EAT, REVIEWS

NYE Dinner at Luton's Top Rated Restaurant

by LauraLeave a Comment on NYE Dinner at Luton's Top Rated Restaurant

I’m not a huge one for New Years Eve, I never have been. Over-priced drinks, entry fees and over-crowded pushing and shoving.

Not on my watch hun.

I’ll save the nights out for the new year, I’m not getting involved in that rat race.

Which is why I like to look for an alternative activity which doesn’t involve a two-day hangover. I mean let’s start the year as we mean to go on, shall we?

However leaving the new years plans until the 30th December this year, left me with very little choice but to keep it local.

All my usual haunts were either fully booked or closed, so I turned to Tripadvisor to give me some inspiration.

How wrong could I go with the number one rated restaurant in Luton, Villa Ada?

Let’s find out shall we…

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EAT

5 Best Breakfast Spots In Luton

by Laura7 Comments on 5 Best Breakfast Spots In Luton

Having moved to Luton from the East End of London was somewhat of a food challenge for me.

Growing up, we had a greasy spoon around every corner and pie & mash shop within a 1 mile radius of your existence.

But in Luton, finding a decent Cafe is like finding a needle in a bloody haystack. And a pie and mash shop? Well you can absolutely forget it.

Don’t even get me started on chip shops being closed on Sundays! I mean, what kind of sourcery is this?

Thankfully, I’ve had ten years to delve into the dark depths of Luton and find the few hidden hot spots that can rustle up a good old english breakfast and more…

Here’s five of the best breakfast spots I’ve come to know and love…

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EAT, REVIEWS

Lunch At Brasserie Azure

by Laura3 Comments on Lunch At Brasserie Azure

I’d been meaning to try the Leaside Hotel’s restauraunt, Brasserie Azure for months ever since my friend made their brunch-time discovery.

Sadly the said friend is currently bed-bound after an operation, so couldn’t join us on this sweet Saturday afternoon. However, being the true friend I am, I did take her a meal from the new Franksters Burger Bar in town, the very same day. What can I say, I’m total friend goals. Ha!

So instead myself and my sister headed off to our enjoy a sisterly lunch, filling our belly’s with cocktails and good food.

Here’s what we thought of our Leaside experience…

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Pumpkin Picking At Trinity Hall Farm

by LauraLeave a Comment on Pumpkin Picking At Trinity Hall Farm

Okay, so I have two questions..

  1. When did Pumpkin picking become ‘a thing’?
  2. And why wasn’t it ‘a thing’ sooner?

It seems absurd to think that Pumpkins have existed for thousands of years and we’ve only just become excited by picking these freaky orange vegetables.

I think Instagram is partly to blame. And yes, I’m the type that helps fuel this kind of thing. I mean, why the hell not?

Never mind that this is a child friendly activity, I just KNOW a Pumpkin Patch will make the perfect grammable shot. Guilty.

So whether you’re a parent or just the child-less insta-whore like me, this is a must do activity for Autumn.

This year, I visited the newly opened patch at Trinity Hall Farm. It’s just a few minutes drive from Houghton Regis, on the A5.

I would normally visit The Pop Up Farm however with the terrible weather, they sadly haven’t been open much. So this was a great local alternative on a much smaller scale.

The weather couldn’t of been better for these snaps….

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Photo Diary: Someries Castle

by LauraLeave a Comment on Photo Diary: Someries Castle

This partly undiscovered, weird and wonderful spot is the perfect reminder that Luton holds far more history than a fifty year-old shopping centre.

Nestled between farmland behind The Luton Airport, is the remains of a medieval manor house named ‘Someries Castle’. I mean I can’t say I’m hugely into history, but it holds quite an interesting story none the less.

The Castle was built in the 15th century by Sir John Wenlock, a soldier, an MP and the High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, who later bought the residence.

What’s quite special about the building is that it was one of the first residential properties to be built by brick in England.

The building was actually never finished and some of it has been torn down, but you can still see remains of the chapel and other parts of the castle today.

Rumour has it, Sir John Wenlocks ghost is said haunt the remains. Thankfully I didn’t stick around long enough to find out! Might be worth an evening visit on Halloween, to scare the shit out of yourself for free.

I would highly encourage a visit, just to say you’ve ‘been there and done that’. Is that a big enough excuse? Probably not.

Or if you’re into cute things, you might like to know the windy roads leading up to the castle are filled with ducks and other birds trotting down the road in front of your car. I mean it’s pretty cute really…

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Picking At The Pop Up Farm

by Laura2 Comments on Picking At The Pop Up Farm

Last year I travelled over to Hitchin Lavender along with the rest of the crowds to PYO (pick your own) lavender & sunflowers.

What Instagram doesn’t show you, is the swarms of other people getting in the way of your photos and the thousands of bees and wasps constantly chasing you around the fucking field.

I’ll be honest, it was totally over-rated and not a pleasant experience, even for an insta basic bitch like me.

Paired with the over-priced cafe and the 14 mile trek to get there, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

However when I saw The Pop Up Farm’s last day for ‘picking’ on Facebook, I thought I’d drag the boyfriend along and give the PYO sitch another go.

And I’m so glad I did!

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Sunday At Stockwood Gardens

by Laura1 Comment on Sunday At Stockwood Gardens

Back when I was a student, I lived just 5 minutes from Stockwood Park and only ever visited the once.

Myself and the girls took a walk up to Farley Hill in search of a chip shop and happened to pass through the park on our quest. We’ll do anything for a decent chip and a bit of curry sauce. Nine years later and nothing’s really changed!

But other than passing through, I had never really explored the park and what it had to offer. That was until my sister decided to visit me one Sunday August afternoon.

My sister hadn’t visited Luton since bidding me farewell at my new student house back in 2009, back when she was a High School Musical obsessed 8-year-old. Though since turning 18, my Mum has entrusted that she can take the journey from Essex to Luton and make it in just about in one piece.

To mark the occasion, I decided that we’d take a trip over to Stockwood Discovery Centre and check out the gardens and their new cafe for a spot of lunch.

Here’s what we got up to…

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