My 2015 - goodbye illness, hello plans!

2015 New Years resolution: to spend at least one weekend a month somewhere other than the Fens!

So, 2015 was an important year for me, mainly because it marked 5 years since I first came down with a nasty virus that didn't seem to go away. No matter how long I spent sleeping, I always felt completely drained and my body constantly ached. I caught every cold and bug imaginable and it became the norm to sleep for weeks on end. It was hard because no one understood or could explain what was happening to me. I'd always been energetic and a fairly bright student but suddenly I couldn't even concentrate on my school work anymore. My social life diminished and my attendance dropped so low because I physically couldn't get myself up and ready everyday.

After an array of tests and appointments, I was finally diagnosed with three conditions - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (also known as M.E.), Lupus and Hashimoto's thyroid disease. The virus had left me with my immune system struggling and basically attacking itself. Although 2 of the conditions improved over time with medication, CFS was a struggle to manage over the next few years. The hardest thing is that people don't always understand how debilitating it actually is because you look normal on the outside. For every good day, it's usually followed by several weeks of bad days.

The only plus side of being diagnosed with CFS at a younger age is that teenagers are typically more likely to make a full recovery than adults are. Over the next few years I worked hard with my doctor and a specialist nurse to follow structured programmes to help build my stamina back up. Some people may never improve. For the first year or so I felt like I was still continuously deteriorating. I struggled through my GCSE's and prom. However, slowly but surely my symptoms started to improve and eventually stabilised a bit. I was able to study Events Management & Marketing, got a part time job, got a golden retriever and passed my driving test. By September 2013 things seemed to be going relatively good so I pursued my passion for marketing and began my career with Cross Keys Homes.

CFS will always be there in the background and sometimes things get too much and I have to take some time out but I decided that my New Years resolution for 2015 would be to see more of the world, including my own country. I set myself a goal to spend at least one weekend a month somewhere other than the Fens.

So, how did I get on? Below you can find my main highlights of 2015. 

January

Any hopes for a dry January will always be ruined by January 22nd because it's one of my best friends' birthdays! This year we ventured to Leeds for Kate's birthday weekend. To summarise, 6 girls with just 1 double bed is a recipe for disaster.

February

At the start of February we decided to head to Nottingham for a night out and met up with our friend Heather. We also had our first Nando's of the year! 

On February 28th Ryan and I made our way down to Sheraton Skyline for a night in London before our flight to New York (yay). The cocktails in the Sky Garden really are something else!

March

After 20 years of waiting I finally made it to New York City! We froze to death in the snow, shopped 'til we dropped and gobbled as much food as we possibly could. I got to see some of the worlds most famous sights such as Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the World Trade Centre. I'm not very good at showing emotion or crying, but the first morning in Times Square reduced me to happy tears! I thought I'd stop being as obsessive once I'd visited but our trip has only made me worse. (click here to view the blog post)

April

Most of April was spent with my friends as everyone was home from uni! We spent some time in our home town and nearby city Peterborough. 

Ryan and I took full advantage of the early Spring sunshine and went on our annual trip to Alton Towers and then had date night at Frankie and Benny's. 

May

May was fun and there were 2 bank holiday weekends too, yay!

In my opinion, S Club 7 have been the coolest band around since I was a kid so we booked tickets for the tour in Nottingham and made a weekend of it. We spent the day at TGI Friday's, moved on to Turtle Bay for 2-4-1 cocktails and then relived our childhoods. When it finished we went to Baa Bar for some smoking drinks and then into the city for the night. We went for lunch at Wildwood the next day before before heading back home. 

There's nothing like leaving plans until the last minute and 2 days before Radio 1 Big Weekend in Norwich we still hadn't got an outfit or anywhere to stay - organisation at it's best. Nevertheless we had so much fun!

June

Time for some holiday shopping with my mum! We had to re-arrange twice as we were both ill but we eventually made it to Leicester.

Ryan and I returned to Corfu for the third time, this year accompanied by mother Howlett and the Johnson's! (click here to view the blog post)

July

Norwich time! We went to Chiquito's for lunch, TGI's for seconds and cocktails and the rest of the sunny day drinking on the Riverside before heading out into the city that evening.

Me and Ryan celebrated our 3rd anniversary and his 22nd birthday in Amsterdam. We had some struggles navigating the transport system on our arrival - it was a nice cold, dark, wet walk. It rained, and rained, and rained some more whilst we were there. (click here to view the blog post)

One of the downsides of being ill was that it completely ruined my front teeth and left them weak. I'd previously had them rebuilt by an NHS hospital but they were ugly. I finally spent some of my savings and got some veneers fitted to the front 4! Now I can't wait to have the bottom ones done in a few years time. (click here to view the blog post)

August

After last years fun in Ibiza we thought we'd mix it up a bit and go to Ayia Napa in Cyprus this year. We had fun in the sunshine and also managed to tick Nissi Beach off my sightseeing list. I survived tonsillitis before, during and after the holiday and after 2 lots of antibiotics I finally started to feel a bit better!

We went to the cutest wedding at Brook Farm in Cuffley, Herts. It was also our first together!

To celebrate Louise's birthday we ate on the Riverside in Cambridge and spent the rest of the day drinking cocktails.

Me and Ryan spent date day/night at the beach.

September

For Tegan's birthday we had a BBQ, went to Peterborough for the night which isn't far but FLARES IS FUN and then we all ended up having a massive sleepover!

October

We finally ventured up to Sheffield to visit Hannah at uni for a few days. We did some shopping, had cocktails, year six food (aka pizza and curly fries) and two nights out.

For Halloween we decided to visit Aimee at uni in Hatfield for the first time. We met all of her friends, had some drinks and went a meal at Prezzo's.

November

With Christmas upon us, we didn't really get chance to venture too far away as we were really busy. Christmas shopping in Cambridge is my idea of hell but Ryan did finally take me to Smokeworks which was delicious.

We also dedicated another date night to one of our favourite places, Arbuckles.

Me, Jamie and Alice went to our work Christmas party at the Peterborough Marriott Hotel and had fun in the photo booth!

December

I had so many good plans for December but due to some unexpected circumstances I had to cancel quite a few of them which is a shame, but hey ho, hopefully I'll make up for them in 2016.

For my birthday me and Ryan stayed at H10 London Waterloo Again (click here to view the blog post) and had such nice views over the city. We ate at Bodean's BBQ, H10's amazing breakfast and Shake Shack whilst we were there and drinks at London Cocktail Club - yum! We walked along Tower Bridge, shopped during the day and spent the evening in Covent Garden.

As Aimee lives in Hatfield which is so close to London we decided to pay her another visit for a few days before the end of the year to tie in with our visit to Winter Wonderland. It's so pretty at night when it's all lit up! We booked tickets for Bar Ice and the cocktails were good but it was freezing.

Over Christmas I mainly spent time at home with my family and friends, but we did take Poppy to the beach for a cold walkies.

Hopefully 2016 will bring more plans! Happy New Year everybody! x

Canal D'Amour - French for "Channel of Love" (Sidari, Corfu)

Usually I'm not one to visit the same place twice, let alone three times, but I found myself back in Sidari again this summer. There's something about the village of Sidari that makes it feel like a home away from home. It's a lively resort based on the north coast with one main strip of restaurants, bars and a shops. A short walk away from the main area, you can find Canal D'Amour which is home to some unusual rock formations and stunning views. There are several legends about Canal D'Amour and falling in love if you swim through the tunnel. My boyfriends family have visited time and time again over the years and have built good friendships with a number of locals who welcome them back with open arms each year, so a few years ago we decided to pick Sidari as the destination for our first ever holiday together and we've returned several times since.

Accommodation is typical 'Greek style' and fairly basic, but we don't mind as it's only a base for us to freshen up and rest our heads at night. You get what you pay for. In the last few years we've stayed at Socrates apartments, The Alkion and Christos apartments (also know as Canal D'Amour apartments) and all have been fine. The Alkion is located at the end of the strip so it's perfect if you want to be close to the main action. They also do the best Strawberry Daiquiri's. Socrates and Christos are further out towards Canal D'Amour and both have great sea views.

Christos Apartments

View from Socrates Apartments

Pool area at The Alkion

One of my favourite things about Sidari is that there are so many good restaurants offering a massive variety of foods. The staff tend to be really friendly and eager to help. We've still not gotten round to eating everywhere but these are some of my favourites!

Konaki Greek Taverna - This is a friendly family-run restaurant serving traditional Greek dishes. The staff here really make it. I love the fresh bread that they serve you for starter with oil and balsamic! The chicken souvlaki is always my first choice. The chicken is moist and served with fresh, homemade chips.

Cactus Jacks - Not only are the breakfasts fab, the main courses are always massive! This place is situated just off of the main strip which means some visitors might not even know it's there. If you're looking for a bit of tex mex or something with a bit of spice then this is the place for you to come - there's a good selection of fajitas and burritos! The Mexican themed decor is also really unique and fun.

China Town - I'm really picky about my Chinese, so I didn't expect this place to impress me much the first time we visited. It looks quite grand from the outside and the decor throughout is red and authentic. There's a very cute water feature near the front which is all lit up and definitely entices people in from the street. The food portions are generous and served on attractive platters with hand-cut vegetable flowers. Every time we've visited we've had eyes bigger than our bellies. Crispy duck covered in fresh hoisin sauce and wrapped in warm pancake rolls - YUM!

Madison Bar and Diner - Pleasantly surprised! This year is the first time we've visited and I wish that we'd come before. I guess we'd always overlooked Madison's in the past. There's a cool American diner theme throughout and the seats fill up quickly in time for the evening entertainment. There's a nice outside area at the back on the beach too. We visited on an Elvis night which was funny, the staff obviously put a lot of effort in. I am also a bit of a cocktail fanatic and there's a really good menu in here - Jam Jar Strawberry Daiquiri's were my favourite! The gooey fudge brownies are rich and chocolaty, so I wouldn't really need my arm twisting to return here...

B.E.D - The menu here really does spoil the consumer as there's a massive choice of food to pick from whether you want a meaty dish or pasta. We liked to sit outside on the beach and enjoy the sunset. Meals are served with sides such as chips, jacket potato, rice or salad. I loved the ribs and fajitas which were served on a sizzle platter! They also serve smoking cocktails which are cool. There's entertainment and quizzes each night and it gets quite busy.

 

 

There's a good choice of pancakes, waffles and homemade ice cream along the main strip too. I had some strawberry sorbet the first year we visited and it was out of this world. This year I had a Kinder Bueno crepe which was made from scratch right in front of me, very tasty!

 

Quads are fairly cheap to hire and the boys had great fun razzing around the villages and seeing more of the local area. Corfu is a very pretty island.

There's quite a bit to do in Corfu (including the main town) but definitely have a look into your options and book with the local shops as opposed to a UK tour operator so you don't get ripped off. There's a beach in Sidari with lots of water sports and most places will give you free sun-loungers if you eat/drink there earlier in the day.

Every year we hire a pedalo in the afternoon whilst it's breezy to get a bit closer up to the cliffs and coves.

To be honest we're pretty lazy and spend most of the time sunbathing and/or eating, but we have ventured to Aqualand twice where there's a good choice of comfy sun-loungers, slides and a wave pool. The food isn't too overpriced.

If you don't fancy the journey to Aqualand then Sidari also has it's very own water park. It's a bit smaller but ideal for youngsters. The beds are comfy and the waffles are great!! We also had some pizza here which was pretty good.

We have chosen to visit Sidari the last few years as it doesn't break the bank so we can afford to visit other destinations too. We go for a bit of sunshine and to spend some quality time together. I've read mixed reviews online but overall I think it's great value for money and a holiday is what you make of it. Many people return year on year which speaks for itself. The area is clean and there's a good choice of things to do, eat and see. Maybe we'll return again one day! :)