 (mortadella, stracciatella cheese, pistachio pesto), and no.20 (Parma ham and buffalo mozzarella) —; each was as delicious as the next. The sandwiches were prepared before our eyes, laden with hugely generous portions of everything, the end products were absolutely giant! My favourite was no.18, but I also rather enjoyed the simplicity of no.20. Would recommend. Address: Via Volturno, 40121 Bologna BO

L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele // I was skeptical about trying this branch of the Naples institution, but we were very pleasantly surprised! Husband picked up two margherita pizzas to go, which we then devoured in our hotel room with a couple glasses of wine — it was wonderful! The base was just as crepe-thin as the original, the crust was delightfully charred, and the sauce was fantastic. Would recommend. Address: Piazza S. Martino, 3b, 40126 Bologna BO

gelato

Cremeria Cavour // a fantastic gelateria! This place had been on our hitlist for years — and I’m so glad we finally made it because, wowza, their gelato is drool-worthy levels of deliciousness! I’m a pistachio and hazelnut diehard so I didn’t bother trying anything else, but Husband also tried their coffee flavour; they were all delicious! We enjoyed everything so much that we actually stopped in every single day of our trip, and it’s hands-down our new favourite gelato spot in the city. A must-visit. Address: P.za Cavour, 1d, 40124 Bologna BO

where we had a spritz

Bar Senza Nome // our absolute favourite place for a spritz in the city! Run completely by hearing impaired staff, they read your lips for your order — due Aperol Spritz, per favore — and it is never not amazing. Great value, relaxed atmosphere, and a wonderful spot for a date — regardless of whether you have a baby tucked into the corner beside you or not. A must-visit. Address: Via Belvedere, 11 B, 40121 Bologna BO

Camera A Sud // a close second favourite after the above! We sat at a table outside — for an easy escape with Bean if we had to! — under heated lamps, with romantic fairy lights strung across the alley above us, but the inside of this bar is equally as lovely and quirky. Another good value spot, with a casual and laidback student atmosphere. Would recommend. Address: Via Valdonica, 5, 40126 Bologna BO

where we shopped

Tamburini // for fresh sliced charcuterie and fancy Italian cheese. We stop here every single visit for some goodies, but this particular time we bought soft creamy pecorino, fennel salami, and big slices of local mortadella. Address: Via Caprarie, 1, 40124 Bologna BO

Paolo Atti & Figli Panificio // right next door to the above, this is where we bought the bread to have with our meats + cheeses. Address: Via Drapperie, 6a, 40124 Bologna BO

Signorvino // a fancy wine shop; we stopped in for a nice bottle of Sangiovese one evening. Address: Piazza Maggiore, 1/C, 40124 Bologna BO

Pam Local // handy convenience stores dotted around the city. We stopped into two locations during our visit for some basics: olive oil, bags of crisps, beer, wine, and chocolate. Address: Via Clavature, 17B, 40124 Bologna BO and Via IV Novembre, 16, 40123 Bologna BO

TUDAY CONAD // another convenience store, also good for basics. Address: Via dell'Indipendenza, 11, 40126 Bologna BO

And there we have it, friends: The Bologna Diaries, Vol. 05 — I hope you enjoyed it! I’ll be back soon with my Rimini round-up, promise!

Hugs,

Vicki xo

related posts

72 Hours in Bologna, The Emilia-Romagna Capital
A Quick Guide to Rimini, Italy
One Week in Italy & San Marino | Our Itinerary for Baby’s First Trip

Hello, friends! Happy Sunday! I hope this post finds you well rested, appropriately caffeinated, and with some nice plans for the day ahead: a cosy day on the couch watching films, going for a walk with the fam-bam, or perhaps meeting a friend for coffee; I myself have plans for the latter and am very excited about it. First though, I thought I’d drop briefly into your inboxes to share our Monthly Musings: April 2026 post. I did have hopes and dreams of sending this post out last weekend, as per our usual scheduling, but I fell down a crafting rabbit hole and was too busy making felt birthday crowns to get my life together — but more on that below. So, shall we?

Our musings for the beautiful month ahead are listed below. All the usual suspects are there — travel, recipes, movies, books —, but because I can’t leave well enough alone, there’s a couple of additional tidbits thrown in for good measure 😉

Enjoy, friends!

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monthly musings april 2026

Baby news: Bean is officially six months old! How so much time has passed I have no idea, but I’m so grateful everything is still going well! We tried solids for the first time ever this past week — pureed carrots, the jury is still out — and are now babbling away non-stop! There hasn’t actually been a distinctive ‘mama’ or ‘dada’ yet, but(!) there has been a lot of ‘dadadadada’, ‘rararara’, and ‘hoopf’ sounds, which is really rather adorable. We’re also at the stage where Bean delights when she sees us, gives little quick squeeze-like hugs, and lovingly paws at our faces with her chubby hands, so it’s all very sweet at the moment. Soaking it up ❤️

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I celebrated my first Mother’s Day last month! I was absolutely spoiled rotten by Bean + Husband, my thoughtful parents, and my favourite sister. There were homemade cards, buttermilk pancakes for breakfast, beautiful bouquets of flowers, gramigna alla salsiccia for dinner, some lovely wine and cheeses, a slightly deflated but extremely well-meaning balloon, and of course, plenty of baby cuddles. Feeling very lucky!

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Did you have a nice Easter last weekend? Ours ended up being super busy because there was just so much happening; Bean’s 6-month birthday coincidentally fell on Easter Sunday, and my dad’s 60th birthday fell on Easter Monday! My dad’s main birthday celebration was on the Saturday — a huge western themed murder mystery party! I was a popular saloon girl with a name too offensive to share here —, we spent Easter itself visiting my grandmother and celebrating Bean + Dad with my family, and then on the Monday we met Husband’s fam-bam for a walk. It was so busy and lovely!

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RE the aforementioned homemade birthday crowns: I am obsessed! Bean loves kissing her Big Bird + Squirt teddies goodnight right before bed, and then promptly falls asleep staring up at the stars from this light Santa brought her, so obvz I had to try capture that moment in crown form to remember forever. I’m so pleased with how it turned out! My dad’s crown had a more adult theme — Aperol spritz, olives, peanuts, orange slices, and a rogue carton of milk — but it was also just as adorable! I bought this Birthday Crown Kit online and it was so helpful because it included all sorts of stitching tutorials, shaping templates, and even different motifs if you weren’t up for creating your own — would absolutely recommend! I bought it when Jen was doing a huge sale, which I think she does quite often, so keep an eye out if you’re interested!

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Did you watch the Oscars last month? We are the only people I know that stay up into the early hours of the morning to watch it live, and I love that we kept this tradition up even though we have a little baba! In truth, I still haven’t seen a lot of the movies that took home the biggest awards, but I love watching the spectacle of the whole event regardless. We have seen a couple of the films that were nominated for Best International Feature, and I just don’t get the love for Sentimental Value? I definitely think it should’ve gone to It Was Just An Accident, which I thought was way more beautiful and deserving, but we’re also looking forward to seeing The Secret Agent!

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In case you missed it, a new post hit the blog last month: One Week in Italy & San Marino | Our Itinerary for Baby’s First Trip! I am working on individual city guides from our trip — Bologna / Rimini / San Marino, all coming soon! —, but I wanted to do a big itinerary post that focused in on the baby friendliness of our trip. You know, how we travelled around with baby, the family-friendly apartments we stayed at, how stroller-friendly the cities were, etc. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I’m so pleased with how it came out! I tried to jam every nugget of travelling-with-a-baby info I could think of in there, so I really hope you find it helpful!

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Related: we’re going away again! After the success of our Italy trip, we’ve decided to set off again before Bean becomes fully mobile — and we’re going at the end of this month! We’re heading off to the beautiful French Riviera for 7-full days, where I plan to lounge around eating croissants all day every day. We’ll be based in Nice — which we love, catch my city guide here —, but we also plan to do a couple day trips to nearby towns. Any recommendations? I’m thinking Cannes + Antibes one day, and maybe Menton another? We’ve already hit Villefranche-sur-Mer and Juan-les-Pins, so ideally somewhere new!

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Have you watched anything life-changingly good lately? Movie-wise, our new watches have included Train Dreams, The Vanishing (1988), Final Destination Bloodlines, and The Strangers Chapter 2; the first two we immensely enjoyed, and the latter two were so ridiculously terrible they barely held our attention. Fun rewatches include the first four Indiana Jones movies, High Fidelity, and, randomly, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Does anyone else ever get the hankering to rewatch old films from your childhood? To follow along with our movie watching in real-time on Letterboxd, click here.

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Apparently, I speed-read my way through three books last month! I started with Stephen King’s Mr. Mercedes, followed that up with Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, and rounded out the month with Michael Connelly’s latest, The Proving Ground; three completely different styles of book, and yet each was as enjoyable as the next! I’m officially taking a Stephen King break now that I’ve read all the books featuring my fave character, Holly Gibney, and am currently reading another Hoffman novel. They wouldn’t normally be my style of book, but I’m rather enjoying getting lost in her cosy witchy world! What’re you reading? To follow along with my reading in real-time on StoryGraph, click here.

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Recipes from around the web: we recently found ourselves with a surplus of eggs, so naturally I had to whip up brownies! I turned to Cloudy Kitchen’s Forever Brownie recipe and was very happy with the results; fudgy and chewy in all the right places! I also whipped up another batch of the Ugly Scones from 64 Wine, and oof, they are ridiculously delightful. Nothing better than a warm and fluffy freshly baked scone!

And there we have it, our Monthly Musings: April 2026 post! I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you found something to take away with you — be it a hankering to make a homemade birthday crown, an urge to book a trip, or a new recipe.

Catch you next month,

Vicki xo

related posts

2025 // 2024 // 2023
2022 // 2021
2020 // 2019

Friends, hello! Happy Friday! I hope this post finds you happy, healthy, and, with some exciting plans for the weekend ahead! I’m dropping into your inbox to share my latest travel piece with you: One Week in Italy & San Marino | Our Itinerary for Baby’s First Trip! At the end of last month, Husband, Bean, and I set off on our inaugural adventure as a family of three and it! went! so! well! All in, the trip was a blissful 7-days absolutely chock-full of sunshine, pasta, and more gelato than I care to admit — it was perfect! Can I tell you about it?

Initially, when we were in the route planning stage of the trip, we toyed with going somewhere completely new-to-us; we hadn’t been abroad in close to a year, and the excitement of the unknown was ridiculously tempting. Eventually, we reined ourselves in and remembered that the biggest unknown for our first family trip would be seeing how Bean handles everything, and trying to figure out Greek signposts simultaneously would probably be too stressful. The itinerary we settled on (Bologna and Rimini, with a daytrip to San Marino) felt like a nice happy medium. Bologna is an old fave of ours — this was actually our seventh time visiting together! —, so it made sense for us to get our travelling-with-baby sea legs here. Rimini + San Marino, while still being two new-to-us places, are both located within the same region as Bologna, so they wouldn’t be that different, you know? The perfect mix of comfort and adventure!

Seeing as this was our first trip with our little bambina, I thought it might be fun to share a complete baby breakdown of our itinerary. I will, of course, be sharing individual city guides in the near future, which won’t have a highlight on baby, fear not, but this piece focuses solely on the baby-friendliness of our trip. How we got there, where we stayed, how we got around, and a note on eating out — all with a little 4-month old in tow. I tried to include all the relevant baby info I could think of, but hit me up if you have any questions!

Enjoy, friends 😊

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our itinerary at a glace

• day 1-3: Bologna

  • fly Dublin to Bologna

  • reacquaint ourselves with the city

  • base ourselves in an apartment in the quadrilatero district

  • take the train from Bologna to Rimini

• day 3-6: Rimini

  • base ourselves in an apartment in the old town

  • explore Rimini

  • take the train from Rimini to Bologna

• day 5: San Marino

  • take the bus to/from Rimini for a daytrip

• day 6-7: Bologna

  • base ourselves in a hotel in the city centre

  • soak up our last full day

  • fly from Bologna to Dublin

our itinerary in detail

day 1-3: bologna

GETTING THERE:

• we flew direct from Dublin to Bologna with Ryanair. Unfortunately, Ryanair doesn’t allow any extra baggage for lap infants — but does allow two free checked items and a 5kg baby bag. Our final luggage haul ended up being: x1 wheely overhead locker bag, x1 small personal bag, x1 baby bag, and x1 fully collapsible buggy. This was technically less bags then we were allotted — x1 more small personal bag would’ve still been allowed — but we didn’t want to be lugging around too much. More info on the Ryanair website, here.

• before going through security at Dublin airport, we went to the Ryanair check-in area to get our baby bag and buggy tagged, as per the lap infant rules. This allowed us to keep Bean in her buggy right up until we boarded the plane, which was so nice considering she was on my lap for the rest of the day! You can also get these items tagged at the gate when you’re boarding, but the anxious over-thinker in me couldn’t handle not knowing if they’d be persnickety about the size of our baby bag. Spoiler alert: they weren’t.

• the flight took a surprisingly speedy 2-hours. Mercifully, we had no issues with Bean on the flight — she stayed seat-belted onto my lap for the entire journey, awake, but generally chilled out. To help with pressure in her ears, we fed on take-off and landing; she didn’t seem to notice anything. The return journey was much the same, except she was so uninterested this time that she slept for the entire flight — woo!

• from Bologna airport, we opted to take a taxi into the city centre for ease. It was rush hour when we landed, so the journey took around 35-minutes. Taxis in Italy are exempt from car seat laws, so I was able to hold Bean on my lap for the duration of the journey. Obviously not ideal, but seeing as it was such a short distance — 6km —, I didn’t think it was worth it to bring a car seat.

WHERE WE STAYED:

• a literal 1-minute walk into the heart of the quadrilatero district, we got really lucky with the apartment we found online: Cuore di Bologna Suites. It was easy walking distance to everywhere we planned to hit up, the building felt safe — complete with a friendly doorman until the evenings —, the manager was very agreeable, and our room was perfect.

• room-wise, we booked the ‘Superior Studio’: a spacious room with a large double bed, a single bed, a kitchenette, a dining table, and a private bathroom. The property also organized a travel cot for Bean, FOC, and there was a little basket of treats and coffee etc. It was perfect for our needs, and great being able to spread out all our stuff, especially with Bean.

• this location was also buggy-friendly! The building has a (claustrophobic, slightly scary, and totally old-fashioned) fully functioning elevator that was justttt big enough to fit one buggy, two adults + all our luggage. There are, of course, stairs — but seeing as the apartment is located on the third floor, it wouldn’t have been doable for us without the elevator.

GETTING AROUND:

• the city is delightfully easy to get around, so we walked everywhere! Most of the streets are flat and smooth, so it was relatively easy to navigate with a buggy.

• of course, there are a lot of cobblestones in Italy, and in our super compact travel-friendly buggy, Bean absolutely felt every single one of them. Thankfully, bumpy journeys have never bothered her — but it is something to keep in mind if your baby is fussier.

day 3-6: rimini

GETTING THERE:

• we took a direct ‘Intercity’ train from Bologna Centrale to Rimini Centrale. The walk to Bologna Centrale is very straightforward, and navigating our way through the station to the platform with the buggy was fine because there are elevators. The journey was around 1-hour and 15-minutes.

• to make our lives easier, we kept Bean in the buggy on the platform until the last minute — which, thank god we did, because the train was 20-minutes delayed —, at which point I held her in my arms and we folded the buggy up completely. Bean was happy as a clam on the platform, smiling at enamored Italians blowing her kisses.

• we’ve never had an issue finding space for our bags on Italian trains, and this was no different; even though the train was jammed, there was plenty of room for Husband to stow everything in the overhead space.

• our tickets for this journey — which we booked in advance, online — had assigned seating, which was nice, because we didn’t have to worry about being separated. Our seats were across from each other with a table between us, so we were able to pass Bean back & forth. For more info about trains and routes, visit the TrenItalia website here.

• FYI: the ‘Intercity’ trains do not have any baby-changing facilities on board! This wasn’t a huge concern for us because our journey was relatively short, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind if going further afield!

WHERE WE STAYED:

• ideally located in the historic centre of Rimini, we were very happy with our accommodation: Corso51 Suite Apartments. It was easy walking distance to everywhere we planned to tourist — as well as both the train station and the San Marino bus stop —, the manager was very helpful whenever we needed her, and it was handily located around the corner from a CONAD CITY supermarket!

• room-wise, we booked the ‘Augusto - Junior Suite’: a spacious room with a large double bed, an extra roomy fold-out couch, a kitchenette, a little dining table, and a private bathroom. The property also organized a travel cot for Bean, as well as a high chair, baby toiletries + towels, and a handful of baby-friendly toys, all FOC! We already thought the room was pretty perfect, but these sweet little touches were just so lovely.

• the room also came equipped with a washer/dryer, which was so handy! Seeing as our stay here was smack bang in the middle of our trip, it was very helpful being able to do a wash and get everything dried before moving on.

• this location is also (mostly) buggy-friendly! There is a small elevator that we, the buggy + our luggage were all able to squeeze into, however(!), there are two steps down into it that wouldn’t really be doable if you were on your own. The apartment is located on the first floor, so it wouldn’t have been the end of the world to carry the buggy up — but not ideal for any solo-parent travellers out there.

GETTING AROUND:

• Rimini city is pretty compact, so we were able to walk everywhere! The city as a whole is relatively flat, so navigating with the buggy was a breeze.

• the cobblestone situation here is definitely more aggressive than that in Bologna, which Bean didn’t love, but if we took it slow it wasn’t really an issue.

day 5: san marino

GETTING THERE:

• for our daytrip to San Marino, we took a Bonelli Bus shuttle from the Arch of Augustus in Rimini, with a journey time of about 1-hour. The shuttle goes between the two cities once every 1.5-hours or so, and apparently they run every single day! For more info, visit the Bonelli Bus website here.

• while you can buy your tickets directly onboard from the driver, we bought our tickets online in advance — and I’d highly recommend you do the same! Having a pre-booked ticket ensures you’ll be able to board the bus, even if it’s really full.

• on that note: although having a ticket guarantees your transportation, it does not guarantee a seat! We got on at the second stop and nabbed two of the only three remaining seats on the whole bus — I was so shocked! I’d definitely recommend getting on at the first stop if possible, and also trying to be some of the first people to board. They do allow standing passengers on the bus, but it wouldn’t be ideal on the bumpy and winding roads!

• to make our lives easier, we decided not to bring the buggy to San Marino, and instead opted to carry Bean in our BabyBjörn. Honestly, I am so glad we did this — she fell asleep against my chest basically as soon as I sat down, and stayed that way for the whole journey!

• for the return journey later the same day, we made sure to queue up early to get seats together. The bus pulled up about 15-minutes before the departure time, and, as some of the first people onboard, we were able to avail of the two spacious seats up front. After a cute game of peekaboo with the driver, we lay Bean across our laps and she slept the whole way home!

GETTING AROUND:

• in case you didn’t know — Husband, looking at you —, San Marino is perched very high up at the top of a literal mountain. As such, the streets through the historic centre are all extremely steep, with some feeling near vertical. I was so! happy! not to have the buggy with us, because it definitely would’ve been a pain to push it around all day.

• as well as the sheer steep-ness, there was also a LOT of steps dotted around the city, many of which were unavoidable. It definitely would’ve been a massive annoyance to try to navigate with a buggy.

• aside from all that, the city of San Marino is super compact! Everywhere we wanted to see was within easy walking distance of each other, and directions to the main attractions are well signposted for tourists.

day 6-7: bologna

GETTING THERE:

• on our return to Bologna four days later, we once more took the train — except this time it was a ‘Regional Veloce’ train. This differed from the above train in that there were a few more stops, so the journey was a slightly longer 1-hour and 35-minutes.

• also different from the above, our tickets for this train — which we booked in advance, online — showed unreserved seating. I was less nervous about this seeing as we already had one successful train journey under our belt, but thankfully we found seats together anyways. We were able to lay Bean across our laps again, and she literally slept the whole way. For more info about trains and routes, visit the TrenItalia website here.

• again, there was plenty of room for our luggage — wheely bag, backpacks, folded up buggy, etc.

• FYI: the ‘Regional Veloce’ trains do not have any baby-changing facilities on board! This wasn’t a huge concern for us because our journey was relatively short, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind if going further afield!

WHERE WE STAYED:

• looking for ease on our final night, we booked into Hotel Cavour. Centrally located off Via dell'Indipendenza, this was an easy walk to the few remaining spots we wanted to squeeze in before leaving. The building felt very safe — complete with a 24-hour reception desk —, the staff were friendly enough, and it was very handy having them organize a taxi for us to get back to the airport!

• room-wise, we booked a ‘Deluxe Double Room’: a spacious top-floor room with a large double bed, a little table and chairs, a desk, a private bathroom, and a travel cot for Bean, FOC. Our room rate also included breakfast the following morning, which was the usual European spread of meats/cheeses/yogurts/pastries, etc. All in all, perfect for our 1-night stay!

• this hotel is buggy friendly! There was a relatively modern elevator towards the rear of the building that was very spacious, so we were able to travel up and down to the room with ease!

a note on eating out

• pre-trip, we decided to forego any evening meals in restaurants in favour of lunch-time outings instead. Firstly, if the worst case scenario happened and we had a fussy baby on our hands, people are generally more understanding of that during the day. Secondly, Bean is just a more chill and happy baby during the day, so our chances of fussiness were slim. Lastly, seeing as we have a somewhat regular night time routine that works, we figured it was no big deal to eat in for dinner. We usually ended up getting takeout, but also — thanks to our carefully chosen apartments with kitchenettes! — Husband was able to whip up something once or twice.

• generally speaking, we tried to time Bean’s afternoon nap to coincide with the approximate time we planned to go out for lunch at. Most of the time, we nailed it and she slept through the whole meal in her buggy! The odd time she was awake, she was happy to chill in her buggy, playing with a teething toy, making friends with fellow diners, or watching the busy waiters go about their business.

• drinks-wise, it just wouldn’t be a trip to Italy without heading out for an aperitivo in the early evenings, so we tried our best to make it happen. Again, about half the time we got lucky and she was asleep — as in the third photo, above — so we tucked her buggy into an unsuspecting corner while we enjoyed a spritz! Other times, when she was wide awake, we’d opt for a seat outside where a) she could people-watch or b) we could make a speedy getaway if she started fussing.

And there we have it: One Week in Italy and San Marino | Our Itinerary for Baby’s First Trip! What did you think? I hope you found it helpful, and if you have any questions please drop them in the comment box below.

Ciao,

Vicki xo

related posts

The Bologna Diaries, Vol. 05
A Quick Guide to Rimini, Italy
Two Days in Modena | Our Mini-Moon in Italy

Ciao, friends! Happy Sunday! How the heck are you? Welcome to our Monthly Musings: March 2026 post — I hope it finds you well! Not to show my Irish-ness by talking about the weather, but can we please talk about the weather for a second? Isn’t it nice that the rain has finally stopped? Can you actually even believe that Tuesday just gone was the first day of the! whole! year! without a drop of rain? All the way to March without a single dry day; how insane is that? How Irish! It’s been so nice the past few days to be able to go out and enjoy the sunshine, even if it’s been accompanied by a crisp fresh wind — I’ll take it. Weather talk aside, shall we get down to business?

Our musings for the month ahead are below. All the usual suspects are there — travel, recipes, movies, books — with a few additional tidbits thrown in for good measure.

Enjoy, friends!

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monthly musings: march 2026

Baby update: Bean is officially 5-months old and things are going so well! She still loves going for walks in her chariot — aka: buggy —, still sleeps through the night, and is still super easy-going. Her current favourite things are holding onto her feet, which is the cutest thing ever(!), kissing her Big Bird teddy goodnight, and being around us when we’re doing even the most boring things. Milestone wise, she rolled over for the first time last month! It was both very exciting and wildly anti-climactic.

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It’s official: we survived our first trip away with our little bambina! We spent one week soaking up the vibes — aka: eating and drinking to our heart’s content — in Bologna, Rimini, and San Marino; it went so well! Bean was an absolute angel travel companion: very adaptable, super chilled, and had no problem moving from city to city or settling into different travel cots etc. The journey had us taking trains, buses, planes, taxis and shuttles, and I’m pleased to report she didn’t go ballistic even one time! Her easy & cheery nature made the whole trip so much easier for us; we feel so lucky to have had everything go off without a hitch. I’ve already started dreaming up our next escape 😉

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Aside from the win of traveling with our piccolina, it just felt so good to get out there and travel again! We hadn’t been away since our babymoon trip to Gdańsk last May, and I cannot even begin to explain how wonderful it was to leave the country for a bit! We spent four days in Bologna, three days in Rimini, and did a day-trip to San Marino from the latter; it was perfect. Bologna still fits us like an old glove, and it was surreal to revisit some favourite spots with our baby in tow. Rimini and San Marino were both new-to-us, and I can’t believe we finally made it to either — we’d been planning and failing to visit both since 2022! Travel guides coming soon!

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I mentioned last month that I want to bring a little more fun/joy to boring everyday stuff, and I’ve been making a few small changes to achieve this. One of these things has been to colour code my calendar. Orange for family, pink for friends, yellow for holidays, red or green for appointments, and blue for birthdays. It’s such a tiny thing, but looking at the rainbow of colours makes even the mundane a little more fun! Other small but joyous things I’ve been doing: being more proactive in organizing to see friends, painting my nails fun colours, and treating myself to an iced latte every now and then.

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I also mentioned last month that I wanted to get back into scrapbooking and, omg, it is the tonic I didn’t know I needed! I ordered some fun little scrapbook bits and bobs — deco paper, round-edge cutter, paper guillotine, many stickers, etc. — online and I could lose hours in the scrapbooking zone! I’ve been focusing all my energies on Bean’s baby book, and it’s turning out so cute! I’m almost up to date on that, and then I’m going to turn my crafty attention to making felt birthday crowns — I’m so excited!

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What’ve you been watching lately? Movie-wise, things have been pretty slow for us. New watches include The Housemaid, which we both thought was so overrated and long, and Bones and All, which, while gross, I found weirdly romantic? We also watched The Thomas Crown Affair, which reignited my desire to become an art-thief. Don’t the movies just make it look so easy and cool? Fun rewatches include My Best Friend’s Wedding, Knocked Up, and Wedding Crashers. TV-wise, we’ve found ourselves rewatching Seinfeld lately. It’s just such a comforting watch, it is literally the perfect thing to put on at the end of the day when you’re brain is too tired to comprehend anything else!! I refuse to be sorry about this rewatch! To follow along with our movie watching in real-time on Letterboxd, click here.

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Did you read anything great last month? I continued down the Stephen King rabbit hole and read If It Bleeds, a collection of four short stories. I wouldn’t normally go in for short stories, but it was actually quite fun! My favourites were Rat and If It Bleeds, but the other two weren’t half bad either! All of them had a supernatural element, which, again, I wouldn’t normally go in for, but those parts weren’t overtly in-your-face supernatural, so I was able to accept it, you know? Either way: fun! To follow along with my reading in real-time on StoryGraph, click here.

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Recipes from around the web: Husband has made this gorgeous soda bread recipe a handful of times over the last few weeks and it is so good! It tastes just like McCambridge’s, but the resulting loaf is much larger, and it’s so fresh and lovely! Would definitely recommend if you’re looking for a nice healthy homemade brown bread recipe.

And there we have it, our Monthly Musings: February 2026 post! I hope you found something to take away with you, be it a hankering to start scrapbooking, a recipe, or an urge to book a flight. Catch you again next month!

Hugs,

Vicki xo

PS: the photo above was taken in Bologna last week! Wandering around our beloved quadrilatero district, sometime between eating gramigna alla salsiccia and nocciola gelato, pondering our Aperol spritz spot for the evening, with the sun beaming through the market justtt right. Sigh, I miss Italy already. Ugh.

related posts

2025 // 2024 // 2023
2022 // 2021 // 2020
2019

Hello friends! Happy Monday! How the heck are you keeping? I hope this post finds you happy, healthy, and, ideally, finished with work for the evening. I’m dropping into your inbox for the briefest of moments to share our Monthly Musings: February 2026 post. The extra-observant amongst you might be thinking that I normally send these posts out on the first Sunday of the month, which is indeed correct. Forgive me, but the only excuse I have to offer you is that tiny wriggly creature pictured above. I will try my darndest to be more on schedule moving forward.

Seeing as we’re relatively close to the end of the month, I’ve kept the musings listed below somewhat more concise and bullet-point in style. All of the usual suspects are there — travel, recipes, movies, books, etc. — but just with less rambling.

Enjoy, friends!

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monthly musings: february 2026

Baby update: Bean is doing great! Still sleeping through the night, still easy-going, and still the cutest baby I’ve ever laid eyes on. She has started making the most adorable little dinosaur ‘rawr’ noises and it melts our hearts every single time. She did, however, hold a grudge against me for two full days last week after getting her vaccine shots — but alas, as the queen of grudge-holding, I can see where she gets it from.

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We’re setting off on our first trip as a family next week!! We’ll be spending one week in Italy and San Marino and I can barely wait! I’m so excited to get back to our beloved Italia and I can’t believe that we’ll get to bring our little sidekick around to all of our favourite places — eep! More details next month, promise!

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So late to the game on this, but I’ve finally finalized my IN and OUT lists for the year ahead! INs: more crafting (scrapbooking, felt birthday crowns, knitting, etc.), more travel, more real-life posting on Instagram, make some new mom friends, see my besties more, more self-care, more fun in the every day. OUTs: perfect camera-only images, sitting on things that irk me, being too scared to try new things. What’s on your IN/OUT lists, or what resolutions are you making for the year ahead?

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Did you have a nice Valentine’s Day? Husband and I spent the whole weekend tucked up with our little cherub and had the loveliest time ever! It was filled with pastel coloured roses, linguine and meatballs, fancy Champagne, soft-serve ice-creams and walks in the rain, the cheese board of our dreams, espresso martinis, and a takeaway. The perfect weekend ❤️

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In case you missed it, last month I started a new series: Cookbook Corner! Wherein I shared every cookbook we reached for over the course of the month and what recipes we used. I’m so glad you guys love the post and the idea behind it as much as I do; will definitely be making the effort to keep it up!

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Also ICYMI, the two final posts from my 2012 inter-railing trip hit the Notes from the Archive shelves recently: An Afternoon in Salzburg, Austria and 7 Hours in Paris, France! I have a small handful of other trips to share in the series — starting with Bruges next week! — so watch this space!

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The best book I read last month: Remain, by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan. It also happens to be the only book I read last month, but still. A good cheesy read about a supernatural love story, which I normally wouldn’t be into, but was actually good fun! To follow along with my reading in real-time on StoryGraph, click here.

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On the film front, some cheesy-yet-enjoyable highlights for me were Hot Pursuit, The People We Meet on Vacation, and a rewatch of The Perfect Man, which I have on DVD and will love forever. On the not cheesy front, we also watched Caught Stealing and F1, both of which I rather enjoyed. To follow along with our movie watching in real-time on Letterboxd, click here.

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Recipes from around the web: we devoured this Oven-Cooked Chicken Shawarma from Nigella! Delicious marinade and super simple to cook off at dinner time; we enjoyed ours with flatbreads and some cooling pickle rice. We also made many, I repeat MANY, batches of these Ugly Scones from The Rock Bun over the course of the month, and I highly recommend you do the same. The best scones in existence.

And there we have it, our Monthly Musings: February 2026 post! Three weeks and one day late — but who’s counting? Catch you again next month!

Hugs,

Vicki xo

related posts

2025 // 2024 // 2023
2022 // 2021 // 2020 // 2019

Friends, hello! I hope this post finds you well. I’m dropping into your inbox on this miserable afternoon to share a new type of post with you: Cookbook Corner! See, I don’t know about you, but I LOVE having a nose through other people’s cookbook collections, and then proceeding to judge them based on what I do or don’t find there and what general condition they keep their books in. With that in mind, I thought it might be fun to open the doors into my own personal collection and share a monthly roundup of which books we’ve reached for over the last month, and which recipes were the ones that caught our eye! Think of it as an ode to our Cookbook Club of yore, but with less rigidity about sticking to a set book or two.

I’m hoping that by creating this monthly round-up, it’ll force me to get back into the swing of trying out new-to-me recipes from books I own but maybe haven’t made too much from, you know? I’m also hoping that these posts will encourage you to deep dive into your own cookbook collections, or perhaps introduce you to a book or two that you may not have heard of.

Shall we?

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cookbook corner, january 2026

Alison Roman’s Something from Nothing seems to have come out as our most used cookbook of the month, but that’s just because it was a new and sparkly Christmas present. Moving forward I plan to try to incorporate a more varied selection of books, mixing old, new, etc.

Anyways, here’s everything we made this month and which books we got the recipes from!

savoury

Crunchy Chicken Parmesan with Burst Tomatoes from Alison Roman’s Something from Nothing // hands down the most delicious new recipe we tried this month; we loved it so much we made it twice! Husband whipped up a lemony orzo pasta salad to serve with it both times, and it was so! good! If you’re considering adding this cookbook to your collection, this recipe alone would be reason enough! Run, don’t walk!

Carbonara for Two from Alison Roman’s Something from Nothing // a ridiculously detailed, wonderful recipe! The end result was surprisingly creamy, garlicky, and so light! Will absolutely be adding to the meal plan again!

Goodbye Meatballs from Alison Roman’s Something from Nothing // a really very delicious meatball recipe. Tender and delicious, the only real negatives for us were a) the added step of frying the meatballs, and b) the inclusion of ricotta, which we literally never buy or know what to do with when we have leftovers. The first step is probably worth it for the added flavour, but the latter is perhaps a little too fecky for us.

Lemon Pepper Pasta with Browned Butter from Alison Roman’s Something from Nothing // the only recipe we’ve made from this book that didn’t wow us. It was easy and flavourful, but at the same time we thought it was just kind of fine? They can’t all be knockouts!

Fagioli all’Olio from Emiko Davies’s Florentine // addictively moreish, these beans grace our table about once every month; they are the perfect accompaniment to any meat-heavy meal! I always takes the cheat’s way out by using tinned beans, but the flavour is never anything less than top notch.

Chorizo Nachos from Sam Sifton’s New York Times: No-Recipe Recipes // we are divils for homemade nachos, and this cheese sauce recipe has totally upped our game! We were never really into cheese sauce before because it just seemed so globby(?) and unnatural, but this one is so delightful that we’ve 100% been converted to the dark side!

Sausage Rolls from Justin Gellatly’s Bread, Cake, Doughnut, Pudding // this has been my go-to sausage roll recipe for years, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Of course, back when I had the energy for such things, I used to make my own puff pastry for these, but alas, if you squint and turn your head sideways, storebought is almost just as good.

sweet

Salted Vanilla Shortbread from Nicola Lamb’s SIFT // pictured in my December Monthly Musings post, these were so good! Husband remarked that they taste like those buttery Danish biscuits you get in the blue tins, and he’s so right! Delicious.

Ultimate Chocolate Cake from Nicola Lamb’s SIFT // of course this would be the cake Husband chose for his birthday: an epic 18 layer masterpiece. A small labour of love, but absolutely worth the effort — this was so delicious! We especially enjoyed the slices that we zapped ever-so-slightly in the microwave for that gooey, unctuous, super chocolatey mouthful.

Sweet Bacon Pancakes from Joy Wilson’s Over Easy // this has been Husband’s go-to pancake recipe for years and it is such a keeper! Although the title is somewhat misleading — Joy serves the pancakes with a side of sugar baked bacon slices — this makes the fluffiest American-style buttermilk pancakes. Is there anything better on a Sunday morning? I think not.

Ultimate Chocolate Biscuit Cake from Sophie White’s Recipes for a Nervous Breakdown // we get a hankering for this every so often and it never lets us down! The easiest, most comforting no-bake recipe out there.

And there we have it, our first ever Cookbook Corner! I hope you enjoyed this first mooch through my cookbook shelves — I’m looking forward to showing you some more of my collection over the coming months! If you take just one recipe away with you, please let it be either the Crunchy Chicken Parmesan or the Salted Vanilla Shortbread; you will not be disappointed!

Chat next week for our monthly catch-up,

Vicki xo

related posts

Cookbooks to Travel Through, Our Favourites
Cookbook Club, May 2021
Cookbook Club, June 2021

Hello, friends! Happy New Year! Welcome to our Monthly Musings: January 2026 post, our first of the year! I hope it finds you wearing new supremely comfortable pjs and vegging out to the max before any real world duties start back up again tomorrow. Did you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s? I hope it was filled with all sorts of delicious over-indulgence. Personally, I devoured an excessive amount of cheese, far too many choccies, and many a festive tipple — it was wonderful! Our plan to split our time between our two families went off without a hitch; Bean was a perfect angel and somehow everything went very smoothly! We rounded out the break on New Year’s Day by celebrating with both of our families together, which was so lovely for Bean’s first year!

The last few days, we’ve been taking it pretty easy. You know, lounging on the couch reading, going for lazy walks along the seafront, and curling up under a blanket to watch a movie. It’s been so nice! We had one final hoo-rah earlier this afternoon — more details next month! — before we officially get back to some semblance of routine and normality starting tomorrow. It’s always so hard getting back into the swing of things after the Christmas break, but part of me is also looking forward to the regular-ness of life? Anyways, let’s get down to business!

As is tradition for our first Monthly Musings post of the year, you’ll find a massive recap of all the usual suspects listed below — travel, recipes, movies, books, blog posts, etc. One of my favourite posts of the whole year to write, I just love getting the chance to look back over the last 12 months and summarize everything.

I hope you enjoy, friends!

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monthly musings: january 2026

But first! A baby update: Bean is doing great! She sleeps entirely through the night — and has since she was about 3-weeks old 🙏 —, is in good form 97% of the time, and is generally just super chilled out. I know all of this could change in a heartbeat, but for the moment she seems to be pretty easy-going! New adorable things she’s started doing include beaming up at us first thing in the morning when we wake her — which is literally the best thing ever and makes getting up much more enjoyable — and joining us on the couch for a cuddle while we’re watching a movie in the evening. Having her relaxing on my lap with her chubby hands clasped around my fingers at the end of the day is one of my new favourite things in the world ever ❤️

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Personally speaking, last year was a pretty big one for me. Amongst countless other happy moments, big highlights include: getting pregnant on our very first attempt, celebrating 2-years of marriage and 10-years total with my forever love, giving birth to a healthy and beautiful baby girl, and spending our first every Christmas together as a family of three. That being said, every coin has a flip side, and every highlight above was met with a lowlight: emergency surgery at 29-weeks pregnant, spending nearly 3-weeks in hospital from complications following said surgery, being written off work sick, and a hairy and traumatic birth. It goes without saying that the highlights far outweighed everything else, but oof, I hope 2026 is a little easier on us!

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Travel-wise, 2025 wasn’t nearly as good for me as previous years had been. I travelled to two different countries, neither of which were new-to-me; however, within those countries, I did manage to hit three new-to-me cities. I took 4 flights between 3 airports, stayed on the same continent all year, and spent a total of just 7-nights sleeping in a foreign country. Apart from the obvious reason for lack of travel back in 2020, these are my worst travel-stats since 2011 — gah! Now that we have Bean’s passport, I think we’ll definitely be booking in our next trip asap!

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Blog-wise, last year was a big one! Mind-bogglingly, the readership and subscription numbers continued to climb up from the previous year, which has been so lovely! I just took a peak at the ‘subscriber locations’ section of the site, and apparently we have subscribers across 19 countries, including India, Hong Kong, Australia, and Japan— how insane!! I absolutely love creating posts to share on this little corner of the internet, and the fact that people keep stopping by to read what I share is so beyond rewarding — thank you for being here, friends! It truly warms the cockles of my heart ❤️

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Post-wise, I published 38 pieces in total — not too shabby! There were 7 new travel guides, 15 old travel guides, 11 monthly musings posts, 1 special announcement post, 1 bucket list, 2 new recipes, and 1 recipe round-up. I know the guides and recipes are what draw people in, but, between you and me, these monthly musing posts are some of my very favourite to write. I love that they offer little glimpses into my life beyond the blog and, whenever I sit down to write the new one, I always read the previous year’s post to see how things have changed. It’s so fascinating! Do you keep a journal or something similar? It’s so cathartic!

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Stats-wise, there were some pretty big shakeups in the list of most popular posts on the blog! The most visited travel guide last year by an insane(!) number was Two Weeks in Japan | Our Honeymoon Itinerary, with A Food & Drink Guide to Kyoto, Japan trucking along in second place. These were followed in due course by Four Days in Osaka, Japan, A Quick Guide to Villefranche-sur-Mer, France, Two Weeks in Vietnam | Our Top Tips & Itinerary, and Four Days in Kyoto, Japan, respectively. That Villefranche-sur-Mer guide had been the #1 post since publication back in ‘23, so the fact that it’s been knocked down three(!) whole pegs has my jaw on the floor! I’m thrilled to see how popular my Japan guides have become — they’re some of my very favourite on the site! Thanks for trusting my recommendations, friends!

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On a less stats-oriented note, here are some of my personal favourite posts from the year. I can’t decide if my fave is this monthly musings post wherein I shared that we were pregnant, or this special post announcing Bean’s birth. Either way, they’re tied for top billing! Travel-wise: I think my Three Days in Stockholm, Sweden post is one of my favourites I’ve shared maybe ever? We had such a great time there and I am obsessed with the photos we managed to capture. I also feel a particular fondness towards my 48 Hours in Bristol, England post, which is probably because the city wowed me much more than expected. Recipe-wise: my Brown Sugar Whole Wheat Shortbread is an easy favourite — I am so proud of that recipe, I genuinely think it’s super delicious. Lastly, to round out the list, it’s gotta be my What We’re Meal Prepping Before Baby Arrives post, because it captured such a specific and joyous time in our lives. What were some of your favourite posts?

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According to our Letterboxd, we watched 184 movies last year — not bad considering we had a baby in October! Our most watched actor was John Travolta, thanks to our Travolta-season, and our most watched director was Chris Columbus. Standout thumbs-up movies from our list include: Conclave, which had some of the best vape acting we’ve ever seen, and A Complete Unknown, which we went to see in the cinema the very day we found out we were pregnant. Standout thumbs-down movies from our list include: Drop, which was so dumb it bored us senseless, and sadly, After the Hunt, which I wanted to like but just thought was pointless. What made it onto your hit and miss lists?

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Reading-wise, I did pretty well in 2025! Likely because I spent half of the year mentally and physically out of action, I managed to devour 25 books! Two standouts for me were We Solve Murders by Richard Osman, and Holly by Stephen King. The former because the sheer English-ness of it had me lol-ing on basically every second page — especially the traffic talk! it killed me —, and the latter because I love a good thriller and the plot of this was wildly unexpected. Also a special mention to Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy, which got me through some pretty awful nights when I was in hospital! If you’re interested in a deeper dive into my reading habits, here’s my StoryGraph Reading Wrap-Up. What were some of your favourite reads from the year?

And there we have it, our Monthly Musings: January 2026 post; the first of the new year! I hope you enjoyed the roundup style of the post — I love getting to reminisce over the previous year before fully embracing the new one! Let’s catch up again in February, okay?

Have the most wonderful month!

Hugs,

Vicki xo

related january posts

2025 // 2024 // 2023
2022 // 2021
2020 // 2019

Hello friends, happy Sunday! I hope this post finds you well rested and Sunday-ing it up to the very best of your ability. I’m dropping into your weekend for just the briefest of moments to share a new recipe with you: Brown Sugar Whole Wheat Shortbread. As you might remember, Husband and I spent a speedy weekend in Bristol a few months back and had the very best time. We explored, recharged our batteries, and spent the large majority of our visit eating our way around the city — which is how we stumbled across the shortbread that has lived rent-free in my head since that first buttery morsel passed my lips.

Can I tell you about it?

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See, about 5-minutes after arriving into Bristol city, we ambled through the door of Hart’s Bakery, a buzzy little spot that I’d read about online. It was mind-bogglingly busy for how out of the way it was, but we managed to secure a fresh-from-the-oven sausage roll and a fancy walnut + salted caramel millionaire’s shortbread; both of which left us sufficiently impressed. However! It was on our second visit that we discovered the pièce de résistance: their shortbread. Stacked high in a Jenga-like tower, said shortbread was thickly cut and lightly sparkling under a liberal dousing of white sugar. Stupidly, we only got one to share — but after devouring it in 0.5 seconds, we were straight back into the queue to secure a couple more for the journey home.

I knew pretty much instantly that I’d have to try recreate the shortbread to share here, and after several attempts, I finally feel like I’ve been somewhat successful! See, the thing is, their shortbread is totally different than any I've ever tasted before. It was earthy and slightly chewy, with a fantastically oat-y texture, and a lovely warm buttery flavour. During my recipe development deep dive, I found this old post on the Hart’s Bakery Instagram sharing that they put brown sugar and whole grain flour in their shortbread, which explains the depth of flavour and crumbly earthy texture.

I’ve really tried to capture the essence of the shortbread we loved so much in Bristol, and I’m pretty happy with the final result! They’re chewy yet crumbly, buttery without being greasy, sweet without being sickeningly so, and, best of all, ridiculously easy to make. I hope you love them, friends!

Happy baking! xo

brown sugar whole wheat shortbread

prep: 10-minutes

cook: 40-minutes

total: 1-hour 30-minutes

yield: eight generous slices

ingredients

• 150g plain flour

• 70g wholemeal flour1

• 20g wheat bran

• 200g salted butter, at room temp

• 110g light brown sugar

• granulated sugar, for finishing

directions

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Prepare an 8-inch square baking tin by lining it completely with baking parchment.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours and wheat bran. Using a wooden spoon, add the butter + sugar to the bowl and cream together until smooth.

3. Empty the dough into the prepared tin and press it evenly across the base. I used an offset spatula to smooth my dough out, but the back of a regular spoon would work just as well!

4. Place the tin into the oven and bake for 20-minutes, or until the edges are starting to brown.

5. Remove the tin from the oven and use a sharp knife to score the shortbread into 8 generous sized pieces2. Return the tin to the oven and cook for another 20-minutes, or until the shortbread is a deep golden brown all over.

6. Remove the tin from the oven. Using the pre-scored marks as your guide, slice the shortbread into 8-pieces and sprinkle generously with granulated sugar. Transfer the tin to a wire rack and leave to cool completely before removing the shortbread. Once cooled, enjoy with a nice cuppa!

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The shortbread we devoured at Hart’s didn’t have those traditional little dock-ing marks on top, so I excluded that from this recipe — but this would be where to dock if you were so inclined!

related posts

48 Hours in Bristol, England
Torta de Santiago, An Ode to Walking the Camino
Homemade Dunes Blanche, An Ode to Bordeaux

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Friends, hel-ho-ho-ho! Happy Saturday, and welcome to our Monthly Musings: December 2025 post! I hope it finds you basking in the glow from your Christmas tree lights, listening to some appropriately festive music, and wearing your most cheesiest Christmas jumper. If none of that is possible, I hope at the very least that it finds you caffeinated — which is arguably the most important way to be in the mornings. Now, how the heck are you? I can’t believe it’s December already! I absolutely loooove this time of year and will use any excuse to be as festive as possible — I will be that friend wearing the seasonal earrings, socks, bow in the hair, and/or jumper; you just gotta embrace it! The season is short, so I like to use every opportunity to be as festive as can be 🎄

Our musings for the month ahead are below! Along with the usual suspects — travel, recipes, movies, books, etc. — I’ve also included a few seasonal tidbits here and there. You read on, I’ll be here, trying to corral Husband into making us a couple of his famous homemade hot chocolates. Nothing makes a weekend more cozy!

Enjoy!

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monthly musings: december 2025

Baby update: Bean has started smiling and it is the cutest thing ever! It started out as kind of a side smile, then it turned into a whole mouth one, and now it’s this huge cheeky beaming grin that literally melts my heart; I am obsessed. Other cute things she has started doing include staring at her hands, blowing bubbles, and coo-ing back conversationally to us. I was going to include a “not so cute things she has started doing” section, but she somehow makes even the most spectacular of bathroom explosions look cute, so I couldn’t think of anything to list. It’s hard to believe she’s over two months old already!

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Carrying on from the opening paragraph, I really want to try and make Bean’s first Christmas as magical as possible. Which, logically, I know is silly — she won’t even be 3-months old for the big day — but still! I love the fact that Husband and I are responsible for making the season extra special and cozy for her, so naturally I’ve made a detailed list of all the little traditions I want to hit! Nothing extravagant, just simple things like baking cookies, a new tree decoration every year, matching pjs, etc. What are some of your family Christmas traditions?

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Related: what are your plans for Christmas? Surprisingly, Husband and I have actually never spent the entirety of the holiday together before, but there’s a first time for everything! To keep things fair, we’re spending Christmas Eve night & Christmas Day morning with his family, and Christmas Day day/night + Stephen’s Day morning with my family. Logistically it might be a little difficult at times with Bean, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it ❤️

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Do you have any lovely outings planned for the next couple weekends? I went out out with my best gal-palz for festive drinkies last week and it was the best thing ever! It was my first time going out properly since Bean was born and it felt sooo nice not worrying about feeding times and nappy changes etc.! I still have my work Christmas do tonight and Husband has his Christmas drinks coming up too, but that’s about it this year! Cozy, intentional outings to make us feel like more than just new parents. I love having an extra excuse to meet up with loved ones over Christmas!

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Over the course of the last month, a handful more Notes from the Archive posts hit the blog: An Afternoon in Bratislava, Slovakia, Three Days in Kraków, Poland, 72 Hours in Prague, Czech Republic, Two Days in Berlin, Germany, and Unwinding in Munich, Germany. Each post details what I got up to during my inter-railing trip around Europe back in 2012, and I have just two more to share before moving on to other travels. I hope you’ve been enjoying them, friends!

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I mentioned in my last MM post that we’re itching to travel again soon, and, although we still haven’t booked anything, we’ve definitely made steps in the right direction! We applied for, and received, Bean’s first ever passport(!), we’ve started getting her used to going out in the BabyBjörn, and we’ve been altering our destination plans slightly. I don’t want to say too much more about it now, but I’m so excited about the idea of our first trip as a family of three ❤️ Do you have any fun trips planned? I need to live vicariously through you!

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What have you been watching lately? TV-wise, we recently devoured both seasons of Platonic and we completely loved it!! I lol-ed during every single episode, and once or twice I even cried with laughter! If you haven’t seen it, I would definitely recommend! Movie-wise, we’re already working our way down the Christmas list. We’ve largely kept it to the classics thus far — Die Hard, The Santa Clause, Elf, LA Confidential, and The Holdovers —, but! we also managed to squeeze in Netflix’s A Merry Little Ex-Mas, which was so cheesy and terrible that it was almost enjoyable. As always, if you’d like to follow along with our viewing in real-time, here’s a link to our Letterboxd.

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Have you read anything wonderful lately? I decided to continue down the Stephen King route and read Finders Keepers, another book involving the Holly Gibney character — it was so good, I barely put it down! I know I am beyond late to the SK party, but oof, I’m definitely a fan! Husband has since secured me two more SK novels from the library for Christmas reading, and I can barely wait to get started! In the interim, I’ve been reading Jo Nesbo’s latest, Wolf Hour, which was shockingly disappointing, and am currently finishing up Lou Berney’s Whiplash River, which isn’t a patch on his other book I read in October. If you’d like to follow along with my reading in real-time, here’s my StoryGraph page.

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As an ode to our cookbook club of yore — sidenote:💔, should we try to revive it?? — I thought it might be nice to share what recipes/books I’ve been reaching for lately! Savoury-wise: we made the Creamy Beans on Toast with Chorizo from Recipes for a Nervous Breakdown and the Sloppy Joes from Byron: The Cookbook, both of which were as comforting as they sound. Sweet-wise: I made the LPC (Lazy Person’s Cake) from Sugar, I Love You and the Salted Double Chocolate Shortbread from SIFT — an accidental Rav vs. Nicola head-to-head! Team Nicola all the way! —, both of which were divine. I also whipped up the Christmas Morning Muffins from How to be a Domestic Goddess, which were such a hit; we will definitely be making more for the big day! What cookbooks have you been reaching for lately?

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If you’re rooting around the archives looking for a good Christmas bake or two, allow me to point you in the right direction! I’ll be whipping up my annual Kladdkaka for our Christmas Eve dessert this year; I make it every year in December and it feels so festive to us now. These Cinnamon Sugared Almonds make for the easiest and most delicious hosting gift, while this Orange & Almond Cake with Cranberry Glaze adds a fresh & zingy pop of flavour to any Christmas table. If you’re looking to truly wow people, you could go all out by assembling a Christmas Cookie Box, but, fair warning: it’s a lot of work. Lastly, while not out-and-out Christmassy, these Nutella Stuffed Triple Chocolate Cookies are so decadent that they somehow suit the season just perfectly! Anything pique your fancy?

And there we have it, our Monthly Musings: December 2025. I can’t believe the year is almost over — what a beautifully crazy and life-changing one it was! I’ll be back next week with my long overdue Bristol-inspired shortbread recipe, but other than that we’ll catch up again in the new year with another MM.

I hope you have the best Christmas and New Year’s ever!

My love to you,

Vicki xo

PS, don’t you just love my new cookie plate? I am unabashedly obsessed with it and bought a whole handful to gift this year! It’s just so adorable! ✨ Obsessed ✨

related posts

December 2024 // December 2023 // December 2022
December 2021 // December 2020
December 2019 // December 2018

Hello friends, good evening! Welcome to our Monthly Musings: November 2025 post! I hope it finds you unwinding, chill-axing, and, ideally, wearing something cozy to safeguard against that autumnal chill. These days I tend to wear nothing but my most coziest comfy clothes, so I think I’m autumn-ing just right. Tell me, did you have a nice weekend? I had planned to share this yesterday, but one thing led to another & the day got away from me. Amongst other things, we introduced Bean to one of her great-grandmothers, hit the seafront for an autumnal stroll, and, cold weather be damned, treated ourselves to some pretty epic ice-cream sundaes last night. It was glorious!

Our musings for the month ahead are listed below. You’ll find all the usual suspects — travel talk, recipes recommendations, movies, books, etc. — and a few off-piste tidbits thrown in for good measure. I apologise in advance for any disjointed sentences and paragraphs; I blame baby brain entirely.

Enjoy!

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monthly musings: november 2025

In case you missed it: we had our baby last month! A beautiful baby girl — officially named Lois, but for the purposes of this blog will remain Bean for the foreseeable future — that already has Husband and me firmly wrapped around her little finger. It’s hard to believe she’s already been out in the world for a whole month(!), but Husband and I both have the dark under-eye bags to prove it. Tiredness aside, it’s been so lovely settling into somewhat of a routine as a family of three ✨

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Yesterday marked two whole years since Husband and I got legally married! Last year we celebrated by jetting off for a weekend in Stockholm, but this year we kept things more low-key: a bouquet of beautiful sunflowers, a fantastic dinner of spaghetti & meatballs — eaten Lady & the Tramp style, obvz —, many a lovely newborn snuggle, and chocolate & caramel sundaes. It was perfect! Happy anniversary, Rob — I couldn’t imagine doing life without you! Here’s to many more years together ❤️

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Did you have a most spooktacular Halloween? We spent Bean’s first ever spooky season pretty much the same way we’ve spent the last few: pumpkin carving, cozy-ing it up with cute themed candles, watching some classic Halloween movies, eating junk, and dressing up as the cutest pumpkin in the patch. Okay, that last one was just Bean — but, wow, who knew how fun it’d be to dress babies up in tiny adorable seasonal outfits? I’m already looking forward to dressing her up next year!

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Related: although not as in-depth as our scary-movie-viewing of yore, we did manage to enjoy a few classics this year! We couldn’t let the big day pass us without some iteration of Halloween, and this year we watched #3, which, shockingly, I loved! Extra schlocky and darn-right cheese-tastic! Aside from that, we also were able to squeeze in Practical Magic — so fun; will have to add to our yearly seasonal rewatch list! —, The Conjuring, and, for the sake of a good throwback, Casper. What spooky movies did you watch this year? As always, if you’d like to follow along with our movie viewing in real-time, here’s the link to our Letterboxd.

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Continuing down my Notes from the Archive rabbit hole, a couple new posts hit the site while I was off learning how to keep a baby alive! A Layover in London, England / Four Days in Split, Croatia / An Afternoon on Hvar, Croatia / 48 Hours in Zagreb, Croatia / and Three Days in Budapest, Hungary are all up, detailing everything I got up to on my 2012 inter-railing trip. Seven more posts covering the rest of the trip will be hitting the blog one at a time over the next few Sundays, so keep an eye on the Travel Index if you’re enjoying following along! It brings me so much joy sharing these snippets from my earlier travels; I hope you find them helpful, friends 😊

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Speaking of travel, I miss it so much! It’s only been five months since our last trip out of the country — see: 7 Things to See in Gdańsk, Poland and A Food & Drink Guide to Gdańsk, Poland — but that honestly feels like a lifetime ago! The travel itch is REAL, so I think it’s time to start seriously planning our first trip away together as a family of three! We have hopes and dreams of taking Bean to Italy for her first trip abroad — our current plan being to slowly make our way from Rome to Bologna or vice versa, hitting San Marino en route — but I’m fully aware that might change when we start booking things. Where did you go for your first trip with a little one in tow? Please send any and all recommendations our way, I’d love to hear them!

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In case you were wondering, the meals we stocked our freezer with pre-Bean — see: What We’re Meal Prepping Before Baby Arrives — literally saved our lives over the last month! We were just so! tired! and OVERWHELMED for the first while that the thought of cooking was too much to even consider, and being able to throw dinner in the oven with little to no thought was a godsend. We have devoured nearly everything, and are slowly starting to find the energy to cook fresh food once again. I’m so glad we made the effort to stock up while we could, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone expecting in the near-future! Alternatively, if you’re just looking to love on friends in the new-baby-boat, I found this piece very good: What You Should Really Bring to Someone Who Just Had a Baby.

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What have you been reading recently? After devouring Stephen King’s Never Flinch back in September, I have spent the past month reading another of his books about the same character, Holly. I borrowed the paperback from a friend and knew nothing about it before diving in, but it’s so good! Even better than NF, perhaps? I think yes! I love the quirkiness of the main character, and the twisty-turn-y nature of the plot. If you’d like to follow along with my reading in real-time, join me on The StoryGraph.

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Joy the Baker linked to this post recently and I loved it: How to Have an Analog Fall. As in, ideas and suggestions to make us slightly less reliant on our phones and technology. I was pleasantly surprised to realise that I already do many of the old school things that Julianna recommends — reading actual books, watching DVDs over streaming, etc. — but I love some of her other recommendations: keeping a physical diary, lunch dates, day-tripping, and so forth. Fun!

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Have you been doing any autumnal baking lately? I’m normally baking up a storm this time of year — mostly pies and crumbles, but anything warm, spiced, and buttery usually hits the spot — but, understandably, haven’t made it near the oven thus far. Husband, however, recently found the energy to whip up the best chocolate biscuit cake ever, which we proceeded to devour alone over the next two days. If I did have the energy, I rather like the look of these Pear Bars, these Toasted Milk Powder Chocolate Chunk Cookies, or this Easy Apple Crisp. What’s your favourite thing to bake this time of year? Let me know in the comments so I can live through your kitchen adventures!

And there we have it, our Monthly Musings: November 2025 post! I hope you found something to take away with you — be it a new recipe, the inspiration to spend a little extra time away from your phone, or a hankering to plan your next trip abroad. See you next month for another catch-up!

Until then,

Vicki xo

related posts

2024 // 2023 // 2022
2021 // 2020 // 2019
2018

Friends, hi, hello! I hope this post finds you well! I’m stopping by for the briefest of moments to share the best news ever: we had our baby! On Sunday, October 5th, our gorgeous baby girl, Lois Emilia, came storming into this world and gave us all a near heart attack during her delivery. It was hairy and fast and chaotic — but we had the best team looking after us and we’ve never been more grateful for anything ever.

The 2-week old love of our lives is currently napping contentedly in her Moses basket, we’re in between feedings, and, slowly but surely, the three of us are starting to find our feet in this completely new-to-us world. Milestones from the her first two weeks earth-side include: meeting most of our closest family and loved ones, gaining back all of her birth weight and then some, and getting out for our first walk as a family of three. Milestones from our first two weeks as parents include: watching videos online of how best to avoid a poo-splosion, doing more laundry than we have in the last few months combined, and deliriously laughing our way through the sleep deprivation.

That’s all I have time for now, but I just couldn’t wait to share the exciting news! Talk soon!

All my love,

Vicki xo

LOIS / LO•iss / (name): of Greek origin, meaning “most desirable” or “superior”. We also just happen to completely adore the name — and the fact that it hasn’t made it onto the most popular names lists in the last couple years doesn’t hurt either!

EMILIA / EM•ee•LEE•a / (name): of Latin origin, meaning “to strive”, “emulate”, or “excel”. This one came from deep within my family tree — Lois’s great-great-great-grandmother was named Emilia.

Hello friends! Happy October! How are you keeping? Welcome to our Monthly Musings: October 2025 post — I hope it finds you well rested, adequately caffeinated, and with something fun lined up for the weekend ahead. Our weekend plans will hopefully include welcoming Baby Bean into the world — currently 8-days past our due date! — but we’ll see how things pan out. I know it’s a little unusual for me to be dropping by your inbox on a Thursday morning and not a Sunday like normal, but I figured you wouldn’t mind, seeing as I’m working off borrowed time here, baby-wise. Shall we?

Our musings for the month ahead are listed below, featuring all the usual suspects — travel, recipes, movies, books — , as well as some off-piste ramblings.

Enjoy, friends!

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monthly musings: october 2025

In baby news: I cannot believe we’ve made it all the way to October without Baby Bean arriving! I mean, at the beginning of the pregnancy, I was pretty certain I’d be probably 2-weeks late, and I even had a dream BB was coming on October 3rd — but then all hell broke loose in July and I thought it would be a miracle if we just made it to the beginning of September; the fact that we’ve made it into October is amazing! It’s just a waiting game now, eeeep ❤️

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This seems almost beside the point now, but the final wound from my appendectomy eventually healed up! The whole saga started back in July, 9-days post-surgery, when one of the laparoscopic sites got infected. In order to heal the wound, my lovely surgeon had to cut open the stitching, clear it from the inside out, and essentially, leave me with a gaping hole in my stomach that had to heal up naturally without any further stitching. Sorry if that’s TMI, but that’s the truth of it and now I’m at the other end! The wound took a grand total of 47-days to close over completely, and wow, what a crazy road that was! Aren’t bodies incredible?

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In case you missed it, I shared a What We’re Meal Prepping Before Baby Arrives post last month! It’s filled with every single breakfast, lunch, dinner, and baked good we made and loaded into our freezer before Bean arrives, and oof I really hope it helps you! I already know how much our future selves will appreciate all the time and effort we put into making these (mostly) nutritious meals when we still had the time and energy!

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I also shared my first three Notes from the Archive posts last month: One Week in Rome, Italy, 3 Things to See in Vatican City, and My 2012 Inter-Railing Itinerary! I mentioned in September’s MM post that I planned to start sharing some posts of my most well-documented pre-blog travels to the site, and that’s exactly what these are! Although the trips described in the posts are from a good while back, I’ve tried my hardest to make sure all the information is as relevant as possible for use today. It makes me so happy knowing some of my earlier travels will finally have a home here on the blog 😊 If you click through to read any, please let me know your thoughts!

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Okay friends, what are we watching at the moment? TV-wise, I devoured the end of The Summer I Turned Pretty, and, although I feel cheated because it wasn’t the same as the book, I thought it was pretty good as far as final episodes go. We’ve since started S5 of Slow Horses, which is pretty good, but it drives me crazy the way they’re only releasing one episode at a time. Movie-wise, there really hasn’t been anything in the last month that lit my world on fire. What about you? As always, if you’d like to follow along with our movie viewing in real-time, here’s the link to our Letterboxd.

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Have you read anything good lately? I somehow had the time to finish 3 books last month — time moves differently when you’re literally sitting around waiting for a human to come out of you! — which I’m very proud about! First was André Aciman’s Enigma Variations, then Stephen King’s Never Flinch, and then lastly Lou Berney’s The Long and Faraway Gone; the first of which I didn’t love, but the latter two I devoured! I especially enjoyed the Lou Berney book and would definitely recommend if you’re looking for a good mystery!

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Related: my besties and I have all joined The StoryGraph recently, and so far I’m loving it! It’s essentially the same as Letterboxd, except for books; you add the books you’re reading/have read recently and it tracks them all for you. It also compiles everything you read into a little stats breakdown, and I find it so fun to look through! According to my stats: I mainly read fictional, medium-paced books between 300-499 pages long, and that are often mysterious, dark, or tense. Fun! Here’s a link to my profile — let’s be book friends!

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Update: I baked that Cinnamon Apple Cake from POY twice over the last month and it was totally amazing! I was going to freeze some of the slices for snacking on during the upcoming newborn days… but both times we just kept eating until the whole thing was gone and I couldn’t even be angry because it was so! good! If you’re even the slightest bit tempted to try it out, definitely do — it’s so easy and so rewarding!

And there we have it, our Monthly Musings: October 2025 post! I hope you found something to take away with you — be it a recipe for the perfect autumnal cake, a hankering to stock up the freezer, or an urge to track your reading habits moving forward. Let’s catch up again next month, yeah?

Please send all the good vibes and positive thoughts toward me and Baby Bean!

Vicki xo

related october posts

2024 // 2023
2022 // 2021
2020 // 2019

Hi friends! I hope this post finds you well! I’m here this morning to share a post that’s near and dear to my heart with you: What We’re Meal Prepping Before Baby Arrives. Officially, Husband and I started writing the list of meals we want to pre-make back in July when I was bedridden in hospital. However! Unofficially, I started compiling this list in my head basically a handful of days after finding out about Baby Bean’s existence. I’m sorry — but I just love an excuse to stock up the freezer, and seeing as we’re now less than 1-week out from BB’s due date(!!), I figured it’s high time I tell you about the food-storm we’ve been cooking up recently!

Listed below is all the meal prep we’ve done, divided into the following categories for ease: breakfast / lunch / dinner / and baked goods + sweets. There’s also a foodstuff we’re stocking up on section — divided further into shelf stable and frozen categories — which is a list of exactly what it says on the tin.

Enjoy, friends!

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what we’re meal prepping before baby arrives

I love having the freezer stocked to the max with all of these lovely meals, and it feels so great knowing we’ve already put in all the effort to cook these up now so that the pressure will be off when the baby arrives!

breakfast

Joy the Baker’s Spicy Sausage Patties // I’m sorry, but you just can’t beat a sausage patty. Yes, the McDonald’s Egg McMuffin is the inspo here, but we also had some fabulous breakfast patties in Paris that live rent-free in my head. Seeing as a. McDonald’s everyday isn’t ideal for anybody, and b. we don’t live in Paris, this JtB recipe for homemade patties is a really stellar option.
*How to freeze/reheat/serve: fully cooked, cooled, and spaced out in a freezer bag. Defrost in the fridge overnight. Reheat gently in a pan with a little oil until warmed through. We plan to serve in a bun with a fried egg & slice of cheese for an elite breakfast burger situation.

**Full disclosure: this is still on the to-make list, but I feel confident we will have time to make it before Baby Bean arrives!**

lunch

Molly Yeh’s Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos // Molly’s recipes never let us down, and these sounded too delicious to not make. Loaded with a surprising amount of vegetables, these perfectly toe-the-line of seemingly healthy while also containing a gluttonous amount of cheese.
*How to freeze/reheat: fully cooked, rolled up, and individually wrapped in cling film before being placed into a freezer bag. No need to defrost. Remove cling film, cover with moist kitchen towel & reheat in microwave for 3-ish minutes, or until heated through. If feeling fancy, grill lightly in a pan with a little oil until crispy & browned.

**Lunch has never been my strong suit, but I’m on the lookout for some good soup recipes — do you know of any? We like the look of Pinch of Yum’s Spicy Peanut Soup, so that’s on the to-make list, along with Wood & Spoon’s Buttermilk Biscuits, which we love love love. I’d also like to shoutout to my mother, who we outsourced the task of making sausage rolls to — they make the best lunch and hers are the best we’ve ever tasted!**

dinner

Joanna Weinberg’s Shepherd’s Pie // we left out the chorizo and subbed the lamb mince for beef mince — but otherwise followed this exact recipe. Warming, comfortingly, and delightfully carb-y.
*How to freeze/reheat/serve: fully cooked, and frozen in individual foil portion containers. Defrost in the fridge overnight. Oven heat at 180°C for 20-minutes covered with tinfoil + 15 minutes uncovered, or until heated through. We plan to serve with a salad if we’ve made it out shopping, or a pile of frozen peas if we haven’t.

Smitten Kitchen’s Lasagna Bolognese // a little fecky to make, perhaps, but the best lasagna recipe we’ve come across. It probably has something to do with the extra long cooking time and the insane amount of red wine…
*How to freeze/reheat/serve: fully cooked, and frozen in individual foil portion containers. Defrost in the fridge overnight. Oven heat at 180°C for 20-minutes covered with tinfoil + 15 minutes uncovered, or until heated through. We plan to serve with a salad if we’ve made it out shopping, or a pile of frozen peas if we haven’t.

Marc Grossman’s Meatballs // the most tender meatball + sauce recipe ever! We’ve made this many, many times over the years for ourselves, our families, or for dinner parties etc., and it is always such a hit!
*How to freeze/reheat/serve: fully cooked, covered in the sauce, and frozen in individual foil portion containers. Defrost in the fridge overnight. Oven heat at 180°C for 20-minutes covered with tinfoil + 15 minutes uncovered, or until heated through. We plan to serve with either a. pasta, for a classic spaghetti & meatballs situation, or b. maize sub rolls and a side salad if we’ve made it to the shops.

Beef Chili // Husband has been perfecting his homemade chili recipe for years, so unfortunately I don’t have a recipe to link to for you. Like most of the good ones though, his uses tons of spices, black/pinto beans, and a very delicious rib mince.
*How to freeze/reheat/serve: fully cooked, and frozen in individual foil portion containers. Defrost in the fridge overnight. Oven heat at 180°C for 20-minutes covered with tinfoil + 15 minutes uncovered, or until heated through. We plan to serve with a. rice, b. roasted potatoes for a taco fry situation, or c. alone in a bowl, with tortilla chips if we’ve made it out shopping, or frozen garlic bread if we haven’t.

Dishoom’s Chicken Ruby Curry // the most delicious buttered chicken recipe in existence. Extra creamy, buttery, and tender when cooked low-and-slow.
*How to freeze/reheat/serve: fully cooked, and frozen in individual foil portion containers. Defrost in the fridge overnight. Oven heat at 180°C for 20-minutes covered with tinfoil + 15 minutes uncovered, or until heated through. We plan to serve with rice, and, if we’ve made it out shopping, raita and kachumber salad.

Molly Yeh’s Smoky Bacon Mac & Cheese // I’m convinced this is the best mac & cheese recipe out there — once you’ve made the roux with bacon fat even one time, there’s no way you’re ever going back to regular ole butter. Trust me on this one.
*How to freeze/reheat/serve: cooked up to the final baking step, and frozen in individual foil portion containers. Defrost in the fridge overnight. Oven heat at 180°C for 20-minutes covered with tinfoil + 15 minutes uncovered, or until heated through. We plan to serve with a salad if we’ve made it out shopping, or a pile of frozen peas if we haven’t.

**Although I think we’ll be more than fine with what we’ve made so far, these are the final two dinner items on our to-make list if there’s time: Smitten Kitchen’s Taco Torte and Ina Garten’s Chicken Enchiladas.**

baked goods and sweets

Violet’s Cinnamon Buns // good as both a sugary breakfast item or an afternoon pick-me-up. Also, pleasingly autumnal for the season that’s in it!
*How to freeze/reheat: fully baked, and spaced out in a freezer bag. Leave to defrost at room temp before eating. We like to go a little step further & heat ours in the microwave for 30-seconds or so to make the insides all gooey, but you do you.

Ravneet Gill’s Chocolate Chip Cookies // we’ve essentially had a stash of these in the freezer ever since we first tried them in 2020, but I topped it up recently. Such a good last minute bake to pull out of your back pocket when you’re in need of a pick-me-up.
*How to freeze/bake: unbaked, in portioned out dough balls on a parchment lined tray; then transferred into a freezer bag. Oven bake from frozen, 13-ish minutes at 180°C.

**Also on the to-make list if there’s time: Alison Roman’s Blueberry Muffins / Husband’s Buttermilk Scones.**

foodstuff we’re stocking up on

You know, things that a. will accompany the meals we’ve prepared from the above list, or b. can be made into simple meals without too much hassle — be it chicken Kiev with fagioli for dinner, or a blueberry smoothie for breakfast.

shelf stable

• all the carbs: pasta / rice / noodles

• a variety of beans: black / pinto / cannellini / butter

• tins of soup

• canned tomatoes / passata / puree

frozen

• frozen vegetable of some sort: likely, peas

• frozen berries: blueberries for Husband / raspberries for me

• frozen ready-to-cook foods: gyoza / chicken goujons / chicken Kiev / pizza bases

• frozen potatoes of some sort: likely, waffle fries, tater tots, or realistically, whichever is the least unhealthy so Husband will give in and let us buy some

• different breads: petit pain rolls, maize sub rolls, flatbreads, sliced pan, garlic bread

• toaster pancakes — a dirty secret fave of mine

And there we have it, friends: What We’re Meal Prepping Before Baby Arrives! Phew, it’s a biggie — but if it helps even one person with their pre-baby meal prep then it was worth the effort! If you have any thoughts, questions, or comments, hit me up using the box below; I love hearing from you!

Hugs,

Vicki xo

Friends, hello! Happy Sunday and happy September! Welcome to our Monthly Musings: September 2025 post — I hope it finds you happy, healthy, and enjoying the seasonal shift in the weather. As some of you might know, I turned another year older since we last talked — the big 3-2, thank you very much — and getting to celebrate another whole year around the sun is something I will never take for granted, especially after the events of this past July! More birthday talk below, but tell me, how the heckity heck have you been? Did you get up to anything fun over the last month?

I basically spent the entirety of August recuperating and focusing on getting better. Which, in theory, sounds nice and relaxing — but I’ve never been more busy with medical appointments in my life! I’ve been back to the hospital twice for consults with my surgeons. I’m still seeing a nurse every second day to get the dressing on my wound changed. We were called into the NMH for a final follow-up ultrasound. I’ve been having weekly alternating appointments with the midwives/my GP… I’ve become one of those crazy calendar people and it has been a! lot! Thankfully everything is going the right way and the end is nigh, but oof what an insane chapter of my life this has been!

Anyways! Let’s get down to it, shall we? All the usual suspects — travel, recipes, movies, books — and some off-piste ramblings listed below. Enjoy, friends!

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monthly musings: september 2025

New in the baby world: my family threw us the most incredible baby shower last month and we were totally overwhelmed with the amount of love and support we were showered with; it was so lovely! Other than that, we are essentially ready! Hospital bag is packed, car seat is in place, nursery is basically complete, and the antenatal classes are almost finished! There’s officially less than 3-weeks left until Baby Bean’s due date, and, after the whole hullaballoo that was July, I really didn’t think we’d make it this far — but now I’m hoping we’ll make it the whole way to the end of the month and then some!

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I had the loveliest birthday ever! My entire family spoiled me rotten, and I’ve basically been enjoying residual birthday perks for the better part of a week! Aside from all the well wishes and love I was shown, highlights include: flight vouchers, a Burger Boy birthday lunch, gorgeous flowers, a generous overnight stay at Brooklodge, birthday dinner at La Taverna Armento, and, obviously, a rewatching of my favourite film ever, Notting Hill, duh. It was the perfect last birthday before I officially become a mom — eep!

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My surgeons in SVUH have officially given me the all-clear! I feel very lucky to have had such a warm and caring team of surgeons looking after me, especially Dr Conor Toale and Mr Anthony Stafford. On one of the visits back to the hospital, we also dropped in a giant box of chocolates to the lovely nurses that cared for me during my nearly-three-week stint back in July, and it was so nice to see them again! They were so happy to see how much better I was doing, and chatting with them made me ridiculously emotional! This crazy chapter of my life is over!

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I’ve gotten a few more things knocked off my summer bucket list! The two biggies being: Baby Bean’s room is practically finished(!), and our freezer is plentifully stocked up! I fear we may have missed our window for picnic on a beach… but I'm not opposed to lowering my standards to “having a pastry & coffee in the car while parked on the edge of a rainy beach”. It doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, but I have a knack for making anything romantic. After that, the last remaining undone thing is to plan our first trip post-baby, and, although I have no official bookings etc., I have essentially the whole thing planned in my head, so it should be a breeze! How did you do with your list?

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In case you missed it, I shared two new travel guides last month: 7 Things to See in Gdańsk, Poland, and A Food & Drink Guide to Gdańsk, Poland. Between the two, the posts cover everything we got up to on our babymoon trip back in May: where we stayed, what we did, where we day-tripped, where we ate, and what we drank. They’re absolutely loaded with my very best recommendations, and I hope you love them!

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If you’re browsing around the travel index over the coming weeks, you might notice a few posts from a new series I‘m working on: Notes from the Archive. Basically, the series will share brief guides from some of my most well documented pre-blog travels. I’ve always been an avid journal-er and note-keeper on my travels, and it only occurred to me recently that, although not as thorough and in-depth as my note-taking of today, these notes could still be helpful to someone out there planning a trip. However, because the guides will be less glitzy & informative than the ones I share today, I’ll be back-dating them & quietly ushering them into the archives without sending an email out to subscribers. Fear not, if you’re interested in reading the series, I’ll be sure to mention any new posts in these monthly recaps.

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Did you watch anything good last month? We fell down a TV-show spiral, and are only starting to dig ourselves out. Highlights include: Untamed, which we both thought was great, Ballard, which I liked from the very beginning but it took Husband a few eps to get into, and, obvs, The Summer I Turned Pretty S3, which, yes, was slow to get going, but I am now obsessed with! I am assuming you too are watching it and are clearly Team Conrad?! Things have been slow movie-wise, but we did recently enjoy two differently cheese-tastic movies: The Thursday Murder Club and The Map That Leads to You. As always, if you’d like to follow along with our movie viewing in real-time, here’s the link to our Letterboxd.

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Since getting out of hospital, my reading has been very comfort-based. I eagerly set out to read the latest Taylor Jenkins Reid book, Atmosphere, and, sadly, it just didn’t do it for me! As someone who’s read every other TJR book in existence, I just didn’t think this one was the same caliber as the rest. Sorry/not sorry. From that, I bounced to Andre Aciman’s Room on the Sea, which I loved! A super easy read about two married people who meet during jury duty selection and accidentally + slowly start to fall for each other. Currently, I’m rereading Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind, which I have absolutely no recollection of reading in the first place, and am loving it! Are you reading anything great at the moment?

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Truthfully, it’s been months since I’ve had the energy to bake anything — but I really want to change this! I would love love love to whip up a batch of Violet’s Cinnamon Buns to add to our freezer stash, and this POY recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake is practically begging me to bake it! I might have to enlist the help of my sous-chef — aka: Husband — but I think it’s doable. I shall report back!

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Related: our apple tree haul was so good this year! We have an overflowing fruit bowl on the counter filled with apples, we gave a literal laundry-basket-full away to family and friends, and the tree still looks as if none have been plucked! It’s crazy. If you have found yourself similarly overrun with apples, here’s some of my fave apple recipes: Classic Apple Pie / Apple & Raspberry Crumble Bars / Rustic Apple Cake / Caramel Apple & Pear Pie / Julia Child’s Tarte Normande aux Pommes. What’s your favourite apple bake?

And there we have it, friends, Monthly Musings: September 2025. I hope you found something to take away with you — be it a new recipe, an urge to book that staycation spot you’ve been eyeing up for years, or a hankering to watch the cheesy teen romance everyone’s talking about. I sincerely hope it’s the latter!

Let’s catch up again in October, yeah? Baby Bean might have made their appearance earth-side by then! Pray for us!

Have a great September!

My love to you,

Vicki xo

related posts

September 2024 // September 2023
September 2022 // September 2021
September 2020 // September 2019

Hello, foodie friends! I hope this finds you well! I’m here today to share my latest stomach-led post with you: A Food & Drink Guide to Gdańsk, Poland! It’s the companion piece to last week’s more generalized guide to the city — 7 Things to See in Gdańsk, Poland — and deals exclusively with all things edible and delicious! If you’re looking for a list of the city’s cultural attractions, last week’s post is the one for you. However, if you’re looking for a list of some of the best food & drink spots the city has, then you’ve come to the right place! Husband and I were very pleasantly surprised by the food & drink scene in Gdańsk, so you better believe this post is filled to the brim with mouth-watering recommendations. Shall we?

Everywhere we stopped for a bite or a beverage is listed below, and for ease I’ve divided everything into the usual categories: where we had coffee & pastries / where we ate pączki, breakfast, lunch, dinner / where we drank. Let’s get into it!

Enjoy!

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where we had coffee & pastries

Kawiarnia Drukarnia // a speciality coffee spot plonked right in the middle of Mariacka Street. I went for a cappuccino and pistachio croissant, Husband went for an americano and Kinder Bueno croissant; everything was great! The coffees were strong and punchy, and the pastries were flaky, delicious, and generously filled — which I will never have a problem with, but Husband found a bit too much. The only downside to the place is that, likely because it attracts a more hipster crowd, it’s more expensive than any of the other places we stopped for a brew. Address: Mariacka 36, 80-833 Gdańsk

Józef K. // an Instagram find that actually exceeded my expectations! We stopped in on one very hot day to escape the sunshine, and the shady interior was such a welcome treat! I opted for an iced lemonade made with sparkling water, while Husband went for a black coffee. Both were delicious, but mine was obviously the superior choice; laden with homemade cordial, it was delightfully zingy and super refreshing! The space itself is also lovely, trendy without feeling overtly hipster, mismatching furniture, quirky artwork, etc. Would recommend. See also: where we drank alcohol, below. Address: Piwna 1/pok. 407, 80-831 Gdańsk

Słodko Słono // we stopped in here after an early morning stroll one day to refuel, and it was so lovely! We went for the usual coffees — cappuccino for me, americano for Husband — and shared a pistachio croissant between us. No surprise, everything was great; the coffees were brewed to perfection, and the pastry was delightfully buttery, pleasingly pistachio-y, and flaky AF. Would recommend. Address: Świętego Ducha 105/107, 80-834 Gdańsk

where we ate

pączki

Aka: Polish doughnuts — what a revelation!! I’ve never tasted anything as pillowy and light in my lifetime, and I had no idea we were in for such a life-changing culinary experience! Please follow in our footsteps and make sure you have at least one pączki a day if you are Gdańsk bound!

Dobra Pączkarnia Gdańsk // no joke: we stopped here four out of our five days in town.. And to make up for the day we missed, one day we stopped by here twice.. And on our last day we also had some packed up for the flight home. That’s how good these are!! Ridiculously pillowy, light-as-air, packed with just the right amount of filling, perfectly fried and glazed on the outside and oh-so-soft and delicious on the inside. We tried a whole host of flavours across our many visits — cherry, pistachio, raspberry, blueberry, Snickers, and Kinder Bueno — all of which were fantastic, but my favourite was the humble raspberry filled pączki; so jammy and moreish! An absolute must-visit. Address: Plac Dominikański 1, 80-844 Gdańsk

Cukiernia W-Z // more of a classic old school type place, this bakery in the centre of town was very much a locals only spot. There were two flavours to choose from — cherry or rose — so naturally we got one of each and shared. Now, don’t get me wrong; although the doughnuts were perfectly fluffy, covered in a delightfully crackle-y glaze, and generally really very tasty, they just weren’t as good as any of the pączki we ate at the above. A good second place spot to have in your back pocket, but second place nonetheless. Address: Słodowników 1, 80-823 Gdańsk

breakfast

Gdański Bowke // the only place we ate breakfast at in the city — but I somehow feel like it might be the best Gdańsk has to offer? We visited twice, and over the course of our visits, the three of us devoured: apple pancakes / breakfast skillets with roast bacon, fried eggs, and fried potatoes / breakfast butter brioche with poached eggs, cheddar, and truffle mayo / a pulled pork rib sandwich / and a side dish of fried frankfurter sausages with onions. Everything was phenomenal! The roast bacon was amazing, the pancakes were perfectly crispy yet fluffy, the frankfurters were melt-in-the-mouth, and the fried potatoes were *chef’s kiss*! Added bonus: every breakfast comes with free filter coffee refills! A must-visit. See also: where we ate dinner, below. Address: Długie Pobrzeże 11, 80-888 Gdańsk

lunch

Pierogarnia Mandu Gdańsk Śródmieście // the number one rated pierogi spot in the city — and for good reason! Located conveniently close to the train station, we stopped in here for our very first meal in the city and were pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was! I was hatching some pączki eating plans for dessert, so we decided to share one 10-piece set of pierogi filled with minced pork + beef, which came with a side of fried onions in bacon(!), and an extra side of sour cream for dipping. Friends, it was wonderful! The pierogi were handmade to order, and they were so fresh and flavourful. Pro tip: be sure to try the house lemonades if you visit! Husband tried their mango & peach mix and I went for their raspberry mix; both were delicious! A must-visit. Address: Elżbietańska 4/8, 80-894 Gdańsk

Słony Spichlerz // a wonderful food hall in the city centre! We actually enjoyed the atmosphere and offerings here so much that we came back three times, once alone and twice with my sister! Over the course of our visits, we tried a handful of different vendors: Pita Bros, Cheeky Chicken, Pasta Miasta, Neon, and Salty Bar for drinks. Honestly, everything we ate here was amazing — the standard across the board was really high! — but if I had to rate everything we ate in order (😉), here goes: 1. sesame chicken bites from CC. Juicy and tender interior, crispy exterior, and generally reminiscent of Japanese karaage. 2. classic gyros from PB with all the trimmings. Delicious, generously portioned, and there didn’t seem to be a bad sauce option — both the spicy mayo and tzatziki were stellar. 3. tomato arancini with ‘nduja mayo & garlic aioli from PM. Piping hot, fantastically fried, and pleasingly cheesy. 4. pork gyoza with sweet & sour sauce from N. Tender, juicy, and generously filled. A must-visit. Address: Chmielna 10, 80-748 Gdańsk

dinner

Gdański Bowke // this was our first dinner in Gdańsk and, let me tell you, it set the bar HIGH. We ordered two mains and one dessert, and divided everything up between us: one pork schnitzel served with fried egg, dill boiled potatoes + a yogurt cucumber salad, one beer-braised pork knuckle served with mashed potatoes, smoked white cabbage, horseradish + mustard, and one apple pie with ice-cream to round everything off. To say we died and went to food heaven would be an understatement; every single morsel of food was devoured, each more delicious than the next! The dill boiled potatoes were a particular revelation — so salty and flavoursome! who knew boiled potatoes could actually be nice?! — and the apple pie was a work of art: buttery, cinnamon-y, and melt-in-your-mouth tender. Pro tip: reservations are a must here! A must-visit. See also: where we ate breakfast, above. Address: Długie Pobrzeże 11, 80-888 Gdańsk

OSTRO. Pizza Napoletana // such a great pizza place! We queued for about 20ish-minutes to get in here on a Friday evening — they don’t take reservations — and I’d say it was worth it! We ordered a portion of their homemade garlic buns with pesto for the table, and, pizza-wise, Husband and I both opted for a classic margherita, while my sister went for their aglio e olio with added ‘nduja. All of the food was amazing! The dough was super light and fresh, with a perfectly charred straight-from-the-woodfired-oven thin base with a fluffy yet airy crust. The only downside was the service; the staff weren’t the friendliest, we waited ages to order, and our food took around an hour to arrive. If you’re okay with that: would recommend. Address: Długie Pobrzeże 15, 80-888 Gdańsk

Pierogarnia Stary Młyn // the second highest rated pierogi spot in the city, somehow. Between the three of us, we ordered a starter of braided dough with parmesan, garlic and marjoram for the table, and for mains we mixed and matched basically every different type of traditional boiled pierogi they had on the menu, with my sister & I opting for 5-piece sets, and Husband going for the 9-piece set. While we all enjoyed our meals, it definitely wasn’t as good as Mandu, above, and the service was more than a little lacking, very slow, and unfriendly. Address: Świętego Ducha 64, 80-834 Gdańsk

Restauracja Dominikańska // a smaller spot just off the main tourist trail, we were left underwhelmed by our meal here. I ordered their biggos staropolski — a meat stew served with kiełbasa sausage, mashed potato & mustard — and Husband went for their pork schnitzel with roast potatoes, sauerkraut & carrots. The food was all fine, but every plate that came to our table needed extra seasoning; it almost tasted like it wasn’t seasoned at all? Overall, this was probably the most disappointing dinner of our trip — but maybe we caught them on a bad night? They normally get very good reviews online! Sad. Address: Garbary 2/4, 80-827 Gdańsk

where we drank

Flisak ‘76 // such a cool themed cocktail bar! When we visited, the theme was ‘The Greatest Show!’ and the drinks they were creating were so inventive! I had two fantastic mocktails: one ‘levitation’, which was a violet flavoured drink that literally came to the table spinning and levitating as if by magic(!), and one ‘balloon’, pictured above, which tasted like bubblegum but was a tad awks to consume in public. My alcohol consuming companion sampled one off-menu drink, a classic old-fashioned, and their ‘fortune teller’ cocktail, which was made with absinth and served in a glass orb. I mean really, how fun?! Added bonus: they keep bringing free little bowls of popcorn to your table while you’re there! A must visit. Address: Chlebnicka 9/10, 80-830 Gdańsk

Winston Bar // another quirky cocktail bar! I opted for their non-alcoholic pornstar gin martini, and Husband went for their ‘weird whiskey sour’; both were fantastic! I’ve never really been a pornstar martini gal before, but it was really very enjoyable! Similar to the above, when the waiter brought the drinks to the table, we got a full spiel about ingredients, tasting notes, and any fun presentation etc. which is a rather lovely touch. If you’re wondering who that man is clipped onto my drink above, I regret to inform you that he isn’t Gdańsk’s top pornstar, but instead a much beloved Polish singer named Krysztof Krawczyk. Would recommend. Address: Długa 70/71, 80-831 Gdańsk

La Muerte Mexican Cocktail Bar // you guessed it: another fun cocktail bar, this one with a Mexican twist! We stopped in here on our last night and went to town. I went absolutely wild and had two non-alcoholic frozen mango margaritas (🙄), Husband tried ‘Tommy's margarita’ and an ‘old Mexican’, and my sister tried the ‘muerte’ and the ‘el manbot’; everything was great! My frozen N/A margs were delightful, and the other drinks looked so good it made me semi-depressed to not be able to try any. Husband and I also shared a small plate of nachos with cheese, guacamole, and red + green salsas; which it goes without saying was obviously delicious. Would definitely recommend. Address: Mariacka 1, 80-833 Gdańsk

Józef K. // after enjoying the vibe of our midday coffee here so much, we decided to come back the next evening with my sister to see what this spot was like for drinks. Spoiler alert: it was just as great! I had a bottle of non-alcoholic Freeky APA followed by a non-alcoholic raspberry margarita, Husband had a Kozel lager followed by an old-fashioned cocktail, and my sister had an alcohol-filled margarita followed by an Italicus spritz. No surprises here: every single drink was a hit! A must visit. See also: where we had coffee, above. Address: Piwna 1/pok. 407, 80-831 Gdańsk

And there we have it: A Food & Drink Guide to Gdańsk, Poland! I hope you loved it, and I hope you found some solid foodie recs to take away with you! If you think I missed any must eat or drink spots in the city, pop them into the comment box below — I’d love to hear from you!

Hugs,

Vicki xo

*Date of trip: 27th - 31st May, 2025*

related posts

7 Things to See in Gdańsk, Poland
30 Countries in 30 Years, Part II
Three Days in Krakow, Poland | Notes from the Archive

Friends, hello! Happy Sunday! I hope this post finds you happy, healthy, and somewhat well-rested after enjoying your weekend. I’m dropping into your inbox this morning to share my latest travel guide with you: 7 Things to See in Gdańsk, Poland! In case you missed it, Husband and I visited Gdańsk back at the end of May as our babymoon trip, and it was so lovely! We spent five days exploring the gorgeous port city — three of them alone & two of them with my sister, who joined us for a final hoorah — and I’ve been itching to share this guide with you ever since! If you’re thinking this sounds like a post without any foodie recommendations, you are correct. However, don’t panic! We dined and sipped at so many lovely spots during our visit that I have a whole separate food & drink guide to the city coming atcha in the next few weeks. Now, shall we?

Also yes, that seagull is a paid actor.

Everything we learned and loved about Gdańsk is detailed below, divided into the following sections for ease: before you visit + fun facts / getting there / where we stayed / 7 things to see. It’s a short-yet-sweet guide to everything we got up to during our time in town, and I really hope you like it.

Enjoy!

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before you visit + fun facts

Just some useful informational bits & bobs to know if you’re Gdańsk-bound in the near future:

• Poland does not use the euro! The currency is the Polish Złoty, written as PLN or zł. At the time of our visit, €1 was around 4.20PLN.

• WWII started here! The very first shots of the war were fired in a historic battle at Westerplatte, a military depot in the port of the city. While we didn’t make the journey to the Westerplatte site during our time in town, we did visit a lesser known but just as important spot; more on that below!

• Gdańsk is the amber capital of the world! The Baltic Sea, just off the coast of the city, has some of the largest amber deposits in the world, so if you’ve ever been tempted to buy yourself a pretty piece of jewelry, this would be the spot!

• between the years 1920 - 1939, Gdańsk — together with 200 surrounding cities/towns — was actually an independent city-state known as the ‘Free City of Danzig’! The territory was self-governing, had its own constitution, currency, passports, parliament, everything! The Free City was dissolved by the Germans when they took control of the area at the beginning of WWII, but it’s pretty cool to imagine. If you’re interested in other city-states: 6 Things to See in Monaco.

Not to worry, there’s a few more location-specific fun facts littered throughout the rest of the post 😉

getting there

Here’s how we made the journey to Gdańsk for our babymoon:

• we flew with Ryanair from Dublin airport to Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport. I was expecting it to be longer, but the flight only took 2-hours all in!

• there was a bizarrely long queue at passport control when we entered the airport terminal, and I genuinely feel we would’ve been there for hours if we hadn’t discovered the hidden self-scanner queue? If this happens to you: on the far most left of the room, there’s a secondary queue to use the self-scanner passport machines! We still had a bit of a wait, but nothing too bad! Would recommend.

• once we got through passport control, we followed the blue line on the ground directing us to the bus stops. The blue line led all the way outside the building and across the road to a little bus terminal, where we waited at Platform 1 for the number 210 bus into the city centre.

• there was a ticket machine at the platform, but there was a queue of people using it, so we just bought our tickets on the bus when we got on. However! The machine on board was very confusing and it was stressful (for Husband) trying to buy tickets while on a jerky moving bus, so we’d definitely recommend buying your ticket before boarding the bus if possible. A single ticket into the city centre cost 4.80PLN each, which was around €1.10 each.

• we got off the bus at the very last stop, Gdańsk Główny, which took about 45-minutes to reach. From there, we walked into town to drop off our bags at the hotel, which took about 20-minutes. *Actually, we stopped for lunch at Pierogarnia Mandu first, followed by donuts at Dobra Pączkarnia, both of which I’d HIGHLY recommend you stop at also!*

• on our return to the airport a few days later, we decided to be lazy and take a taxi. Our hotel organized the taxi for us; it picked us up right on time, and had us at the airport a speedy 20-minutes later. The journey for three people + luggage cost 95PLN/€22.

• pro tip: if you’re looking for more information about the different ways to get to/from Gdańsk airport, this website is fantastic! Proper detailed directions for bus, train, and taxi options - with photos! Would recommend!

where we stayed

The Cloud One Hotel Gdańsk // such a fantastic find! A quirky boutique style hotel within walking distance to everything the city has to offer. We opted for a Standard King Room - we were on babymoon after all 😉 - and it was perfect; large and spacious, lots of natural light, windows overlooking the surrounding streets, a desk & seating area, great soundproofing, huge comfy bed, super clean, and a nice bathroom with a solid shower. Honestly, it was perfect! The hotel itself was also gorgeously decorated, with a cool bar space + menu! Would recommend. Address: Stągiewna 27, 80-750 Gdańsk

7 things to see in gdańsk

długi targ & neptune’s fountain

— ADDRESS: Długa, 80-831 Gdańsk

Długi Targ (Long Market Street) is the most famous street in Gdańsk. Located smack bang in the centre of the town, this long and picturesque street was once the market hub of the city, lined with guilds, stores, and homes to some of the city’s wealthiest dwellers. While the market no longer lines the route down Długi Targ — now mostly filled with knick-knack shops, convenience stores, and restaurants — it still makes for a lovely walking place, framed on both sides by colourful buildings with pretty rooftops. About halfway down Długi Targ stands Neptune’s Fountain, where a large statue of the Roman sea god looks down upon passersby.

st mary’s basilica

— INFO: website
— ADDRESS: Podkramarska 5, 80-834 Gdańsk
— ENTRANCE COST: free to enter the basilica, 20PLN/€4.70 to climb the tower

St. Mary's Basilica is said to have one of the very best viewpoints in all of Gdańsk, and I sure as heck wasn’t going to let my fear of heights stop Husband from enjoying it — so we waited until my sister got into town and made her go up with him! While they sweated their butts all the way to the top of the tower’s 405 steps, myself and Baby Bean took in the ground level sights: the astronomical clock, some chapels, many tombstones, and a rather impressive stained glass window. When the other two eventually rejoined me at ground level — covered in a sheen of perspiration, I might add — they both agreed the view was worth the effort of climbing up all those steps in the 25°C weather!

Fun fact: St. Mary's Basilica is the tallest brick church in the world! It stands proudly at a whopping 78-metres/255-feet!

mariacka street

— ADDRESS: Mariacka, 80-833 Gdańsk

This gorgeous little street, bookended on one side by a beautiful peaked archway and on the other by St Mary’s Basilica, was our favourite spot for a stroll in the city! Lined with some of the very best amber shops in the city, cozy cafes aplenty, fancy-looking restaurants, and many an inviting stoop, it had such a romantic air about it.

Pro tip: if you’re looking for the peak romantic strolling hours, we found it to be especially gorgeous in both the very early morning and dusk/early evening. Magical ✨

museum of the second world war

— INFO: website
— ADDRESS: Plac Władysława Bartoszewskiego 1, 80-862 Gdańsk
— ENTRANCE COST: 32PLN/€7.50

Apart from the odd art gallery, Husband and I wouldn’t typically be big museum-goers when we’re exploring a new city. However, every guide / blog / recommendation said the same thing: if you’re visiting Gdańsk, you simply must visit this museum. And wow, I’m so glad we listened! We spent just shy of 3-hours wandering through the different exhibitions and reconstructions, and it was truly so fascinating. Heartbreaking and impossible to digest at points, but incredibly informative, well-structured, and displayed in such a way that actually kept my attention the whole time we were there. Particular highlights for us included the full-scale street reconstructions, the WWII fighter planes, and the documents and stories of the pre-war ‘Free City of Danzig’.

Pro tip: plan for at least 3-hours here, but ideally more if you can! We were under time pressure to go meet my sister, but easily could have spent another hour or more exploring the different rooms.

basilica of st. bridget

— INFO: website
— ADDRESS: Profesorska 17, 80-001 Gdańsk
— ENTRANCE COST: 6PLN/€1.40

I feel like this spot is such a hidden gem in Gdańsk. The main draw here is the altar, which is made entirely of amber(!), but there is also a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it crypt under the back of the church that contains hundreds of bones and a large wall of skulls! The crypt — which, btdubz, is very creepy — was only discovered during renovation works in 2010, so it is still a relatively new spot to visit in the city.

Fun fact: the altar here is the largest amber object in the whole world! The entire design consists of a whopping 6,500kg worth of amber and reaches heights of 174cm! The magnificence of the piece doesn’t really come through in the photos, but it was a very dazzling sight to see in real life, luminous and entrancing.

museum of the polish post office

— INFO: website
— ADDRESS: Plac Obrońców Poczty Polskiej 1/2, 80-800 Gdańsk
— ENTRANCE COST: we didn’t go in, but tickets cost 15PLN/€3.50.
**PLEASE NOTE: the museum is temporarily closed for refurbishments, with an expected reopening date sometime in September 2026!**

One of the spots where World War II broke out on 1st September 1939! Seen as a key communication hub and major symbol of Polish sovereignty, the attack here occurred at the same time as the attack on Westerplatte, where a much larger battle ensued. The museum was closed during our visit for renovations, but we mostly made the journey to this historic spot to see the statue outside the building, the Monument to the Defenders of the Polish Post Office. The monument depicts Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, being handed a rifle from a wounded Polish postal worker, symbolizing the defense of the post office.

Fun fact: the heroic workers inside the post office on that fateful day back in ‘39, who had been warned and prepped for an eventual attack, defended the building and were able to hold off the German SS troops for a whole 15-hours!

waterfront views along the river motława

— ADDRESS: Zielony Most, Stara Motława, Gdańsk

Okay let’s be real: Gdańsk is a ridiculously beautiful city — and nowhere in town highlights this beauty as effortlessly as a walk along Motława River. Our hotel was located on Wyspa Spichrzów (Granary Island), just a stone’s throw from the main thoroughfare/old town, so we got to admire the views from the Green Bridge every single time we went anywhere. It was gorgeous!

bonus: day-trip to sopot!

— GETTING THERE: take the train from Gdańsk Główny to Sopot; it takes 20-minutes one way, the trains depart every 10-minutes, and return tickets cost 13PLN/€3 each. We bought our tickets from a nice lady at the counter in Gdańsk Główny. Pro tip: don’t forget to validate your ticket on the platform before boarding!
— TOP 3 MUST-VISITS: Molo w Sopocie (Sopot Pier), 10PLN/€2.35 to visit // Krzywy Domek (Sopot’s Crooked House) // a stroll along Bohaterów Monte Cassino, the main street in town

Taking the train to Sopot for a couple of hours is such a lovely way to spend a day if you have a little extra time during your visit to Gdańsk! Together with Gdańsk and Gdynia, Sopot is part of the Tri-City area lining the coastline of Gdańsk Bay. We arrived sometime mid-morning, stopped at Cukiernia Pawłowicz for donut fuel, wandered down Bohaterów Monte Cassino street — stopping to admire Krzywy Domek, the statue of the tightrope fisherman, and the Kostel sv. Jiřího (Church of St. George) — before making our way onto the Molo w Sopocie. After taking in the beach views and healthy air from the end of the pier, we ambled slowly back up through town, stopped for a drink in Pinokio 2.0, and hopped on a train back to Gdańsk.

Fun fact: the Molo w Sopocie is the longest wooden pier in Europe! It stretches a lengthy 511.5-metres into the sea. Also! The concentration of iodine in the air at the very end of the pier is twice as high as it is on land, so forking out that €2-ish for the stroll down there is actually good for your health! Fun!

And there we have it: 7 Things to See in Gdańsk, Poland! What did you think? Have you ever been to the amber capital of the world? If you think I’m missing any of the city’s big hitters then please let me know in the comments below — I love hearing from you!

Hugs,

Vicki xo

*Date of trip: 27th - 31st May, 2025*

related posts

30 Countries in 30 Years, Part II
A Food & Drink Guide to Gdańsk, Poland
A Stopover in Cologne, Germany

Oh friends, hello! I have missed this space so much. It makes me sad knowing a whole month has passed without posting, but there was simply no time or energy. Last month was, without a doubt, the hardest of my life. I might go into more details at a later stage, but essentially: one morning I was fine, and the next morning I was being rushed into the emergency department at 28-weeks pregnant with pains from what eventually turned out to be a burst appendix. After being admitted as a patient, I spent the next two and a half weeks in a hospital bed dealing with a myriad of unpleasant fallouts that resulted from my appendectomy. Less than a week after finally getting home, I was back in hospital overnight - the maternity hospital, this time - for suspected broken waters. I was released the very next day, but my goodness, it has been a lot.

Lest we forget the trauma of the last month for even a second, the follow-up appointments scheduled for the not so distant future are aplenty, and every single day a nurse rings and/or comes out to the house to change wound dressings. It has been a grand total of 4-days since we stepped out of one hospital or another, and I have never been more emotionally or physically exhausted in my entire life. I’m really hoping we can leave all of that in July, and focus on healing and relaxing the next few weeks.

Please find a short list of musings for the month ahead littered below. It will largely make little difference to you, but just fyi, most of what’s written below was started back in June for the July post that never happened, and I’ve updated and added to it post-hospital stays. Enjoy, friends.

monthly musings: august 2025

New on the baby bulletin: Baby Bean is 32 and a half weeks now. The bump is in full-swing and, mercifully, the baby is happily kicking away almost non-stop; their apparent favourite place to kick happens to be justttt under the worst of my laparoscopic wounds. Despite everything we’ve been through, all of Bean’s tests and scans show they are resilient and healthy and amazing, and none of us have ever been more grateful for anything ever. Now to just keep it up for the next for weeks 🤞

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I really didn’t have the energy to do anything in hospital other than stare at the ceiling and wait for time to pass — but Husband and I did spend a couple hours making a master list of everything we plan to cook & freeze before the baby comes. Lasagnas, curries, soups, etc. Hopefully my newly-diagnosed anemic self will muster up the energy for cooking again soon!

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Husband and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary together at the end of July. Initially, we’d planned to spend the weekend up in Ballycastle exploring the Causeway Coast — but obvz the world had other plans for us. When I realised Ballycastle was not going to happen, I lowered my expectations to a date day in some of our favourite local haunts, before inevitably lowering them again to just please god not being in hospital anymore. Thankfully, I made it out one day before our anniversary, and, although not the weekend we planned, it was still pretty perfect. Klimt cards, flowers, an extremely brief hobble to the end of our road, gouda cheese, and a delicious roasties + chicken Kiev dinner. Here’s to many more decades together, my love ✨

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Before everything hit the fan, June saw me sharing my latest travel guide: 48 Hours in Bristol, England. Husband and I were very pleasantly surprised by Bristol; the food scene was amazing, the tourist attractions & museums were spot on, and the place was generally just a lot more beautiful than I was expecting. On the whole, would recommend!

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June also saw me sharing my annual Summer Bucket List. Filled with items big and small, I thankfully started ticking off items before our world turned upside-down. Thus far: we celebrated my Bestie’s engagement, both as a BFF trio — catch the adorably cheese-tastic video here — and also at their actual engagement party the night before I started having pains / we’ve started the process of ready-ing Baby Bean’s room / I got my new passport with my married name! / we celebrated our 10-year anniversary to the best of our ability / and my want-to-eat list is in full swing. Did you make a SBL?

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Apparently overrun with energy and enthusiasm in June, I also somehow found the time to update the blog logo and design slightly. I added a little splash of colour behind the logo, seen at the very top of the page above, and created some colourful dividers to break up big blocks of texts in my longer posts. It’s just two small little changes, but I enjoy the fun pop of colour they bring to the site. Do you like the new addition or no?

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In an ideal world, I had intended to share my Gdańsk guides with you last month — but in all honesty neither of them are anywhere near finished and just the thought of working on them at the moment makes me want to take a nap. I’m hopeful my energy levels will return to normal-ish soon, but in the meantime, please be patient with me. The guides will be worth the wait, promise!

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Obviously, our movie watching last month was non-existent, and since getting out of hospital we’ve mostly been watching easy-viewing TV shows: Dawson’s Creek, Gilmore Girls, and S3 of The Summer I Turned Pretty. The first two are tried and tested faves, but I’m not sure how I’m feeling about S3 of TSITP?! The storyline has gone slightly too off-piste from the books for me, but I’m hoping the wrongs will right themselves soon enough. What are you watching?

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The sheer outpouring of love and support from friends, colleagues, family members and loved ones over the last month was honestly crazy. I was overwhelmed with so much love all month long, from the most unexpected of places! Whether you visited, texted, rang, sent flowers or Hug in a Box, dropped a note, or even thought of mine and Baby Bean’s plight for one second, thank you so much! It really means the world ❤️

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Lastly, I would absolutely have not made it through the last month without the rock solid support of Husband and my whole family, but especially my mom. Not a single day passed by without either of them coming in to sit with me, and, even though I was so sad I barely talked some of the days they visited, their presence made me feel much calmer. Mom & Rob, thank you for everything over the last month, I am so eternally grateful for everything you’ve done for me and Baby Bean❤️

There we have it, friends, Monthly Musings: August 2025. Apologies if it was a little self-indulgent, but I feel I’ve earned that right. I’m cautiously optimistic that all is settling down and we’ll get back to some semblance of normalcy soon, but we shall see. For right now, it feels good to be back in this space again, so thank you for joining me here.

I hope we all have an easy August,

Hugs,

Vicki xo

PS, please enjoy the above photo from one of my first walks down the hospital corridor post-surgery with Husband. Wearing my finest baggy t-shirt + comfy pants, sick-bag in hand, canula protruding from my wrist, slippers on foot, with a nearly two week old head of unwashed hair. Hospital chic!

related posts

August 2024 // August 2023 // August 2022
August 2021 // August 2020 // August 2019

Hello friends! Happy Sunday! Our gorgeously coloured, barely-blush-pink rose bush started blooming a few weeks back, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time for my annual summer bucket list! I don’t know what it is about the sight of those roses that makes me want to sit down and write about my intentions for the months ahead, but that’s just the way it is! If you’ve been lurking around these parts for a while now, you’ll know that this isn’t our first rodeo around the wild world of seasonal bucket lists. In fact, this is my fifth summer bucket list in a row! Shall we dive in to this year’s hitlist?

In case you’re interested, you can find past summer bucket lists here: 2024 / 2023 / 2021 / 2020.

summer bucket list, 2025

do up Baby Bean’s room

I’m not talking anything extravagant, but a fresh coat of paint is probably a good place to start. And buying some big ticket baby must-haves is probably a slightly overdue second move: cot, changing table, car seat, etc. Not to worry, we will get there!

plan my last birthday pre-baby

I know that you’re probably meant to stop getting such a kick out of your birthday as you get older — but I feel the exact opposite is happening to me. I love everything about birthdays, and this final one before our world gets turned upside-down feels especially exciting. As of right now, I have no plans in place, but I need to change that asap! I foresee a beauty treatment and some form of cake for the big day, but that’s all I’ve got at the mo’; any thoughts or recommendations?

celebrate our 10-year anniversary in style

Yes! This July marks ten whole years since Husband and I started dating! I cannot believe that we’re approaching such a monumental time-marker together, but I am so happy we are! We have hopes and dreams of escaping up north for a weekend getaway — but we also have backup plans for a romantic meal if our trip plan falls through. Either way, I want to make it extra magical ✨

stock up the freezer

Before Baby Bean arrives, I’m hoping to prepare a few freezer friendly meals to have at the ready. You might already know that I’ve always loved a well-stocked freezer, and I plan to use my stellar freezing skills to the max in terms of baby prep! For inspiration: Molly Yeh’s baby prep guide and Pinch of Yum’s freezer meal guide.

get a new passport

As in, finally update my passport to reflect my new(-ish) married surname! I’d held off on forking out the cash for an updated one thus far because a) my current passport isn’t even four years old yet, and b) I was hoping to use my Canadian visa one more time before expiration this coming September — but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Now that I know for sure I won’t be flying anywhere until Bean makes their appearance earthside, it’s the perfect time to apply without worrying about wait-times/booking a spontaneous trip!

plan baby’s first trip

Related: what better time to plan future trips than when you know you can’t fly anywhere for now? Husband and I have started dreaming up our first trip to Italy with Baby Bean — and, realistically, it’s probably easier to plan the logistics now than when we’re tired and stressed? I think yes. Pre-planning also has the added perk of giving us something travel-related to look forward to.

share a new irish guide or two

There haven’t been any new Irish guides shared to this space since May 2022, and it’s high time that changes! Along with the plans I’m hatching to escaping up north, I also have plans to research a fun foodie guide from a more localized area. Listen, it’s hard work researching for a food guide, but someone’s gotta do it!

celebrate my bestie’s engagement

One of my besties got engaged on holiday in Bali(!!) last week and I cannot wait to celebrate it when she gets back! My other bestie and I have been planning a little celebratory get-together for her when she’s back, and I’m looking forward to making her feel as special as they made me feel after my engagement three years ago! A celebratory garland, party decorations, glasses of prosecco — faux-secco for me — and maybe even a recreation of this downright dorky-slash-adorable celebratory video. Eeep!

picnic on the beach

This is something Husband and I did for the first time together in the summer of ‘23 and we had such a lovely time! I want to pack up the cooler with a fancy beach-side lunch - homemade focaccia sandwiches, a baked good of sorts, and a nice refreshing lemonade - waddle our way along the water’s edge, splay out on the picnic blanket reading our books, and maybe even get a little sun-kissed.

make a want-to-eat list

There are so many foods & drinks I want to devour SO BADLY right now but can’t because of baby. Pâté, cold-cut meats, Aperol spritzes, fancy gooey stinky cheeses, soft-serve ice-cream… You get the picture. Once the list is complete, share it with loved ones and make it clear that you will be accepting food-centric donations when the time comes.

And there we have it, my Summer Bucket List 2025! What’s on your hitlist for the summer months ahead? Whatever it may be, I hope it brings you joy, some lighthearted frivolous fun, and a light tan.

Love from me and my summer freckles,

Vicki xo

related posts

Spring Bucket List 2021
Summer Bucket List 2024 // 2023 // 2021 // 2020
Autumn Bucket List 2022
Winter Bucket List 2020 // 2021

Hello friends, happy Sunday! I hope this post finds you enjoying the coziest of Sunday mornings: coffee in hand, feet up, and in the mood for a light spot of armchair travelling. I’m dropping by to interrupt your Sunday ever so briefly to share my latest travel guide with you, 48 Hours in Bristol, England. Husband and I visited the UK’s south-western city back in April for a speedy weekend getaway and had such a great time! Other than flying in/out en route to Bath a few years back, neither of us had ever been to Bristol before, but we were both blown away by what the city had on offer: fantastic restaurants, wonderful tourist-ing, and just a generally lovely vibe! Can I tell you about it?

Everything we learned and loved about Bristol is listed below, divided into the usual categories for ease: fun facts / getting there / where we stayed / where we had coffee & pastries / where we ate brunch, lunch, dinner / where we drank / and where we tourist-ed. We really squeezed a lot out of our short time in town, so prepare yourselves for a jam-packed guide!

Enjoy!

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fun facts

Time for a quick fun fact or four? I thought so! ;)

• Bristol is the fifth largest city in the UK! Home to 580,000 people, it comes in just behind Liverpool, Glasgow, and the obviously larger cities of Birmingham and London.

• apparently, Bristol is the home city of anonymous street artist Banksy! I just love the way the world is like: yeah we don’t 100% know who Banksy is — but he’s from Bristol for sure! How crazy?! There are two top contenders in the ‘who is Banksy?’ game — most likely Robin Gunningham, but maybe also Robert Del Naja — and geographic profiling of Banksy’s artworks fits both. The mystery continues!

• Bristol is also the home of Ribena and Fry’s Chocolate! We didn’t have either during our time in the city, but it’s pretty cool knowing they originated there.

• the world’s first ever bungee jump happened in Bristol, from the Clifton Suspension Bridge! I cannot imagine anything more terrifying — especially after seeing the drop from the bridge with my own two eyes! — but a member of Oxford University’s ‘Dangerous Sports Club’(??) made the leap in 1979 and lived to tell the tale! You can actually watch it on YouTube here.

getting there

Here’s how we made the journey to Bristol for the weekend:

• we flew with Ryanair from Dublin airport to Bristol airport. It was a delightfully short 44-minute flight.

• from Bristol airport, we boarded the A1 Flyer and took it all the way to Temple Meads train station in the city, which took about 20-minutes. The A1 Flyer stop was located just outside the terminal main exit, and a single ticket cost £9 at the time of our visit. For more information about the A1 Flyer, click here.

• from Temple Meads train station, we walked into town to drop off our bags at the hotel, which took about 20-minutes. *Actually, we stopped at Hart’s Bakery, below, first, which I’d HIGHLY recommend you do also!*

• on our return journey two days later, we made the same journey except in reverse: A1 Flyer from Temple Meads train station back to Bristol airport. Conveniently, the A1 Flyer departs from the exact same stop that it drops you off at, so it’s easy to find. We only had to wait 2-ish minutes for one to show up, but I believe they run every 8-minutes, so you’ll never be stuck for long. Would recommend!

where we stayed

Ibis Bristol Centre // a really solid budget option in the centre of the city! I will admit, I had low expectations when we booked this hotel — but we actually had such a comfortable stay! Our room on the fourth floor was spacious and clean, the shower was better than I was expecting, and it was super quiet! I don’t know if we just got lucky by not having any noisy neighbours around us, but we didn’t hear a peep during either night of our stay. Would recommend. Address: Explore Lane For Car Park Use BS1 5ll, Bristol BS1 5TY

where we had coffee & pastries

Hart’s Bakery // the bakery of my dreams!! I actually detoured us a 20-minute walk out of our way on our arrival in Bristol so we could visit this bakery and omg I’m so glad I did, we loved it here! It was 9:30am on a drizzly Thursday morning, and, even though this place is wildly tucked away & out of sight, it was so busy and already sold out of pastries! We settled for a classic pork sausage roll and a salted caramel/ chocolate/ walnut bar to share and were in heaven! The sausage roll was ahh-mazing - warm, crumbly fresh filling, flakey buttery pastry - and the fancy caramel square was so good! Sufficiently wowed, we agreed to return before leaving Bristol and, having again missed the pastries but less sad about it this time, we went for a slice of shortbread to share. Spoiler alert: it was the best shortbread we’ve ever had! So much so, we went back up to buy two more for the journey home. A must visit. Address: Arch 35 Lower Approach Rd, Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6QS

Mokoko Coffee & Bakery // a really great pastry place! We nabbed a table at the window, ordered enough pastries to keep us satiated, and whiled away a delightful morning people watching and doing the crossword together; it was so nice! Coffee-wise, I had a cappuccino, Husband had an americano, and pastry-wise, we sampled a pain au chocolat — made with Valrhona chocolate! — a cinnamon bun, and a pain au raisin the literal size of my head. The pastries were wonderful, super flakey and buttery, and their coffees came in the most gorgeous mis-matching ceramics! Address: 2 Gaol Ferry Steps, Bristol BS1 6WE

where we ate

brunch

Arnolfini Cafe Bar // a great place for brunch! In need of substantial fuel before our journey home, we stopped in here on our last morning and had a very enjoyable meal! I went for a big glass of orange juice and a full English breakfast, while Husband went for an americano and the ranchero breakfast. I wouldn’t normally be a full English girlie, but there was homemade beans and roasted rosemary potatoes included, so. Everything was great! The space itself is also lovely, industrial chic style with fairy lights and plants hanging from the roof, etc. We also really enjoyed the ‘90s music they were playing for the whole duration of our meal! Address: 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA

lunch

Seven Lucky Gods // I would blame our honeymoon for my love of Asian-fusion spots, but actually I’ve always had a soft spot for them - Canadian example here, French example here, you get the point. As soon as I read about this place, I knew I had to eat here, and I’m so glad we did - it was amazing! Along with an Asahi each - 0.0 for me & Baby Bean! - we shared their chicken katsu curry arancini, curry fries with kewpie and shichimi, and the meat bento with Korean fried chicken, crispy pork belly, kimchi, edamame, pickled cucumber & steamed rice. We devoured every single scrap of food, but the arancini maybe stole the show for me? I also really enjoyed the vibe of the place: inspired by the izakayas of Tokyo with neon lighting, cosy nooks, and quirky decor. A must visit. Address: Unit 26, Cargo 2, Wapping Rd, Bristol BS1 4RW

Clifton Sausage // such a great lunch find! Kind of like the ultimate bangers and mash spot, except fancier? I ordered a Guinness 0.0, Husband had a pint of Underfall lager, and, sausage-wise, we ordered one of ‘The Clifton’ - pork, cider & wholegrain mustard - and one ‘Gloucester Old Spot traditional pork’ to share, both of which came with onion gravy and a generous pile of buttery mashed potato. Both sausages were amazing, but ‘The Clifton’ was definitely the highlight: tender, flavourful, and so cozy! We also shared a hazelnut brownie with vanilla ice cream for dessert, which came to the table warm and gooey in all the right places. Would recommend. Address: 7 Portland St, Clifton, Bristol BS8 4JA

dinner

The Christmas Steps Pub // Husband has this knack for finding fantastic pub grub in the UK — but I think he outdid himself with this one, the meal we had here was fantastic! I ordered their mac & cheese with crispy onions + pickled shallots and a Guinness 0.0, Husband went for their beef burger in a pretzel bun with all the trimmings + chips and a pint of Infinity lager, and we shared a sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce + vanilla ice-cream for dessert. To say that everything was amazing would be an understatement; my mac & cheese came in an adorable little cast iron skillet and was so tasty, the sticky toffee pudding was steaming hot & perfect, and the atmosphere of the place was so lovely! Gorgeous wooden tables, candles, wonky stairs and little levels leading up through the pub up in an almost Leaky Cauldron manner, and it was supremely good value! A must visit. Address: 2 Christmas Steps, Bristol BS1 5BS

Magari // such a cute little pasta spot! We shared a plate of pesto & sun-dried tomato bruschetta to start, and followed it up with bowls fresh pasta served with sausage ragu for Husband and carbonara with guanciale for me; both dishes were delicious. The fresh pasta - which came in a kind of long squiggly and somewhat curly shape? - was really tasty, the guanciale was an exotic treat, and our waitress was lovely. Pro tip: located inside a shipping container, this spot is tiny - from memory, five tables for two people! - so I’d definitely recommend booking ahead if you plan to eat here! Address: Unit 18, Cargo, Museum St, Bristol BS1 6ZA

where we drank

Shakespeare Tavern // a lovely cosy English pub! The first time we visited, I went for an Estrella 0.0, Husband went for a Flint Eye lager, and we got a nice table downstairs where we whiled away a little of our afternoon in the relaxing atmosphere. However, when we visited the second time, the place was jammed! There was barely a seat in the building, but I made friends with some locals and nabbed us two chairs at a table in the undeniably less-cosy upstairs room. Regardless: seats secured, Flint Eye and a glass of Freixinet 0.0 in hand, we settled in for a good chinwag with our newfound friends and made hay while the sun shone! Address: 68 Prince St, Bristol BS1 4QD

where we touristed

Banksy Art // as the unofficial-yet-highly-probable hometown of Banksy, there are some of his pieces littered around the city if you’re up for an art pilgrimage! Seeing as they’re sort of spread around in random parts of town, we only sought out two: his most famous Bristol-based one, Well Hung Lover, and also his The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum, both of which were very cool to see in-situ up close! A pity about the ugly defacing of WHL, but can you really deface something that is, ultimately, graffiti? Hmm. A must visit. Addresses: Well Hung Lover is at 1 Unity St, Bristol BS1 5HH / The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum is at Albion Dockside Estate, Hanover Pl, Bristol BS1 6UT

Clifton Suspension Bridge // okay — this bridge was insane! When we walked up to the viewing platform on our end of the gorge, the sheer drop down side of the cliff face gave us both butterflies & jelly legs; it was so high!! My fear of heights well documented throughout my guides, I surprised myself by agreeing to walk across the bridge; it was so windy I thought we were going to blow over the edge and die, you could see through the structure of the bridge to the gorge below(!), and locals out on their daily jog laughed at me as I clung to Husband for dear life — but I did it and it was amazing! An absolute must visit. Address: Bristol BS3 2JX

M Shed // this museum far exceeded my expectations! We only really stopped in as it was en route to our chosen lunch spot, but it was actually so good! Set over three floors, interactive displays document the history of the city in a way that actually involves the museum-goer: costumes for kids, a full-size olden time bus, interactive photo displays with sounds, etc. Added bonus: Banksy’s The Grim Reaper is on display within the museum! Originally spray-painted onto the side of a boat back in 2003, the panel with the art was removed to protect the piece after 12 years of deterioration in the water. Would recommend! Address: Princes Wharf, Wapping Rd, Bristol BS1 4RN

St Mary Redcliffe Church // such a beautiful church! We actually stumbled across it by chance and decided to stop in after reading a quote from Queen Elizabeth I on the sign outside: “the fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England”. Gorgeously Gothic in style, it kind of reminded us of Hogwarts in places, with beautiful stained glass windows and high arched ceilings etc. Fun fact: BBC were in the church setting up loads of camera equipment during our visit! They were there to film the Easter Sunday mass and air it live on TV; fun! Would recommend. Address: The Parish Office, 12 Colston Parade, Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6RA

Bristol Cathedral // quite similar to the above church, but on a more grand and much larger scale. I think we both preferred the smaller coziness of St Mary Redcliffe, but this was also very beautiful, with more side chapels and quiet prayer nooks. There was also a rather lovely garden/cemetery out the back that was so peaceful and relaxing to stroll around; we enjoyed a little sit at one of the many benches and savoured a quiet few moments. Would recommend. Address: College Green, Bristol BS1 5TJ

Cabot Tower // the weather was absolutely miserable when we made the trek out here, hence the lack of photos, but I thought Cabot Tower was gorgeous! Almost like a tower you would expect to see Rapunzel appear at the top of, it kind of appears out of the landscape in the most fairytale way. I chickened out about 20-steps into the climb up the tower, but Husband went all the way up and said the views over the city were wonderful — despite the wet day we had! Address: Brandon Hill Park, Park St, Bristol BS1 5RR

St Nicholas Market // a cool covered market filled with fun stores and little foodie nooks. Many of the stores were closed for the Easter weekend when we visited, but we enjoyed our brief wander around, browsing through vinyl at a quirky record store and the likes. Cute! Address: The Corn Exchange, Corn St, Bristol BS1 1JQ

And there we have it: 48 Hours in Bristol, England! What did you think? Have you visited the city of Bristol before? Husband and I were both blown away by the place — it was so lovely! I have a recipe ode to Hart Bakery’s shortbread hitting the blog in the next week or two, so stay tuned!

Until then,

Vicki xo

*Date of trip: 17th - 19th April, 2025*

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